One of the stated goals or missions of The Pilot is to provide information on the life of the Church at the parish, archdiocesan, national, and international levels. Another is to provide formation for our readers, the parish families, and the archdiocesan family. Not infrequently, there may be overlap; at other times, there are clear distinctions.

With "ongoing formation" in mind and responding to the recent request of Pope Francis for the ongoing formation of all the Church in her liturgical life, this article initiates a new occasional column to be titled Formed in Christ.

The title is inspired by the Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians, in which he prays that the Christian community prosper and grow "until Christ be formed in you."

"Formed" is passive; that is, it indicates that someone else is doing the forming. In the case of Roman Catholics, we believe that Christ is forming us through the Church's prayer.

"In" can have multiple meanings or intentions. Prepositions are inevitably small words that, strategically placed, can have a significant effect on the meaning of a whole phrase. Here, it is Christ forming us, individually and jointly, "into" his image. "In" can also mean that our acceptance of Christ's invitation to join him in his praise of his and our Father is a school of faith and witness.

"Christ" is the leader of all the Church's worship. Catholic prayer is always Trinitarian and ecclesial: raised to the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit; and in the Church. This may not be any more clearly told to us than when Jesus, teaching his disciples how to pray, taught them and us to call his Father, Our Father. (Cf. Matthew 6:9-13.)

In this column, various topics, issues, rites, spirituality, questions, and observations about our common public prayer, our liturgy, our divine worship will be offered for our readers' own prayer and we're all hoping a renewed participation on the Church's worship.

In a little more than a year -- Dec. 4, 2023 to be exact -- we'll be observing the 60th anniversary of the first document issued by the Second Vatican Council, its Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy -- "Sacrosanctum Concilium."

With the reforms requested by the council and the intensive post-conciliar work, which resulted in the promulgation of the new liturgical books for the Mass (Roman Missal and Lectionary); for the other sacraments, for the Liturgy of the Hours, and for other rituals in the Church's library of the liturgy, the responsibility for the implementation of these reforms relies most especially on bishops and their primary collaborators, the priests. But all the popes since St. Paul VI have insisted that the ongoing formation of all of us in the liturgical life is of paramount importance.

As we kick off the column, our first few topics will be guided by the liturgical seasons, the first, Advent and Christmas. The appearance of new liturgical texts or better newly translated texts will mean information about the new books but also a brief review of their contents. The new Order of Penance will be appearing in February 2023; while the new Order of Christian Initiation of Adults will probably arrive later in that year.

Eventually, different authors will be invited based on their expertise and interest.

Additional resources related to a particular topic will be suggested. These might be links to online resources, books, webinars, and announcements of the availability of new texts and where parishes and individuals can purchase them.

We'll also have a Q and A option. The email address for the column will be formed@TheBostonPilot.com. Questions can be submitted there and will be answered individually or they may lead to a future column. That email address is also the best way to let us know about issues, concerns, or suggestions of future columns.

Our archdiocese has a wonderful history of participation in shaping the prayer of the Church. While it is always dangerous to list names as inevitably some may be omitted, your scribe could be forgiven for mentioning by name one of the true giants of the liturgical renewal, a priest of our archdiocese, an expert at the Second Vatican Council and consultor on subsequent liturgical work by the Holy See: the late Msgr. Frederick R. McManus. His 100th birthday would have been on Feb. 23, 2023. Pray that this faithful and loyal son of Lynn is now celebrating the liturgy that never ends.