Q: I have been reading your book, In These or Similar Words, and have found it very helpful. I have one question though:
On page 23 as you begin the chapter “In Similar Words,” you write, “The 1973 letter cited above explicitly added the introductions to the penitential act and the Lord’s Prayer. It did not exclude from consideration the invitation to the sign of peace or to Communion” (emphasis mine). However, you never discussed either the invitation to the sign of peace nor the invitation to Communion. My question is: which category do they fall into: the “these” or the “similar words”?
A: You’re right. I should have commented on those. In my view, they fall under the “similar words” category because they are invitational like the dismissal formula.
Also, you can tell from paragraph 22 §3 of the Introduction to the Order of Christian Funerals that from the beginning the Congregation for Divine Worship foresaw the composition of new texts wherever the liturgy provided options – even if the books do not explicitly say, “In these or similar words.”