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Turn Down the Static at Mass
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| 12-01-05
| Bishop Paul S. Loverde
Posted on 12/01/2005 10:07:56 AM PST by Salvation
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Turn Down the Static at Mass
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12/1/05
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As of this past Sunday, we have embarked together on a new liturgical year. So we might ask ourselves: What goals are we setting for ourselves spiritually?
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What will we do differently during this liturgical year which might draw us closer in friendship to our Lord? What practices might we deepen?
We need not necessarily set "new" spiritual goals for this coming year. Our goals need not be far-flung. Rather than speak of "new" goals, we might then view it as a "fresh start" upon a steady and sure foundation.
If we are already prayerfully participating in Mass, in the partaking of the Eucharist, and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, then a firm foundation exists. As Pope Benedict recently said, "Through your love for the Eucharist you will also rediscover the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in which the merciful goodness of God always allows us to make a fresh start in our lives" (World Youth Day homily). However, if we are not participating in the sacramental life of the Church, then the goals for the coming year are clear.
Yet allow me to offer a few suggestions at the outset of this new liturgical year.
Prayerful Silence within Church
To say that our attention span and other certain norms of civility in our society have eroded in recent decades is a truism. In our media-saturated age, I have not been alone in noticing an increasingly common and constant "buzz" at events such as banquets or lectures, even as the keynote speaker delivers his or her address. We seem ever more uneasy with silence, with that age-old precondition for prayer and meditation.
Has this "static" entered our sanctuaries and our devotional lives?
The Church is in the world, yet not of it. Let us ask ourselves how, in this new liturgical year, we might imbue our parishes with a renewed respect for Him Who is really present in the Eucharist. A reverent attitude when we enter our churches speaks volumes to our children, to non-Catholics who might be in attendance, to our Lord.
By no means am I saying that brief, respectful greetings cannot take place within our churches; after all, how can we not acknowledge our brothers and sisters with a loving welcome? Yet in light of what we are gathering to celebrate, we need to be able to limit our talking, turn off our cell phones, and make the most of our time to pray in the Lords presence.
If we are not listening, how can we enter into the banquet prepared for us? As Pope Benedict recently said to those gathered at World Youth Day, "Let us discover the intimate riches of the Church's liturgy and its true greatness: it is not we who are celebrating for ourselves, but it is the living God Himself who is preparing a banquet for us."
Prepare, Be on Time Even Early
When I was growing up, my family had a simple approach to preparing for Mass on Sunday mornings. Saturday evenings, I recall, brought a certain calm and reverence as my parents readied our "Sunday best" for the following morning. On Sunday mornings, we prayed, ate together, and usually arrived five to 10 minutes early to Mass to kneel in prayer.
Recognizing the Urgent Need to Pray
Good habits take time to build, and bad habits are hard to break. So how might we persuade and remind ourselves of the need to prepare for Mass and enter our churches in a spirit of prayerful reverence?
To answer this question, may I suggest taking a brief look around the church as you enter? You may notice children and teens, and ponder how greatly they stand in need of our prayers amidst the pressures and temptations of our age. You may see a single parent, and bring his or her burdens before the Lord in prayer. You may notice the elderly, and then commit to praying more regularly for those who often suffer loneliness atop their physical ailments. You may notice a family, and praise the Lord for new life and for the compelling witness of the Christian family in our age.
Ultimately such prayerful attention before and during Mass may bear unexpected fruit in our lives. Our eyes will be opened. As Pope Benedict put it so beautifully, "If we think and live according to our communion with Christ, then our eyes will be opened" (World Youth Day homily).
May every season of this new liturgical year find us increasingly attentive, reverent, and responsive to the call of Jesus Christ. (Bishop Paul S. Loverde is the Bishop of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. His column appears courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.) |
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KEYWORDS: attendingmass; church; needtopray; ontime; prayer; reverence; silence
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For your consideration and discussion.
1
posted on
12/01/2005 10:07:57 AM PST
by
Salvation
To: nickcarraway; sandyeggo; Siobhan; Lady In Blue; NYer; american colleen; Pyro7480; livius; ...
