Life
Teen gears up for new changes
By Justin
Gimotea
Magis staff writer
The Catholic
Church is gearing up for changes in the Life Teen Mass that
will affect thousands of faithful teens across the nation.
The changes come as a result of Church’s decision to
ensure that the Life Teen Mass fully adheres to the revised
General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM). The GIRM provides
specific instructions concerning the proper celebration of
Mass. Pope John Paul II released the newest version of it
in 2000 that affected all liturgies.
Although the GIRM was introduced to the United States in 2000,
it is only recently that Church officials have requested implementation
of the GIRM specifically in the Life Teen Masses. The deadline
for these new changes in all parishes is October 1, 2004.
Msgr. Dale J. Fushek, the founder of the Life Teen youth movement,
discusses the changes the Life Teen Mass will undergo. The
first major change is “teens are no longer to enter
the sanctuary for the Eucharistic prayer. Being in the sanctuary
is reserved for the priest celebrant, concelebrants, and those
performing a specific ministry.”
Also, “We are to cease using the phrase ‘The Mass
never ends, it must be lived’ and begin using one of
the three prescribed endings found in the Missal.”
The three accepted prescribed endings are: “Go in the
peace of Christ,” “Go in peace to love and serve
the Lord,” or “The Mass is ended, go in peace,”
to which the congregation answers, “Thanks be to God.”
The changes also require that there be a period of silence
to begin the liturgical celebration after music practice or
welcoming, and that the music does not in any way detract
from the action at the altar, ambo, or chair.
These new changes will definitely impact many teens that have
developed a real love for the uniqueness of the Life Teen
Mass. Nonetheless, Church officials are standing by their
decision. In a Catholic News Service article, Msgr. James
Moroney, the director of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee
on Liturgy, says, “Life Teen is like a precious gem
in the Church’s crown. But even gems and jewels sometimes
need to get polished and even have their settings rearranged.”
Is the Church really just trying to polish one of the brightest
jewels of the church, or does Life Teen really need some adjustments?
Life Teen youth are showing varying opinion towards the changes.
Senior Paolo Puccini says, “I don’t believe the
changes to the Life Teen Mass are needed at all and that this
is an example where Rome is trying to overly assert their
power without realizing the impact Life Teen has had.”
The Church has made it clear that their intention in implementing
these changes is to establish uniformity with the way Mass
is celebrated universally.
Junior Kelly Halaszyn responds, “Being Catholic in itself
is being Universal.”
He feels that these changes take away from what the Mass truly
is. He adds, “The Mass is a celebration, and by not
allowing us to be on the altar praising His name takes away
from the celebration.”
Puccini asserts that “Mass needs to be dynamic enough
to engage the teens of today, and providing a special opportunity
to witness the consecration up close, or giving a special
reminder to teens to live the message of the Mass joyfully
in life is more important.”
Halaszyn and Puccini represent the Life Teen population that
would rather not have the new changes implemented, but there
is another side to the issue.
Seniors Michael Gillespie and Michael Wegenka represent the
Life Teen population that embraces the new changes.
Gillespie comments, “I like the idea of being closer
to the altar during the consecration, but by the time I receive
communion I become very distracted as a result of the mob
approaching the Eucharistic minister. The lack of structure
sometimes makes it hard to concentrate on the sacrifice."
Perhaps this is an example for the Church’s reasoning
for these rules.
Wegenka sees the tradition of the Church as being one of its
greatest assets and he asserts that breaking from that sacred
tradition is “simply not acceptable under any circumstances.”
Although he says this, he gives credit to the benefits of
Life Teen and cites that a balance is needed, but that a happy
medium is possible.
In regards to the Church’s intentions for uniformity,
Wegenka responds, “I think that the changes are needed
because when the Church can't even celebrate the sacrament
that Jesus taught us in a consistent and universal way, then
we are missing out on part of the communion that Jesus wished
for all of his followers to have.”
Teen opinion towards the upcoming changes seems to center
on two key issues. One opinion focuses on the pastoral aspect
of the Life Teen Mass outweighing the Church’s intention
behind the changes. The second opinion affirms the Church’s
intentions to establish a consistent and universal Mass.
Whatever teen opinion may be, the Church still calls its teenagers,
the future of the Church, to take on these changes with a
spirit of joy. Lifeteen.com offers some great words: “As
always, the most important thing is to remember is the mission
of LIFE TEEN: to help teens to embrace Jesus and his Church
and obediently respond! All change is hard, but Christ is
the one unchanging center to our lives, and the Church is
the way we follow to be led to the cross of Jesus.”
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