The creed

since the beginning of the Advent season, we have introduced and have been using the 3rd edition of the Roman Missal.

By now, I am surethere are plenty who have grumbled in its use. Many of the "old Timers" probably whine and wonder why the changes, why not just keep it as it was.

Change is often like an avalanche upon the head.

We do not deal well with it.

The translations are a improvement to our previous attempt at understanding the Latin Text. The new changes are a more precise rendition of what the Church has been praying in Latin for centuries.

We should all want to Give God our best attempt.


Let us look at the creed for instance. There are some changes in our profession of faith that I think are instrumental in our faith life.

We believe/I believe

The first noticable change is we now start the creed with "I believe" as suppose to "we believe."

The Latin was always Credo in unum Deum. The first person singular. This is an important translation correction.

We must rememeber tha faith must truly become our own before we can ever share it is a community. We cannot give what we do not possess. What makes us a community of believers is the fact that each of us profess the same faith, "I" believe. It is the the "I" of the profession that makes way for the "we" of the community.

We have a responsibilty to make sure we understand what we each individually profess.

For too long we have just gone about business as usual without really thinking our faith profession through. Now is the time.

Seen and unseen/ visible and invisible
The second noticable change is tha we now profess God is maker of all things "visible and invisible" where as before is was seen and unseen.

Just a quick glance and we discover that to say something is invisible is not the same as being unseen.

There are many things that remain unseen to the naked eye yet are a very visible part of reality.

Think about bacteria for an instant. Think about pollen and mold. These things are very visble and cause a great deal of havoc in our life yet they are also unseen.

My truck, the white toyata that I drive around, is unseen to all of you reading this, but remains very visible.

The church wants make sure we are precise in our language of faith. Our Faith isin a God who creates all that is visible and invisible. There are many things that are invisible yet very real: angels for one, but God himself is invisible for he is immaterial. Think about the wind, it is invisible yet we know it by its effects.

This is humbling for us. Reality does not depend on what we can see or not see. In fact, reality is greater than what meets the eye.

This is what we stand on, this is what we build our foundation of faith on. We do not see everything,a nd what a relief for us.

consubstantial/one in being

When we profess our faith in Jesus Christ, we use to say, "God from God, light form light, True God from ture God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father" but now we say "consubstantial with the Father."

The word consubstantial replaces "one in being." One in being is a good phrase but it is not precise enough. We talk abot people being one in being with other all the time. Often times we use this to describe couples who are married, we say they are "one in being with each other." Let's face couples who have been together for soem time, think the same, liek the same things, the even begin to look the same.

They truly are one in being with each other. This is a great phrase for husbands and wives but not clear enough to understand the relationship between Jesus and God the Father.

Consubstantial is the word used by the council of Nicea 325 to try to penetrate the great mystery and reality that JEsus is true God, that he is the same stuff as the Father. IT is a difficult word becasue it is a difficult reality.

IT should be jarring every time we profess it, again so that we really think about what we are saying and praying. The fact that Jesus is God is the source of our Hope.

We can not fully comprehend this revelation but we can pray it and profess it.

Incarnate/ born

Prior to this year Advent Season, when we got to the part of the Creed "by the Holy SPirit he was, we would profess, "born" of the virgin MAry. But since Advent we now pray, "incarnate" of the Virgin MAry.

The word "incarnate" is not the same as "born". This is really important. When we profess that JEsus is incarnate of the virgin Mary, we are professing the reality that God becomes flesh at the moment of conception, not just at birth. This is a pro-life profession of faith. Life begins the moment the cells begin to multiply and the baby begins to be formed in the womn of his mother.

When does God enter our time and place in history, the moment he is conceived in his mother's womb.

This is instrumental for us.

How often we expect God to do amazing thngs to make himseld known. How oftenw e demand God to act in concrete and powerful ways so that we can believe in him. How often have we asked him heal this person or that, to change this relaity or that in order for us to truly believe. Yet the "incarnation" at conception points to a very important part of life.

God will come suddenly but often times he comes quietly and hidden.

God was enetering our history and time when JEsus was conceived in his mother's womb but yet no one was the wiser. Quietly and hidden God intervened. IT took 9 months for us to really get a handle of just how God acts, it took 9 months befoe the angels proclaimed to the shepherds, "this child is Emmanuel, God with us."

Just becasue we don't see God acting doesn't mean it isn't acting, behind the seens, in clear sight for all.

I look for/I look forward

the very last line of the creed has also undergone some change. We now profess, "I look forward to the resurrection of the dead" whereas before we professed "I look for the resurrection of the dead."

These are not the same. To look forward to something is slightly different than looking for something. We look for things all the time with a little certainty that we might find it. We look for our keys when they are lost, we look for our car when it is misplaced in a parking lot. But to look forward to something adds a little certainty to out step.

We don't just look for the ressurection of the dead but we look forward to this reality, which indicates a new level of awarenss that is fixed on certainty, one like us ahd already risen from the dead.

This is our hope, this is our expectation.

What we expect begins to be a motivation for our action. It should move us to live differently; it should shape our behavior and how we relate.

Poep Benedict tells us the one who expects nothing, can no longer live. We expect everything.

This is a fundamental reality and a ground of hope and thus a source of motivation for us as believers. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead, thus, we live with great expectations filled with certainty in Christ.

again these are justa few of the chnages we have introduced in to our liturgy. Be thankful, for they are a gift of the Holy SPirit tot eh Church at this time and thus remain a gift for all of us who gather to pray.