Prejudgment day

Some Milwaukee priests left comments when they signed the petition for "grassroots review" before implementation of the revised Roman Missal. The petition was the product of Rev. Michael J. Ryan of Seattle as a follow-up to his recent article in America, see What If We['d] Said, 'Wait'?

Fr. Ryan there said that "'What If We Just Said No?' was my working title for this article." That leaves the impression that the proposed market testing is acually a tactic to delay and then thwart changes about which he and others have already made up their mind.

That seems to be the case for Rev. Charles G. Zabler (Our Lady of Good Hope) who commented,

We need to test drive this change in language. It will not fly. ...

If I was sure my flying car wouldn't fly, I wouldn't be advocating a test drive.

Rev. David E. Cooper (St. Matthias) commented,

We must speak our truth honestly, respectfully, clearly and with compassion. The author succeeds on all counts and I proudly add my name in support of a worthy cause. Please let's not shoot ourselves in the foot again!

The previous litugical gunshot wound isn't specified. If he means the current liturgy, that's an argument for retroactive application of Fr. Ryan's proposal. (Maybe he's referring to his recantation after the Prayer service for women's ordination held at St. Matthias.)

Rev. George M. Rebatzki (senior priest) also advocates a fair trial before the hanging.

This is a "must." The translations are horrific and in no way enhance the celebration of Liturgy. ...

Rev. Charles H. Schramm (St. Mary, Hales Corners) says,

Thank you so much for this courageous article! It expresses exactly my thought on this! I am the pastor of a 10,000 plus members parish, and whenever I have given a preview of the new proposed translation to parishioners, the reaction is often, "You've got to be kidding!"

That was my reaction to his answer when AJ decided to Ask the Pastor on August 22, 2006 "Why do we no longer kneel during the Eucharistic prayers during Ordinary time?" or his answer to the March 28, 2007 question on general absolution.

Fr. David W. La Planate [sic] (St. Kilian) said,

Language is more than just words. When the Liturgy began to be celebrated "in the language of the people," it brought many closer to the Table. ...

If he means Mass attendance has been going up the last 40 years, I have go wonder what planate he's been on.

Rev. Kenneth Mich (Good Shepherd) stars in Father Knows Best.

One of the unintended consequences of these "clumsy" translations is that many of us who preside will feel pastorally obligated to make our own adaptions to the prayers for the benefit of the Assembly's worship. ...

No mention of subjecting his own adaptions to objective evaluation.