I am fairly excited about the new translation of the Mass. I am not any kind of liturgical fetishist, but the errors that made their way into the current translation of the Novus Ordo Mass are fairly irritating. I am fairly interested to see some of these issues addressed and seeing some of the 'touchy-feely' stuff removed or improved.
I am particularly happy that we will be saying 'I believe' during the Nicene Creed, rather than 'we believe.' It may be a petty issue, but it really does seem to decentralize the whole premise of the Creed. Also credo in Latin is I believe, not we believe.
Of course, the biggest problem has to do with the Prayer of Consecration:
“Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice [previously "cup"] of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many [previously "for all men"] for the forgiveness of sins.”
Now, the distinction between 'for many' and 'for all men' should be pretty clear. This is a direct rejection of universal salvation, which is one of the oldest and most serious doctrinal errors. Christ is very specific that not everyone is going to be saved (in fact, He describes Himself as a 'narrow gate', certainly implying that all of us will not be getting through it).
Some may say that this is mean-spirited and divisive, but it is simply an assertion of the importance of the Faith. If everyone is saved, then there is no reason to adhere to a particular teaching or particular tenets. If this were the case, then there would be no purpose in the Church and Christ would not have bothered to establish it. Of course, if you don't believe in the Church or Christ, then you won't care one way or the other (in fact, it is likely that you would find universal salvation more appealing); however, one must remember that this is actually the wording in the Catholic Mass.
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