Replies

re:"dilution of the solemnity of the Mass."

Thanks for posting this, by the way. What seems to be needed is some basic framework put in writing by the bishops affirming that some standards of reverence, solemnity, and dignity be restored to the celebration of Mass. I have seen liturgies which come across as sort of a mix of a PTA meeting and a consciousness-raising rally. Too giddy. Too Protestant in a folksy sort of way. What seems to be happening is that the informal and vulgar elements of secular American mass culture are creeping in. Someone once wrote an article on post-Vatican II liturgical music entitled "Guitar Theology." Can't recall the author, but it hit a few nails on the head. Mass is not a townhall meeting. It's not an encounter group. It's not a political rally. It's not a folk concert. And it's not a public opinion comedy talkshow hosted by the "presider" to air his opinions on everything under the sun. There is a great need for clarification on the sacramental nature of the Mass. The current scandals didn't happen in a vacuum. They took place in a context already marked by the "dilution of the solemnity of the Mass." This isn't a coincidence. When Mass is celebrated with a lack of seriousness and solemnity, it's more likely there will be a lack of seriousness and solemnity in some vocations and in the handling of the teachings of the Church.

Mass is not a townhall meeting. It's not an encounter group. It's not a political rally. It's not a folk concert. And it's not a public opinion comedy talkshow hosted by the "presider" to air his opinions on everything under the sun.

"A recent unexamined cliche goes something like this: 'Years ago, the Mass was the priest. ... Today, the Mass is the people.' ... [I]n most cases, the Mass is still the priest, and with a vengeance. He now enjoys more visibility, more celebrity status, more control than at any time in history. ... The entire service pivots on him, not his role but his personality." [Thomas Day, in Why Catholics Can't Sing]

"In the old Latin liturgy ... everyone had power, and yet nobody had power. The priest, it was said, monopolized everything ... Yet the tight rubrics and the Latin language kept him in a 'powerless' state. The congregation had the power to do whatever it wanted during a liturgy: pray, meditate, read devotions, follow the Mass, ignore the Mass, sleep. Yet here too, that same power was lost whenever the congregation submitted to the customs of standing, kneeling, sitting, making the Sign of the Cross, genuflecting, remaining silent, and so on." [Thomas Day, in Why Catholics Can't Sing]

"The central reality of Roman Catholic worship since the 1960s is the talking head. ... [A]ll of the idealist theorizing does not match what the congregation actually experiences, what really happens, and that is the priest standing behind an altar: the talking head. ... The talking head does not preside over a collective, communal form of prayer; it intercepts prayer." [Thomas Day, in Why Catholics Can't Sing]