From 2020, the Holy See has requested a change be made to the wording used in Masses celebrated in the vernacular in English-speaking countries and dioceses. The change concerns the “Collect” prayer (formerly called the “opening prayer”) that is used in the first part of the Mass on both Sundays and weekdays, prayed by the priest celebrant directly before the scriptural readings. This “Collect” prayer, which varies from day to day and Sunday to Sunday, always ends in a similar fashion, the most common form of which has been: “Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.” These words indicate that the whole prayer is made to God the Father through Christ his Son and in (the power of) the Holy Spirit, which is true of all Christian prayer, but here is daily expressed in this fuller form at a key moment of the Eucharistic liturgy.
Since the Second Vatican Council, in Masses celebrated in the vernacular and in English, the expression “one God” has been used as above – wording with which we are all familiar – but the Vatican has now requested that the word “one” be removed in celebration of the Liturgy. The reason for this is that in the normative Latin form of these prayers the word for God, “Deus”, refers in this instance specifically to Jesus Christ, as St Thomas addressed Our Lord after his resurrection, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Historically speaking, the word “Deus” or “God” was inserted into this prayer in view of affirming the divinity of Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, through whom we make our prayer.
The new wording makes this meaning clearer. This slight change (which we might not necessarily notice at first) therefore reflects Catholic Faith regarding Jesus’ divine personhood, and leads us to a renewed affirmation of the truth of Christ, the God-man, who dwells with us in the Eucharistic sacrament – in his body, blood, soul and divinity – and whose sacred teaching is proclaimed week by week in the Holy Scriptures. Following a recent decision of our bishops, this change has now been implemented in South Africa. It has been adopted already in both England and Wales and the United States. Future editions of printed missals will incorporate this change.