Does your parish have the new responses "down?"

[Victoria1985]

Also, I think we have it down. Though the Priest who was going through it with us is a professor at some Catholic Seminary nearby and was very encouraging and even made little jokes as to where we may mess up and how it would take time. But I feel we have it from what I can see. I did slip once this Sunday, but I didn’t hear anyone else.

 

[Equites_Christi]

The worst is when we have to sing “It is right and just”, because half of the people are singing “It is right to give Him thanks and praise.”

Two responses is bad, two melodies is awful!

 

[Melissa]

Well, still using the “cheat cards” and I still hear (and sometimes catch myself) with a hybrid “And also with your spirit”, but mostly it seems like it’s flowing ok.

 

[Pax2u]

We’re about 90% there. Each week you hear someone say “and also with you”…but it’s just one person, not a group. Everyone is really utilizing those cards in the missalette still! Our priest is still having some stumbles, but he is in his mid-80s…it is certainly understandable.

 

[DaveBj]

Mine still doesn’t. Feels like maybe half are still saying “And also with you.” etc., while the other half is saying “And with your spirit.”

It’s like that for all of the new parts, except for the Creed, probably because Father says it along with us, and people pick up the missalettes to read along.

I kind of wish Father would remind everyone before Mass that we are using the new responses. When I visit other parishes they seem to know them much better than ours.

And you?

Ditto our parish. Even Father has the wrong words coming out of his mouth sometimes.

On a different note, the new responses and recitations have taught me that, in spite of my advanced age, I still have my memorization chops

 

[SMHW]

There are still a lot of, “And also with your spirit,” responses at my parish. And they are sometimes accompanied by embarrassed soft chuckles or “D’oh!” faces.

The idea that we have to actually READ along with Mass parts is *not *something that my parish finds easy. And people tend to respond on autopilot.

I know that I myself will be thinking, “It’s almost time for one of those new responses. I’m going to be ready this time.” But then the priest or deacon will speak when I was expecting him to sing or chant in an unfamiliar way. And then I find myself either not knowing what to say at all or automatically responding in the old way.

Overall it is getting better.

 

[acadian]

The daily Mass folks have things pretty well down during the week. At the 4:00 Mass on Saturday, it is still a pretty even mix of “and also with you”. That Mass is mostly our more senior parishioners. 8:30 am on Sunday morning flows much better.

We are all still reading (even Monsignor) the Gloria and the Creed, and probably will be for quite some time.

What has been the biggest awkward silence is at the end of Mass when the priest says, “go in peace”. There is kind of a mumbled, unsure “Thanks be to God.”

 

[Nicea325]

Mine still doesn’t. Feels like maybe half are still saying “And also with you.” etc., while the other half is saying “And with your spirit.”

It’s like that for all of the new parts, except for the Creed, probably because Father says it along with us, and people pick up the missalettes to read along.

I kind of wish Father would remind everyone before Mass that we are using the new responses. When I visit other parishes they seem to know them much better than ours.

And you?

At times I do not blame the people. Many do not keep in-touch with the church in regards to teachings,liturgy,etc,etc,but moreover, simply go to Mass and that is it for the week. Some Catholics were aware of the new translation,thus for this group it was not a shock. Thus, I am shocked many priests did not take the time to explain the changes before they were released in Advent. Our pastor said it verbally before Advent and explained at Advent of the new translation and that everyone should read the Missal in order to get used to the changes. I think the clergy should have explained it all at the masses.

 

[DexUK]

What has been the biggest awkward silence is at the end of Mass when the priest says, “go in peace”. There is kind of a mumbled, unsure “Thanks be to God.”

Oh, isn’t there just? I think it’s because people aren’t sure if Father has actually finished the dismissal or not so they’re waiting for him to say something else before one or two people pluck up the courage to respond.

I must admit, I miss “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord”.

 

[anp1215]

I thought I was getting used to it, then I went to Mass this last weekend and at the very first response I loudly replied “And also w…” and stopped halfway through and probably went a bit pink.

It didn’t help that I have to sit in the front row as my Dad is mobility impaired and finds the communion queue impossible, so there I was, audible to our Parish Priest making a mistake. I think I shrank a little.

Sometimes I think we notice our mistakes more than others! I would not worry about it.

They seem to, but it didn’t take long for the priest and deacons to start fiddling around.

What do you mean? Do they say the wrong words?

The worst is when we have to sing “It is right and just”, because half of the people are singing “It is right to give Him thanks and praise.”

Two responses is bad, two melodies is awful!

I can imagine! You know what I’ve noticed though? I’ve noticed the parts that we sing at my parish (usually we sing “It is right and just” and a couple of the "And with your spirit"s and of course the Gloria) those parts the people don’t seem to mess up on. I hear them saying the wrong thing at the spoken parts. I think it’s because the singing is slower so they have a chance to catch their mistake.

