Attentive children will hear the words "may the Lord accept the SACRIFICE at your hands..." during Mass, plus the references to offerings during the eucharistic canon.
The fact that the priest faces the congregation throughout the New Mass makes it appear much more like the priest is talking to the congregation, rather than to God. Children see this.
If your children can not distinguish to whom the priest is praying, when most prayers start "Father..." or "Lord..." then I would be as concerned as you are. I intend to teach my children to listen during Mass and to know the texts that are used.
Then I won't worry so much that the furniture or how the priest stands will destroy my children's faith.
SD
Your wishing will not make it happen. The Novus Ordo mass is the one recognized by the Vatican, along with the Indult Tridentine Rite. Nothing will change this ... nothing! . Perhaps, in time, the EWTN mass (that follows the format put forth by Vatican Council II) will replace both.
. Here is yet another EWTN response to a similar question:
MASS & DISOBEDIENCE
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If the Old Mass was used by Popes since Gregory I, if Quo Primum of Pius V forbade and condemned changes, if Pius XII in Mediator Dei forbade innovations like the altar facing the people and the vernacular, how can traditional Catholics be disobedient for wanting the Mass of the ages? They are not, as I will explain. First, many features of the Mass do not enjoy the longevity you mention. Liturgical studies encouraged by the Popes since the 1800s have shown that while the core elements of the Roman Mass have not changed many of the lesser elements have. The most authoritative account of this history is Fr. Josef Jungmann's two volumes The Mass of the Roman Rite. Up until Trent the Mass could differ between regions and dioceses, as local adaptations were made to a basic Latin Rite. Rome did not, and practically could not, exercise so firmly her supreme authority over the liturgy. The Reformation changed that, and the Holy See reserved authority to herself. The question is not whether the Church was or is bound to the liturgical form promulgated for universal usage in the Roman Rite by Pope St. Pius V through Quo Primum, she is not, but who has authority to make changes. This is why Pope Pius XII, Vatican II and the 1983 Code of Canon Law all state that any changes in the Liturgy must come from the Holy See. The Popes, like Pius V in Quo Primum and Pius XII in Mediator Dei, decry and forbid innovations, changes by those without authority. This safeguards the essential forms, and thus the validity, of the sacraments. The Supreme authority in the Church, a Pope or a Council in union with the Pope, always has the authority to make changes to ecclesiastical discipline, such as the liturgical forms that cloak the essential matter and form of a sacrament. Pius XII made changes, John XXIII made changes, Vatican II proposed changes, and Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II have made changes. All have understood that Popes do not bind other Popes or Councils in such matters, otherwise the Supreme authority would not be Supreme. As for the altar and the vernacular, it is up to the Supreme Magisterium to determine when, and where, and for whom, they are opportune. Both options of altar and language have been used in the Church. These are prudential disciplinary matters not matters of faith, which are protected by the charism of infallibility. However, even in such disciplinary matters the Church cannot err so as to undermine the validity of the sacraments, otherwise Christ' promise to be with His Church would fail. They are prudential judgments about which popes and Catholics may be of different opinions. Popes and Catholics are not bound to respect your and my opinion on the matter. Catholics are bound to respect that of Popes, however, as a practical matter of ecclesiastical communion. That is what the doctrine of Papal Primacy teaches.
All Catholics should respect the teaching and authority of the Church – whether manifested through a Council or a Pope. As for preferring the traditional rites, since the Holy See has shown its solicitude for traditional Catholics it can hardly be a matter of disobedience to prefer the Tridentine Mass. It would be theologically untenable to argue that in and of itself there could be any grounds for claiming so. Disobedience is a matter of a person's will knowingly rejecting lawful authority. Where that is not present there is no disobedience. In matters of the liturgy, the Holy See is that authority, and its willingness to satisfy the aspirations of traditional Catholics is clear. |
| Answered by Colin B. Donovan, STL |
Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord.
-- Psalm xxvi. 14