Well. No. It didn’t.

I was expecting all kinds of craziness at Mass with the new translation. I was expecting … you know what? I don’t know what I was expecting. But whatever it was, it didn’t happen.

What did happen was the Mass.

I know! The Mass, as my mom says, is the Mass is the Mass is the Mass. Who knew she was familiar with Gertrude Stein? But I digress. I’d like to say the mass was the same, and it was. And it wasn’t.

For one, I was paying attention — pretty intently, by the way. The creed was a bit bumpy, but “and with your spirit” is probably going to prove to be the most challenging. We all automatically said “and also” before correcting the “with your spirit.” I’m guessing it’s just said so many times and it’s so brief that the re-adjustment is going to take time.

Here’s the takeaway…no one was crushed. No one was ridiculed. No one was judged. No one felt stupid.

You know why? Because the Mass is the Mass is the Mass.

Happy Advent!