By Kevin Mastellon
Staff Writer

I was an Altar Boy in the 1960's.  I remember the surprise the day I arrived to serve for Mass at my church in Queens, New York and found the rail was gone. The Latin I had worked so hard to learn, was abandoned.  I no longer had to genuflect and bow and walk up the steps to move the Missal from the Epistle side to the Gospel side. I was instructed the world would not end if I spilled wax on my surplus. Father was actually going to face the people and speak in English.

I still had to ring bells and lift his chasuble at the elevation and in a very awkward way assist at the distribution of communion. It was a truly new experience. If you were not around for that change in the 1960's, the changes in the Mass on the first Sunday of Advent this year might have been awkward. For those of us old enough to remember, it was not so bad.

What a wonderfully different transition this has been. Our Diocese and our parishes have offered us opportunities to prepare for the transition to the new Missal. The "change" that occurred in the 1960's was not orchestrated well. These changes have come with instruction, pew cards, presentations on the biblical and theological significance of our Eucharistic celebration.

Our priests have responded to the challenge of new texts. Our liturgists, musicians and ministers have all responded quite calmly. The most important reaction though has been in the pew. The people are, to fall back on a '60s phrase, "rolling with the flow."

The Church has provided us with a new body of prayer rich in tradition. The prayers are an honest reflection of the words of Christ and marvelously meditative.

This transition to a new Missal is the opportunity for we people of faith to refresh the prayer we offer in community.