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Friday, September 30, 2011

IS THERE SOMETHING ABOUT THE OF MASS THAT PRIESTS AND LAITY FEEL THEY CAN HAVE FUN WITH IT?


In a post below, I showed the Mexican priest who used a squirt riffle to "sprinkle" his laughing congregation with Holy Water.

Could you imagine this taking place during the celebration of the EF Mass? It would be like oil and water, the two wouldn't mix. But with the OF Mass, it seems to mix and no one seems to mind. They think it is cute; it is precious.

I don't believe the reverence and awe that the EF Mass produces is based upon its Latin language. It is based upon the Latin Rite's inherent desire to ritualize a very high Christology and that in Jesus Christ and Him alone we find salvation through His sacrifice on the Cross and the rest of His "Christ Event" including of course the incarnation, the resurrection, the ascension, the Pentecost event and the founding of His Church which really goes back to the days of Abraham and his descendants, not to mention the more immediate founding during the public ministry of our Savior.

It also has something to do with the orientation of the EF Mass, directed to God, oriented to Him as our worship and thanksgiving. The EF Mass's orientation opens us to God and His "Perfections." When priests face the people, they become entertainers and make a closed circle focused on the creativity of the priest and the delight of the people.

In the name of God, why did we allow progressive theologians to strip our Mass of awe, respect and wonder? What possesses anyone today to use a squirt gun to sprinkle Holy Water? Is there something intrinsically wrong with post Vatican II Christology that thus has implications for how clergy and laity celebrate the Mass?

7 comments:

Gene said...

What he did was pretty much a sacrilege, but I consider much of the "experimental liturgy" to be the same.

Anonymous said...

Fr, you missed one question. Where is his bishop? How did he feel about this travesty in the news?

As a sort of answer Mexico is struggling openly with satanism and black magic with the gangs. This is a sure sign they have lost the hearts of the people that this would be a contest at all.

rcg

Templar said...

Frajm said: "Is there something intrinsically wrong with post Vatican II Christology that thus has implications for how clergy and laity celebrate the Mass?"

Father, you know full well where your line of thinking leads you. While the OF CAN be focused on Christ, the EF IS focused on Christ. That is the difference and that is why the EF is a clearly superior Mass.

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

If one brought a low Christology to the celebration of the EF Mass, one could still have a sloppy, carefree, denigrating Mass. A few months back I posted from the Elvis' Movie, with Mary Tyler Moore, "A Change of Habit." In it an EF Mass is celebrated with Folk Music and in a very odd way. It is possible even with that Mass. What is needed in a recovery of the Sacred which means a High Christology for the OF Mass. I've been to plenty of OF Mass that are on par with the EF Mass in reverence, but there are too many options for priests that thus "intrinsically" allow for it to be "dumbed" down and look casual and sloppy. That's the biggest problem and a dumbing down of the reverence of both clergy and laity due not to the form of the Mass but some of it accoutrements and rubrics.

Paul M. Young said...

I was once asked why rifles (generally) have a trigger guard and a safety. The questioner pointed out that if the cardinal rule of firearm safety--treat every weapon as if it is loaded and ready to fire-- was observed, there would be no need for those extras.

I agreed with her, but pointed out that we are fallible humans and having a system with no safeguards is asking for trouble. It is still possible to kill someone accidentally with a fully equipped rifle, but is less likely. It is possible to have a folk, EF Mass, but is much less likely.

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Agree! :)

Anonymous said...

If Fr let's this we the light of day I'll ne surprised:

You can make anything fool proof but nothing can be made damn fool proof.


rcg