...Liturgy
The altar-facing position was,
along with the silent canon and Gregorian Latin chant, distinctive of Catholic
liturgy; its near-disappearance is thus a significant loss. It is liturgically superior
to the people-facing orientation since it clearly puts the priest at the front
of the pilgrim people on route to the Lord. By contrast, facing the people has priest
and people focus on one another rather than on the Lord; it is a static picture.
And yet the altar-facing position is
still the rubric of the Modern Rite of Mass; it is not limited to the
Extraordinary Form.
Gregorian Chant, as developed
by Pope Gregory the Great, is the Catholic Church’s unique contribution to Western
music and, according to Vatican II, retains pride of place in the modern liturgy.
To fail to use chant (and Latin) is to fail in following Vatican II -and to dispense
with the whole of Catholic liturgical Tradition.
Communion on the tongue proclaims
the Host as sacred; it is reminiscent of a mother feeding her child. Conversely,
Communion in the hand reduces receiving Our Lord to the level of receiving a
bus ticket or, at best, grains of the yellow-metal. Communion in the hand only arose
in disobedience to the norms and was permitted by Pope Paul VI (Memoriale Domini, 1969) only in countries
where it had already -and illicitly, begun. Prior to issuing Memoriale Domini Pope Paul had consulted
the Bishops world-wide –those who sat at Vatican II three years earlier- and
they overwhelmingly rejected it. But continuing disobedience by clergy and weak
Bishops ensured its extension to such places as the UK who were not practicing
it prior to 1968 -and who thus abused the permission granted by Memoriale
Domini.
We also need to
return Holy Days to their proper days; not only for the sake of an ordered
calendar but because moving them to Sundays was simply a way of looking away
from the decline of Holy Day attendance rather than reinforcing them.
Vigil Masses too are a
problem: they take focus from the Lord’s Day. Our parish lost no attendees when
we introduced the Extraordinary Form in 2007, but we lost a good number when
moving from a Vigil to a Sunday evening in 2013 because, I was told, “Mass on
Sunday interferes with family time”.
I favour a return to ad orientem for Mass in both Forms and to the
reception of Holy Communion on the tongue in both Forms (as found in both the
1962 and 1970 Missals) but I also favour use of the vernacular for the Liturgy of
the Word in both Forms, with Latin always used for the Proper.
...Parishes without Priests
The laity have an authentic,
irreplaceable vocation given to them by Christ, and it is the evangelisation
(Christianisation) of society. Having lay-leaders diminishes the valuing of that
apostolate, as though only ministry in the sanctuary and work in the committee
room had value. Laity usefully cooperate as Finance Committees, pastoral care
workers, catechists, secretaries, bookkeepers etc, and play an important role
in liturgy (as musicians, servers, readers, sacristans, etc) but their proper apostolate
must be their primary concern.
We need a well-formed laity who value their vocation and are
skilled in its living, and a priesthood that is valued by all as the
continuation of the ministry of Christ the Good Shepherd; as the irreplaceable Bridge
between heaven and earth. Priests themselves need to be prayerful, pure and
pastoral –men who do the truth in charity (the proverbial iron hand in the
velvet glove).
...Catechesis & Evangelisation
Much of contemporary catechesis is a danger to souls since it follows a relativist methodology: “the Church says...what is your opinion?” We have thus taught
our youth to ‘fight’ the Church and the Gospel rather than follow the Church
and the Gospel. Older Catholics, getting nothing but social justice from
pulpits for the last forty years, have for the most part given up the Objective
Truths they were taught in years gone by and are consequently of no help in
realigning our youth. Meanwhile, Bishops seem unable to speak out strongly and
clearly against the evils of contraception, abortion, homosexual pairings,
euthanasia etc. They receive a lot of criticism for this, with some folk saying
the Bishops have abandoned the Catholic Faith. The reality is that no
matter how many and how strong the statements our Bishops make, unless we have
a properly catechised laity active in their proper apostolate in politics, the
media, education, health services, industry, retail life etc., statements by
the Bishops will be powerless to effect any change. We do not need the Bishops to
simply make statements; we need them to catechise the flock for evangelisation of
the world via politics, the media, health care, education etc.
We need a return to teaching the Catechism with a full explanation
of why we teach what we teach, and a critical review of what the secular world teaches.
...Youth Work
While our schools
follow relativist methodology, our youth workers provide a formation that
focuses on social justice issues and worship that is geared towards providing a
jaunty and affirming experience, as though the reason d’être for the liturgy is that God can affirm (applaud) us
and have us applaud ourselves, when in fact liturgy exists to have us adore and
propitiate Him. Today’s youth liturgy is thus an inverted liturgy which misses
the mark. Sadly, it is typical of most parishes too.
We need good solid catechesis for our children, our youth and our
parishes, with a liturgy that focuses on adoring and propitiating God rather
than the affirming and cheering of man.
...Ecumenism
It is good that we
can be on friendly terms with non-Catholic communities and those of other
Faiths, and good that we can work together on social needs and in raising a
common voice for the correcting of social injustices. But to act as though all
religions have equal value and can all give access to salvation is to stand in
contradiction to our entire Tradition. There is but one Church established by God
to hold His authority in teaching, sanctifying and governing souls, and her sacraments
are not inconsequential. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the entire
Christian life; it is the Sacrifice which saves us, and a participation in the
Banquet of Heaven which brings us a pledge of future glory. Would anyone who
truly cares for their fellow man not want to share with him these great and marvellous
gifts of God? Only the man who could happily sit down to steak and potatoes
while his neighbour sat down to rice could be happy about not sharing our
spiritual food too. To proclaim the Church as the one True Church is not about proclaiming
Catholics to be superior Christians, but about proclaiming the riches of the
Church as given by God for the benefit of all -riches we should all want all men to share.
We do need good relationships with all and shared social action
where possible, but we also need a firm adherence to the promotion of the Catholic
Faith as the one True Faith.
...Pastoral Sensitivity
Pastoral Sensitivity is a misnomer, because it is used to mean ‘don’t hurt already hurting people’,
which is pastoral sentimentality, not sensitivity; it is a care that focuses on
the feelings rather than on the soul. True pastoral sensitivity applies the
Church’s teaching in a gentle but firm, clear manner that souls may not be lost;
it does not avoid the Truth which is Christ. Thus the divorced who have entered
a civil union; homosexuals who have entered a civil contract, persons who have
been involved in abortion etc., can be encouraged to continue in a life of
prayer, charity, and Mass attendance -from whence flows grace from the Cross of
Christ; grace which strengthen us in our resolve to live the Christian life and
in the leaving behind of our wounded and wounding past.
We need a pastoral sensitivity which, in gentle but clear tones
and words, explains the Truth of The Faith and the dangers of following ‘self’
rather than the Gospel; pastoral care which remains faithful to Doctrine while encouraging
and supporting souls in doing all that they can to live the life of faith
(pray, attend Mass and live in charity) while petitioning God for the grace of conversion
and healing.
Fantastic. I agree with every word.
ReplyDeleteAlso I think the NO Mass has served to de culturalise the people from the Faith. The Faith needs a fresh incultration into our laity. Why are our congergations so.. . . Middle class?
Thank you, Paul.
DeleteOur congregations have become Middle Class because catechists are teachers; finance committees are those with business experience etc. When we push for lay collaboration there is no place for Joe Bloggs who has no professional skills and often little confidence for public tasks. Being the Church of the common man had been displaced by empowering the few at the expense of the many.
God Bless.