 

[YoungTradCath]

My parish really has it down. Many people still use the cards, though. My recommendation is to have the choir make the responses loudly with the congregation. It helps it to sound better, and eventually, after a few weeks, it will start clicking with people. One of the major reasons why it goes into a lame mumble is because everyone else is doing it. There’s no one else in the background keeping it going, and when two or three people in the congregation mess up, it radiates from that epicenter like a virus and two responses later, everyone sounds like a collection of dying cats. Therefore, to keep everyone in line and to provide continuity, I really, really recommend having your choir make the responses loudly as well. Then, perhaps after another six months or so, they can start to wean off. In the same way, play to the musical ear. Sing the responses. It goes so far with forcing people to get it right. We’ve done both at my parish and probably 95% of the congregation has it down pat.

 

[anp1215]

My parish really has it down. Many people still use the cards, though. My recommendation is to have the choir make the responses loudly with the congregation. It helps it to sound better, and eventually, after a few weeks, it will start clicking with people. One of the major reasons why it goes into a lame mumble is because everyone else is doing it. There’s no one else in the background keeping it going, and when two or three people in the congregation mess up, it radiates from that epicenter like a virus and two responses later, everyone sounds like a collection of dying cats. Therefore, to keep everyone in line and to provide continuity, I really, really recommend having your choir make the responses loudly as well. Then, perhaps after another six months or so, they can start to wean off. In the same way, play to the musical ear. Sing the responses. It goes so far with forcing people to get it right. We’ve done both at my parish and probably 95% of the congregation has it down pat.

That is a good idea.

 

[puzzleannie]

we are okay when everything is spoken, we have the pew cards, but once we start singing or chanting, forget it, noticed the same problem at the pro-life vigil Mass broadcast on EWTN from the National Shrine in Washington

 

[anp1215]

we are okay when everything is spoken, we have the pew cards, but once we start singing or chanting, forget it, noticed the same problem at the pro-life vigil Mass broadcast on EWTN from the National Shrine in Washington

That is so interesting, my parish is the opposite!

 

[Shelda]

We’re half and half. It’s getting better…it would help if our Priest would respond with us. I think he’s still struggling with his changes. At times he’s just gone blank. He’s up there in years and has bad days due to chemo treatments. God bless him.

 

[Brendan]

Ours has it pretty well, I think most people (including myself) still look at the cards for the Nicean Creed.

As soon as the new translation was released and Advent ended, we went back to chanting the Gloria in Latin , so that was nice ( our bishop had requested that all parishes use the new translated Gloria in Nov, so parishes could get used to it. That was kind of silly for our parish, as we normally use the Latin. But obedience calls.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

nope.Still a mix of responses and tentitive singing on the new Gloria - new words and new music. The Holy Holy is better.

We had lots of preparation and lots of practice time (new music started early) but it is stll a big change and folks are going to continue getting confused ( And also with yoooooour spirit ) for awhile yet.

 

[Lunasol]

Mine still doesn’t. Feels like maybe half are still saying “And also with you.” etc., while the other half is saying “And with your spirit.”

It’s like that for all of the new parts, except for the Creed, probably because Father says it along with us, and people pick up the missalettes to read along.

I kind of wish Father would remind everyone before Mass that we are using the new responses. When I visit other parishes they seem to know them much better than ours.

And you?

For the most part people are grasping the new response with ease, while I still hear some people saying the old response.

 

[Phemie]

nope.Still a mix of responses and tentitive singing on the new Gloria - new words and new music. The Holy Holy is better.

We had lots of preparation and lots of practice time (new music started early) but it is stll a big change and folks are going to continue getting confused ( And also with yoooooour spirit ) for awhile yet.

We had no preparation, not even a review of what the changes were going to be. On the Second Sunday in Advent the cards and “Celebrate in Song” appeared in the pews and the Liturgy Coordinator got up at the end of Mass and said that they were there because much of what we’d been saying was changing and the changes could be found in the new material. She went over some new (for us) postures, the sober ‘Sign of Peace’, the need for silence just before Mass. Then the priest got up, thanked her, then pretty much told us to ignore what she’d just said, that the GIRM was just suggestions and we were to continue being the warm, friendly parish we’d always been. We still got no example of the changes in language. When the same priest celebrated the Mass with us for the first time after the implementation of the new Roman Missal, he admitted that he had only ever seen the new translation for the first time the week before when he concelebrated in another parish – quite a contrast with some of the priests we hear about on these boards who were practicing the new Collects and EPs for weeks before the implementation.

The choir picked the worst of the three setting options that we Canadians were given. There’s no way, when you don’t read music, that you can sing Angeles’s setting of the Gloria – even the choir is struggling with it. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your feelings, it’s a responsorial Gloria and the refrain is just slightly less difficult than the verses.

So… mixed responses or no responses and when it comes to singing the Ordinary of the Mass the choir is pretty much on its own.

 

[odile53]

We’re doing much, much better, especially after weekday Mass: I noticed yesterday that Father (a part-time university professor) stopped giving us letter grades after the final “Thanks be to God!” (Since the changes he’s always commented, “I’d give that a C minus,” or another grade, depending on how badly we’d done. The regulars got a kick out of it.) I still smile when I think what a different priest commented after the dismissal but before the recessional on the first Sunday of Advent: “I can just picture God looking down on all the churches in our nation this morning and saying, ‘Aw, look at all my kids! Aren’t they cute when they’re trying so hard to be good?’”