It isn’t exactly the same, however. The Vatican required some changes in wording of the NAB for use in the Liturgy. If you read the texts side by side each week as I do, you can quickly tell the differences. It seems the actual NAB is too PC in a couple of areas especially in terms of gender neutrality, and in downplaying martial or “violent” language (e.g., “contend” rather than “fight”, etc.).
It should be noted that the Vatican requires changes to ALL vernacular translations for use in the Liturgy.
The reason is that the readings from Scripture during the Mass come from the Lectionary and not directly from any Bible translation. The Lectionary that all vernacular Mass translations must adjust their wording to is, of course, in Latin. Along with phraseology that aids in helping listeners get the Catholic sense of tradition from the readings, these sections contain what are known as “pericopes” which contain introductions to the Lectionary readings to give us a setting. No vernacular translation reads exactly the way the Lectionary reads in the Latin, not even the RSV:CE 2nd Edition (since it does not have the pericope introductions–called “incipits”–in its text).
It is a common mistake made by many Catholics that the changes required for the NAB to be used for Mass is due to “inclusive language.” The fact is that the changes required to the NAB for Lectionary use are not of this sort. The changes are made to ensure that the reading in the vernacular sounds as close to what is in the Latin Lectionary in the setting of the most familiar or official text in the target language.
I have read here and seen too many Catholics accuse the NAB of using the expression “brothers and sisters,” an expression that causes those who complain to, as one person put it, ‘set their teeth on end.’
Guess what? That expression and others like it in the Lectionary Mass readings aren’t from the NAB!
To illustrate, the reading for today’s Mass, Friday of the 29th Week in Ordinary Time is from Romans 7:18-25a, which, in the Lectionary begins:
Brothers and sisters: I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh.
However, the NAB does
not use the expression “brothers and sisters” here. In fact, it NEVER does throughout its text as does other newer translations like the NRSV:CE.
Compare the Mass readings with the NAB and you will be surprised that most of the inclusive terms you read or hear during Mass never occur in this often maligned-by-its-own translation.
The preface to the Revised Edition of the New Testament of the NAB states that while the designation “bretheren” can include men and women, “this translation [the NAB] retain the usage
brothers.”
The “brothers and sisters” that we hear at Mass comes from the Lectionary and is a translation from the Latin text. You won’t find it in the NAB.
There are many examples, too many to place here, that show that much of the complaints about the NAB being “too PC” are based on readings from the Lectionary and not taken directly from the NAB or the NABRE itself.
Most Catholics are often surprised to learn that the preface to the NAB New Testament and the actual text that follows is not inclusified in the manner they believe. This is sad because it shows that many of us have not read the NAB and the NABRE on its own terms, not even being familiar with the preface.
