In his Pastoral Letter for the First Sunday in Advent, which is celebrated on 29 November 2009, Bishop Christopher writes:

"My dear friends,

"Advent is with us again. It is above all a season of new beginnings. The liturgy is full of contrasts on this first Sunday. We do indeed have a new beginning as the church enters into a new round of celebrations of the mysteries of her faith and at the same time acknowledges that we are in the end-time. We celebrate God's final and definitive intervention in our history in the Incarnation, and the bringing of that intervention to its conclusion with the second coming of Christ.

"All this will forever point to something always old and always new. The old is the gift of Christ prepared from long ago and which happened 2000 years ago. Christ is always present to us, his people, through his Church and is always inviting us to look beyond this present moment.

"This reflection is true and relevant to us at the beginning of any Advent. I share this with you this year particularly, because within the next 12 to 18 months we shall be introducing our retranslation of the Roman Missal. This will replace the current translation that dates from 1970.

"There are no ritual changes of any consequence to the Missal, but it would be sad to dismiss the change as minor, as only of language. This would diminish the importance of language in our lives and culture - and hence in our worship.

"In one way or another, language is a part of our identity. And that identity is of great importance when we worship God. Phrases which we use often that express our faith rightly assume an importance that must not be underestimated. This means that we need to prepare for this retranslation and give ourselves time to reflect on it. We should also use the opportunity to reflect on how we celebrate the Mass together week in and week out."

Bishop Christopher goes on to outline some of the steps being taken in preparation for the introduction of the new translation in the diocese and the anticipated timetable for the Missal being ready for use.

To read Bishop Christopher's Pastoral Letter in full, please click on the attachment below.