Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Apto vel intereo
What’s the difference between a terrorist and a liturgist?
You can negotiate with a liturgist...
Considering the range of liturgy there is for the Mass, it’s amazing how rubbish so many parish Masses are.
OK, I’m a bit spoilt. I go on a pilgrimage called Student Cross and, here, the liturgy - for the most part - is amazing.
This is what a church should be like. Services are by the people and for the people. The lay community are allowed to use their talents and their ideas to add variety, inspire, question and provoke people’s faith, as well as coming up with different ways to praise God.
The priest still has a very important role to play - without him Mass could not be said.
But the liturgy does not begin and end with the priest. He adds to it with his own knowledge and experience but in a way that it is part of the shared input from the whole community - and in that way, making Mass far more valid and worthwhile than other times.
Sadly, too many parish Masses start and end with the priest. There is a growing clericism in the church, with the lay community being moved back to the role of sheep.
Obviously, this is wrong. The Church was created by God, for the people and of the people.
Undoubtedly, priests have a vital role to play, through their dedication to God, as well as their knowledge and learning.
But the current promotion of the clergy is coming at the expense of the lay community.
It’s no longer the case that the lay community can’t participate because they are illiterate, as was the case for hundreds of years, or that they have no knowledge of Latin - as was the case less than 50 years ago.
The congregation now have undoubted skills, ideas and thoughts that are extremely worthwhile within the context of the parish - and the Mass.
But still their role in Mass is too often confined to the collection, reading and communion - and the Vatican is even trying to take that away.
The lay community is often its worst enemy when it comes to change - the priest often has to twist arms when it comes to volunteering.
To me, there needs to be a change in attitude, from one of passive participation to active involvement. I just don’t get anything out of Mass when I’m just sitting there, mouthing responses and going through the motions.
The lay community should not just be allowed, they should be encouraged to develop the liturgy of the Mass, what the theme of the Mass should be and how it should be interpreted, writing the prayers of the Mass - not just bidding prayers - but offertory prayers, prayer after communion etc.
Music should be a fundamental part of the Mass - more of that in another rant, while the ministry of reading and Eucharist should be continued and promoted further.
We shouldn’t have to depend on what Rome and the Bishops have set out the Mass to be like. Yes, the Mass needs to be liturgically correct but there is no reason why it cannot be opened up to allow more interpretation and more to be done by the lay community, while ensuring that new people to the parish don’t feel left out when going to Mass.
There is a wealth of talent available in the congregation. It’s not a sin for them to be involved in the celebration of the Mass. It’s more of a sin that they are denied that chance by a cabal of cardinals in the Vatican scared of relinquishing power they shouldn’t have in the first place.
You can negotiate with a liturgist...
Considering the range of liturgy there is for the Mass, it’s amazing how rubbish so many parish Masses are.
OK, I’m a bit spoilt. I go on a pilgrimage called Student Cross and, here, the liturgy - for the most part - is amazing.
This is what a church should be like. Services are by the people and for the people. The lay community are allowed to use their talents and their ideas to add variety, inspire, question and provoke people’s faith, as well as coming up with different ways to praise God.
The priest still has a very important role to play - without him Mass could not be said.
But the liturgy does not begin and end with the priest. He adds to it with his own knowledge and experience but in a way that it is part of the shared input from the whole community - and in that way, making Mass far more valid and worthwhile than other times.
Sadly, too many parish Masses start and end with the priest. There is a growing clericism in the church, with the lay community being moved back to the role of sheep.
Obviously, this is wrong. The Church was created by God, for the people and of the people.
Undoubtedly, priests have a vital role to play, through their dedication to God, as well as their knowledge and learning.
But the current promotion of the clergy is coming at the expense of the lay community.
It’s no longer the case that the lay community can’t participate because they are illiterate, as was the case for hundreds of years, or that they have no knowledge of Latin - as was the case less than 50 years ago.
The congregation now have undoubted skills, ideas and thoughts that are extremely worthwhile within the context of the parish - and the Mass.
But still their role in Mass is too often confined to the collection, reading and communion - and the Vatican is even trying to take that away.
The lay community is often its worst enemy when it comes to change - the priest often has to twist arms when it comes to volunteering.
To me, there needs to be a change in attitude, from one of passive participation to active involvement. I just don’t get anything out of Mass when I’m just sitting there, mouthing responses and going through the motions.
The lay community should not just be allowed, they should be encouraged to develop the liturgy of the Mass, what the theme of the Mass should be and how it should be interpreted, writing the prayers of the Mass - not just bidding prayers - but offertory prayers, prayer after communion etc.
Music should be a fundamental part of the Mass - more of that in another rant, while the ministry of reading and Eucharist should be continued and promoted further.
We shouldn’t have to depend on what Rome and the Bishops have set out the Mass to be like. Yes, the Mass needs to be liturgically correct but there is no reason why it cannot be opened up to allow more interpretation and more to be done by the lay community, while ensuring that new people to the parish don’t feel left out when going to Mass.
There is a wealth of talent available in the congregation. It’s not a sin for them to be involved in the celebration of the Mass. It’s more of a sin that they are denied that chance by a cabal of cardinals in the Vatican scared of relinquishing power they shouldn’t have in the first place.