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2
posted on
12/01/2005 10:09:17 AM PST
by
Salvation
(†With God all things are possible.†)
To: Salvation
To His Excellency's suggestions, I might add:
1) Take notice of the priest(s) and perhaps habited sisters. Pray that they may have the Grace to faithfully fulfill their vocations.
2) Take notice of the teenagers and young adults. Pray that they will have the Grace to discern, accept, and follow whatever vocation God is calling them to.
3
posted on
12/01/2005 10:17:37 AM PST
by
ArrogantBustard
(Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
To: Salvation
Some wonderful suggestions from Bishop Loverde. They would certainly go a long way to imbuing the Liturgy with prayerful worship!
I recall a few years ago when our former pastor, dressed in his cassock, would walk the aisles of the church between Masses (obviously, at Masses where he was not the celebrant). Those who tended to treat these times as jovial social occasions, upon seeing him, would usually clam up. Anyone who didn't get the message would be gently reminded that this was a house of prayer, not an episode of "Cheers." It made a difference!
4
posted on
12/01/2005 10:27:09 AM PST
by
COBOL2Java
(The Katrina Media never gets anything right, so why should I believe them?)
To: Salvation; Petronski; fortunecookie
I've not been able to calm down my mind and focus in the past but since getting into yoga and walking without headphones I can. I don't need to even carry books with me to church now. I just walk in and pray. I used to be very bad about concentration in church.
5
posted on
12/01/2005 10:31:27 AM PST
by
cyborg
(I'm on the 24 plan having the best day ever.)
To: Salvation
People need to be taught how to behave at Mass: no talking during it - and this includes people who actually seem to think it's okay to chat on their cell phones during Mass!; people should stay in their seats until the priest and servers have left the church; and they shouldn't do things like file their nails during Mass. I kid you not, I saw this a couple of weeks ago.
I think this is partly connected to the VatII liturgy, however. The horizontalism that is implicitly part of it and shows up in things like the "handshake of peace," which takes about 10 minutes and requires running all over the church grinning, the greeting "Good Morning" or even "Hi" when the priest enters, etc. has had its effect and I suspect many people do think of it as merely another social occasion.
6
posted on
12/01/2005 10:37:44 AM PST
by
livius
To: Salvation
Good message, always timely!
To: livius
I think this is partly connected to the VatII liturgy, however. I think you make too much of that ... it is, however, very much a part of the much touted, spurious "spirit of vatican II", in which liturgial abusers discourage a sense of sacredness in anything. It's thoroughly possible for the "new" Mass to be offered in a dignified, Christ centered manner, and many real-world examples exist.
Contrary to opinion popular in some circles, the opening words of the Mass are "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit", not "Good Morning".
8
posted on
12/01/2005 11:15:36 AM PST
by
ArrogantBustard
(Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
To: Salvation
It is our responsibility to enter Church solely for the celebration of the Unbloody Sacrifice of our Lord, Jesus Christ at Calvary.
Too many enter to discuss this week's fashions and what happened at school. There are others who are in the state of mummification from beginning to end except when they walk up for the Eucharist.
I believe that the majority of the attendees really do not know what the Mass is all about except it is something we do on Sunday, if we are lucky.
When was the last time you saw a head bow during the Creed for the Holy Spirit, or a head bow for Jesus' name, or the concentration of the eyes on the elevation of the Eucharist.
Of course, many of these things were never taught the laity. I am glad I was raised in the '30s
The first thing a parishioner should do upon kneeling in a pew is to ask the Holy Spirit to be at this Mass
9
posted on
12/01/2005 11:20:40 AM PST
by
franky
(Pray for the souls of the faithful departed.)
To: Salvation
A reverent attitude when we enter our churches speaks volumes to our children, to non-Catholics who might be in attendance, to our Lord.****************
Excellent article. Thanks for posting it.
10
posted on
12/01/2005 11:36:29 AM PST
by
trisham
(Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
To: ArrogantBustard
I wish the bishops would issue an instruction to that effect. Last week, the priest opened with those words - and then suddenly went into folksy mode, said Good Morning, gave a completely clueless summary of his idea of what the Gospel was about (no idea why that has started appearing at Masses now), and told us to all turn around and greet each other. You can imagine the effect.
