Altar girls can stay

I am going to go religious on you. You'll see that happen a lot in this blog. Can't be helped - I have what one BeliefNet writer called (I'm paraphrasing) the patina of belief written all over me.

The Catholic Church has been fussing over the Mass again. Our endless fretting over how to properly celebrate correctly the ancient forms of the Liturgy of the Word, and Liturgy of the Eucharist is something only Catholics (and maybe Greek Orthodox) will get. Well maybe some Anglicans too. The high church ones who like to waft incense about.

The Vatican has been busy coming up with new liturgical guidelines. As usual, they offer concessions to both the conservative-minded and liberal-minded camps. Altar girls can stay. Lay homilists get the bum's rush. (Disclaimer: I am the father of one current and one former altar girl.)

I recall watching Mel Gibson saying in an interview that he does not believe transubstantiation happens in the form of the Mass celebrated today. "Some things are missing," I think he said. And you know, I think there are some things that probably weren't that great an idea. Some of the vernacular translations of the various prayers are not that great - "Et cum spiritu tuo" does not translate as "And also with you", but is better reflected by the Anglican "And with thy spirit."

But ultimately, does it matter? The Mass is not magic, and the Priest is not a sorcerer invoking a magic formula. Transubstantiation is God's power at work, work He himself achieved at Calvary and first offered in the Upper Room (in Aramaic, Hebrew, or Greek.) God is the merciful all loving Father, the selfless obedient Son, and the Love between them at work in the world. He told us His Church would never fail.

I think sometimes that the biggest enemies of hope are fear and doubt. How is it that we lack trust in God? He will preserve for us the miracle of the Eucharist. He earned it at great cost. He is not going to let slight alterations in magic rubric rules take it away. Mel Gibson's own movie shows how high a price Jesus Himself paid to save the world. We must trust that the grace that is in this sacramental gift remains with us, just as baptism does too.

He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. With God, all things are possible!