Whose Mass is It?

Book excerpt: Whether or not adult Catholics attend Mass regularly, they strongly bond with it. Within a single generation, English-speaking Catholics experienced the Second Vatican Council's authorization for the fi rst overhaul of the liturgy in four hundred years, and then, in 2011, they prepared for and implemented a revised vernacular translation. Each of these two events awakened strong feelings-and no small amount of lament from other Christian bodies who share the basic structure and content of the Roman Catholic Mass-as people gradually became aware that someone else's decision was going to affect the cornerstone of their spiritual life. In Whose Mass Is It? Paul Turner examines the impact of the Mass, the connections it makes, and its purpose in the lives of believers.