It might. It just might, especially where there is a celebrant who has the gravitas to say the Mass with reverence and invoke respect for the Body and Blood of Christ.
But, in the majority of cases we are still facing an intransigent laity who refuse to listen to the messages emanating from Rome; who are so bound up in their own secular pleasures of guitar music, happy clappy singing, hand holding and kiss of peace embracing that the sensitivities of language, reverence and content will pass them by.
They will be aided and abetted, of course, by Father Smirk and his wonderful way of starting the Mass by turning his back on the Almighty in order to grin inanely and say: "Good morning everybody."
That is why, regretfully, I shall not be beating a path to the Ordinary Form of Mass. I do believe that, over the past 50 years or so, some people (priests and laity) have lost sight of what the Mass is about. There is a belief that now the Mass is about "ME"........and what "I" can get out of it. A jolly good sing song. A bit of "look at me, I'm on the sanctuary" or, worse, "I'm a special minister" (Ministerium Extraordinarium more like). A feeling that the worship of God and the re-enactment of the sacrifice on Calvary have been overlooked in the rush to 'modernise' and tailor the liturgy to suit one's own ego.
The great Archbishop Sheen, when speaking of how young people described attending Mass as "not getting anything out of it" used to say to them: "But you're not bringing anything to the Mass!" And that is true today. Congregations have forgotten to 'bring' anything with them. They have forgotten that they are there to witness a sacrifice, not a celebratory meal; they have forgotten that the Mass should be a complete and unchanging means of bearing testimony to Christ and His teachings; an opportunity for us to have a more intimate dialogue with the Holy Trinity so that we may confide our fears and make our requests in more august surroundings than the living room or kitchen. And they have forgotten that they are there to worship, love and revere God, and you cannot do that effectively by singing "I wish I was a wiggly worm" or dancing around the sanctuary in flowing robes.
So it is not the New Translation that I have issue with. It is the fact that human pride will continue to reveal itself by those who refuse to kneel to receive the Body of Christ, those who distort the liturgy and those who chatter both before and after Mass. I have nothing in common with them; I am a Catholic!
But, in the majority of cases we are still facing an intransigent laity who refuse to listen to the messages emanating from Rome; who are so bound up in their own secular pleasures of guitar music, happy clappy singing, hand holding and kiss of peace embracing that the sensitivities of language, reverence and content will pass them by.
 |
| Photo: Rorate Coeli Sorry, but I have nothing in common with these people! |
That is why, regretfully, I shall not be beating a path to the Ordinary Form of Mass. I do believe that, over the past 50 years or so, some people (priests and laity) have lost sight of what the Mass is about. There is a belief that now the Mass is about "ME"........and what "I" can get out of it. A jolly good sing song. A bit of "look at me, I'm on the sanctuary" or, worse, "I'm a special minister" (Ministerium Extraordinarium more like). A feeling that the worship of God and the re-enactment of the sacrifice on Calvary have been overlooked in the rush to 'modernise' and tailor the liturgy to suit one's own ego.
The great Archbishop Sheen, when speaking of how young people described attending Mass as "not getting anything out of it" used to say to them: "But you're not bringing anything to the Mass!" And that is true today. Congregations have forgotten to 'bring' anything with them. They have forgotten that they are there to witness a sacrifice, not a celebratory meal; they have forgotten that the Mass should be a complete and unchanging means of bearing testimony to Christ and His teachings; an opportunity for us to have a more intimate dialogue with the Holy Trinity so that we may confide our fears and make our requests in more august surroundings than the living room or kitchen. And they have forgotten that they are there to worship, love and revere God, and you cannot do that effectively by singing "I wish I was a wiggly worm" or dancing around the sanctuary in flowing robes.
So it is not the New Translation that I have issue with. It is the fact that human pride will continue to reveal itself by those who refuse to kneel to receive the Body of Christ, those who distort the liturgy and those who chatter both before and after Mass. I have nothing in common with them; I am a Catholic!
I can see why you're pessimistic, but..
ReplyDeleteWhere do you start, where do you stop? St Augustine has this somewhere, and it's related to the sower parable. If I'm in the church, it IS about ME,to begin with that's my fallen human nature. St augustine had foxhole conversion, people who got ill and got frightened, so rushed to God.Who wouldn't? Some get better, and go home again,others stay. Or what Id understood as a broadly-known standard theological figure, the jerk out of selfcentred content, which MAY involve a first (but not onlythe first ,nor longlasting, ) step which might be in itself objectively sinful, which the Holyfather's book referred to condom use in a particular case.
Just so the most scandalous of spiritually and morally en-light-ed congregations are at least THERE to be gently etc, towards the same word another "en" put back.
The stone which the buiders scorned will again become the corner stone. In every generation.
"we are still facing an intransigent laity who refuse to listen to the messages emanating from Rome; who are so bound up in their own secular pleasures of guitar music, happy clappy singing, hand holding and kiss of peace embracing that the sensitivities of language, reverence and content will pass them by."
ReplyDeleteSorry- but this isn't my picture of the Church at all. True. Things may be far from ideal but I don't think you can blame the laity for that! There may be exceptions but wherever I have seen the kind of thing you mention, over the last forty or so years, it has been clergy or religious who have pushed it. The habitual tendency of the laity is one of early grumbles followed by acquiesence. Recent events in Ireland and elsewhere are instructive. It is clergy who are threatening to boycott the new translation.
Patricius - come to my part of Wales! The parishes are run by committees of lay people who largely dictate what takes place. Of course, there is culpability amongst the clergy also.
ReplyDeleteI'm rather with Patricius on this one. The clergy ceded their priestly authority through overwork, or lack of spine or sheer laziness.
ReplyDeleteThe committees are full of people with more time on their hands than is good for them.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteParish committees can only make recommendations to the priest. The priest is still lord and master of every decision concerning the liturgy.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, the biggest problem is a problem of priestly cowardice in front of lay ingerence and activism.
The fish stinks from the head down. The priest can't pass the buck by hiding behind the finger of the parish committee (or however it is called).
Mundabor
What is the date of this picture?
ReplyDelete