By Deacon Tom Lang

           In an effort to always improve upon our attitude and prayer at Mass, beginning on Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, parishioners of Seven Sorrows will notice some refinements in the Sacred Liturgy that should help even further to raise our heats and minds to God during Mass!  As stated in the title, this will simply entail some “fine-tuning,” and not drastic changes.

             A miracle occurs at each and every Mass right in our presence.  Although beyond the reach of our senses, through the gift of faith so graciously given to us by God, we know that our humble offering of bread and wine is mysteriously and miraculously transformed into the glorified body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ!  Through that precious gift from God, we come into contact with the very same Christ who suffered and died for our sins on Calvary over 2000 years ago.  We actually share in the divinity of Christ, albeit in a very small way, when we partake of the Holy Eucharist made present for us through Jesus Christ in the figure of His ordained priest and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

            Holy Mass is then properly referred to as “the Sacrament of Sacraments,” “the source and summit of our faith,” and “the most perfect prayer that we may offer.”  The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is nothing short of an encounter with God through Jesus Christ.  And so, if our Mass is truly all of these and more, than we must do our very best to offer it with the utmost reverence and respect that we can muster.  Our humble attempts at offering the Mass will never be perfect, since the perfect liturgy only exists in heaven.  We hope to one day share in that perfect Mass, but for now, we have to be satisfied with the best we have to offer.

            It first must be stated that our shepherd and Pastor, Father Ogden, our Senior Priest, Father Lavelle and I cannot be more proud or happy with our Lectors, Altar Servers, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and our Ushers!  We believe that we have the cream of the crop in our Diocese of Harrisburg!   

            To be perfectly clear and to avoid any misunderstandings whatsoever, these changes have NOTHING to do with the changes to the Roman Missal that will formally be implemented the First Sunday in Advent of 2011.  There will be separate catechesis and teaching in the Parish about those changes to some of the prayers and responses we say at Mass, at the appropriate time in accordance with the Bishop’s timeline.

           You are already aware of the changes we made with the Lectors by having them make the regular announcements before Mass, and helping us to quiet ourselves and take on a prayerful peace to prepare for the start of Holy Mass.  You will also begin to see some minor changes with our Altar Servers as they take on more helpful actions and more reverent movements and postures during Mass. 

            As for our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, the most obvious change you will see will be in the way they enter and leave the Church for Mass.  The new format will make the processions flow much better and they will not be quite so disjointed and distracting.  The way the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion line up at the beginning will also help to relieve the congestion that occurs at the center aisle area just before Mass is to begin.

          As for our Ushers, they have been instructed to request different people to bring up the Offertory Gifts to afford this opportunity to many more parishioners.  Therefore, when an Usher asks you to kindly assist with the Offertory Gifts, please take that opportunity to server the Lord in this small, but very important way.

            Another significant change is that the Ushers will inform those who arrive after Mass had already begun to kindly wait in the back of the Church until the point when everyone stands after the Second Reading for the Gospel Acclamation, prior to taking a place in a pew.  This will avoid distractions to those who are already seated and who are attempting to prayerfully concentrate on the Readings and Responsorial Psalm of the Mass.

           As you will see, and as Father Ogden recently stated in his Bulletin letter, the purpose of all the various changes “is simply to elevate our reverence for the sacred action which occurs at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  This allows us the mutual opportunity to better give our best praise and honor to God and to Him alone!”  Amen Father Ogden!