By Sr. Ruth Battaglia CSA

Perhaps you have experienced, heard or read about some new changes affecting the assembly at Mass, like a bow from the waist during the creed, or standing immediately after the priest’s invitation to us to pray that our sacrifice will be acceptable to God, or bowing the head before receiving Communion. If, like me, you are old enough to remember the process of change after the Second Vatican Council, you might emit a groan, "not again!" The post-Vatican II generation may wonder, "Why are they changing the way we have always done things? Most of us, young, old, and in between resist changing a familiar pattern that has become almost automatic. So why even bother to make the effort to incorporate the rather minor changes that the 2002 General Instruction on the Roman Missal, often simply called "the GIRM", is asking of us? The answer is simply that we Roman Catholics worship together as one, giving witness to our unity in Christ Jesus. Anywhere we are we feel at home with the familiar rituals around the Eucharistic table.

For nearly 500 years, since the Council of Trent, there was little change in the Mass. Then in the early 1960’s the Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of the Mass and all the sacraments. A major revision of the Mass took place that, with time, became the current familiar pattern of participating in Mass. Since the drastic changes of the 60’s only a few minor, hardly noticeable, changes took place—until now.

The study and groundwork of revisions in the Mass actually began a number of years ago and it will not be fully completed until a new Sacramentary, the book used by the priest celebrant at the altar during Mass, is approved and published. (So you guessed it, yes, there are still more changes to come. Some of these will be noticeable, but minor, such as word changes in some of the prayers prayed together by the assembly.) The availability of the 2002 GIRM, however, is a major milestone in the revision process.

Since the publication of the 2002 GIRM dioceses have begun implementing its changes. The work of implementation in the Gallup Diocese began in September when Fr. Peter Rocca, a Holy Cross priest from the University of Notre Dame, led an in-service on the GIRM for priests and parish administrators at Sacred Heart Retreat Center in Gallup. The task of recommending to Bishop Pelotte guidelines for the implementation of the GIRM is entrusted to a committee consisting of Deacon Richard Conn and his wife, Mary, Fr.. Robert Mathieu, Fr. Blane Grein OFM, Bro. Paul O’Brien OFM, Bro. John Hotstream SC and S. Ruth Battaglia CSA. The recommendations of this committee will be reviewed by all of the consultative bodies to the Bishop, which are the Sisters’ Council, the Deacons’ Council, the Presbyteral Council, and the Diocesan Pastoral Council. Following their input a set of guidelines will be submitted to Bishop Pelotte for his final approval. He will then set a date for the implementation of the GIRM according to the diocesan guidelines. It will require some concentration, practice and patience until the changes become a part of us. But with time they too will come to be the familiar and comfortable way that we celebrate the Eucharist together.

While the changes we will experience from the implementation of the GIRM may seem rather minor, and to some maybe even bothersome, they are meant to enhance the reverence of our common worship. Our efforts to conform to the liturgical practice of the universal and the local church give witness to the unity we have in Christ Jesus.