I agree that the VatII Mass does not have to be horrible. But the only good parts of it are the parts that remain from the Tridentine Rite. I also agree that the Tridentine Rite needed a bit of cleaning up here and there, and originally many of us thought that was all the NO was going to be - a tweaking, reflecting the suggestions of various scholarly and perfectly orthodox liturgical reformers in the early 20th century, and a translation of at least parts into the vernacular.
To add insult to injury, what we have in the US isn't even a translation; it's a selective paraphrase.
11
posted on
12/01/2005 11:50:26 AM PST
by
livius
To: livius
ast week, the priest opened with those words - and then suddenly went into folksy mode, One might begin to suspect that he's been the victim of some sort of brainwashing ... or maybe some malicious alien mind-parasite has taken him over < /paranoid SciFi mode>
But the only good parts of it are the parts that remain from the Tridentine Rite.
I believe the best part of the new Rite is the greatly expanded lessons from the Sacred Scriptures. If the priest uses "Eucharistic Prayer I" it's otherwise basically a stripped down (perhaps too stripped down) Tridentine Mass. Except that:
what we have in the US isn't even a translation; it's a selective paraphrase.
and an abhominable paraphrase, at that.
12
posted on
12/01/2005 11:56:59 AM PST
by
ArrogantBustard
(Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
To: Salvation
13
posted on
12/01/2005 12:21:21 PM PST
by
Ciexyz
(Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
To: COBOL2Java
Those who tended to treat these times as jovial social occasions, upon seeing him, would usually clam up.
***
I'd like to see this in my parish. This past Sunday, right before Mass, I was straining to hear the instructions from the cantor regarding what we would be singing. Straining because there was a man who had walked down the side aisle and then stopped to talk with someone in a loud voice. I wanted to shush him, and then I realized that it was the pastor!
14
posted on
12/01/2005 2:36:57 PM PST
by
Bigg Red
(Do not trust Democrats with national security!)
To: Salvation
Here is what our bulletin has said these past two Sundays:
This time (before Mass begins) is to be used to meditate on the liturgical celebration. It is not a time for private prayer of any kind. In silent stillness we will start to become more attuned to those around us, to celebrate our oneness - to understand our ministry (ie the ministry of the "assembly")
Is anyone else getting similar rubbish? I am wondering where these liturgical terrorists are getting this template.
15
posted on
12/01/2005 2:47:25 PM PST
by
jobim
To: Salvation
Thanks that hit the mark.
16
posted on
12/01/2005 3:20:19 PM PST
by
ex-snook
("Come behold the deeds of the Lord, the astounding things he has wrought on earth.")
To: Salvation
This is the decision I made with firm resolve the other day. It started as just the resolve to love one person for what she is and where she is and I have expanded it to my whole life. I will not complain, I will not even notice how anyone else chooses to worship. I will talk to them about my faith if they are open. I will lead by example as best I can with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Perfection is reserved for Heaven and someday I hope to be there but I live in the world and it is far from perfect and I can't let the world hamper my journey. Hopefully I can help others on their journey too but that is also up to God. There is a reason we are in the world and there is a reason God didn't create us perfect. There are reasons why the Church isn't perfect either. God knows those reasons, I don't.
17
posted on
12/01/2005 3:40:51 PM PST
by
tiki
To: Salvation
Except about LIBERAL politicians!!!!!!!!!!
18
posted on
12/01/2005 3:41:51 PM PST
by
tiki
To: livius
"The horizontalism that is implicitly..."
From an 18 year old in Wisconsin (me):
Indeed. i don't much like horizontalism in Mass. At my Church, 1/2 the people show up 5 minutes before Mass, about 1/4 of the people leave after Communion, and another 1/4 leave as Father is walking out (before he is out of the Church). It's very sad.
Oh, and walking around that parking lot after Mass is hazardous to one's safety.
To: cyborg
It is easy to forget that prayer, like anything else, takes practice.
I find that praying in front of the sacrament during adoration helps me to focus and helps to improve my ability to pray at other times.
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