Another black eye for the Modern Catholic Mass and the way it is celebrated. A pew research survey has found that Catholics hear the worse preaching of all religions. You can read it here: study
Jesuitical Backwardist Father Thomas Reese, SJ, opines on how the Modern Catholic Church can improve things. This is in part what he writes:
The Catholic Church is in trouble. About one out of three people raised Catholic have left the Catholic Church, according to a study done by the Pew Research Center in 2011. About half of them become Protestants and half become unchurched.
These Pew surveys raise more questions than answers.
Could some of the former Catholics be attracted by better preaching and music in Protestant churches? Are Catholic services simply too boring? Why are Catholics less connected to their congregation?
Can Catholic priests learn from Protestant ministers how to be better preachers? How can Catholic seminaries do a better job of teaching future priests how to preach? What can be done to improve the preaching of those already ordained?
And how should Catholics improve church music? Are Catholic parishes willing to spend more on professional musicians in order to get better music?
The U.S. Catholic bishops are sponsoring a Eucharistic Revival nationally and in their dioceses. Can they deal with any of these issues?
My astute observations:
Ever since Vatican II, liturgical theologians and others have tried to copy Protestant ways of being “Church” while neglecting our own tradition, recovering it or improving on the poor celebrations of the Mass, which is all over the place in the Modern Missal, as well as what it means to improve preaching.
Protestants sects that are growing are the non-denominational sects. Their strength is precisely in being non sacramental. Replacing the sacraments are hospitality, community, music and preaching/teaching. The sermon is the centerpiece of the service but a bit eclipsed by the concert type worship and praise music. The music is performed as in a rock or folk concert and is Protestant kitsch.
When Catholic parishes and priests try to copy the non-denominational ways of doing things, we fail miserably and in fact pave the way for Catholics to leave and go to the non-denominational who do their style of worship better than Catholics ever could or should.
Catholics fail to do what we do best, making the sacramental celebration of the Mass mystical, transcendent, comforting and inspiring.
Our music is Gregorian Chant, polyphony and kitschy Marian hymns or great hymns of the Liturgy of the Hours. A magnificent English version of chant is Anglican Chant that fits the Modern Roman Mass in the vernacular.
I have come to love the TLM celebrated without instrumental accompaniment, a capella, to be very inspiring and prayerful. But yes, the schola or choir has to be well rehearsed and professional which takes financial resources.
As far as Catholic preaching goes, yes there is a problem. For the homily of the Mass, less is more. A six minute homily that is practical to the lives of Catholics, interesting and sound is what is needed. Homilies should be five to eight minutes in length. A bad short homily will be perceived as a good homily, not for content, but because it is short and thus less boring.
Homilies often wander all over the place, technicalities of the Scriptures are highlighted in an academic way, most of which is meaningless to the lives of the lay faithful and some preach from 12 minutes to 30 minutes. The homilist doesn’t know how to land the plane and save the lay faithful from the crash and burn of his homily.
Let’s be Catholic again, even with the Modern Roman Mass. Sacred Silence before and after Mass, Chant marvelously chanted, homilies marvelously short and applicable to the laity’s life, prayers physically prayed toward God present in the Mass, in a way that it does not look like the priest is praying toward the lay faithful, especially during the Eucharistic Prayer and the words of Consecration.
Kneeling for Holy Communion and at an altar railing will be perceived as beautiful, reverent and prayerful!
Fellowship and community should take place after Mass and in a venue apart from the nave of the church.
Just my astute two cents worth!
6 comments:
In some respects, certain protestant denominations are now more Catholic than our own tradition.
Through an Eastern lens:
*Roman NO liturgy is choppy, odd starts and stops, it's also a bit boring and frustrating due to the odd stops and starts. Too many options so one doesn't know what to expect (e.g. the contrived and alternate penitential rite)
*Roman NO liturgy is perplexing, odd churches, abstract art what's the focal point, the low, bland, plain altar table (seriously???), vessels and vestments that seem purposely unattractive. Why? What greater good does that serve? Let us add the routine practice of those serving who are inappropriately attired to approach the holy table - vest in something maybe?
*Roman NO music is often tedious to endure. Unqualified musicians (at least we have an organist, doesn't matter they are mostly thumbs), melodramatic cantors trying and failing to deliver a more "meaningful" experience, a zealous DRE trying to do something "cute" with the children only to illicit smiles and nods as it is just uncomfortably childish for the children and the adults to experience.
*Going back to people and environment, out of date banners that n-e-v-e-r go away, priests who seem incapable of wearing albs that fit such that they look like dresses, goofy exaggerated gestures that aren't called for, Fr. Narrator, Fr. MC, Fr. Comedian, Fr. Low Church, Deacon I don't know the liturgy, Deacon Now's my chance to show my style with homiletics, Deacon Exactly how do you use this thurible thingy??, EMHC's having some weird, public encounter with our Lord, EMHC's who distribute communion dramatically, EMHC's who have no idea how to distribute on the tongue, EMHC's who get visually angered when someone chooses to receive on the tongue, Servers with blinky shoes (isn't that cute??), Servers who don't know the liturgy, Servers who make plain their boredom, Servers with yarn cinctures, botanical gardens plant displays at the expense of the sacred, removal of holy water during lent, dead branch displays during lent creating "anticipation", fasting from candles during lent, fasting from incense during lent, this isn't significantly different from my secular life, and so on.
People take it as seriously as it is presented. I find myself thinking "get your act together" when I cross over to the Roman side of the street. To be sure, we have our problems as well, our cantors are aging, younger cantors aren't materializing, the learning curve is steep to crushing, however, our liturgy is disciplined such that it's less evident to the average pew sitter.
In totality, is it any wonder that many elect to attend Sts. Pillow and Mattress anymore?
The Pope, the Roche and most bishops and priests are heavily invested in the liturgical failure: contumacious and doltish is no way to go through life
Music is important. Unless Gregorian is available in a parish one Mass should be offered without musical accompaiment. No music at Mass would be merciful to those whose ears just cannot abide what passes for music but is not.
More times I've wanted to approach priests, especially the young ones, and to offer them help in their their preaching; but can you imagine their indignation? The training they get in seminary is, by all appearances, very wanting. If they do have some valuable to deliver, it falls on deaf ears simply because they don't know the basics of public speaking. Do I think I could do better? You bet your sweet bippie!
Preaching is not what matters it is dignity, beauty ad transcendence in the Mass itself. We had that before the lefty loons tossed it out so we could be more "like the world" That has worked out well.
Amen to all of you. The Pastor of my youth, the saintly Fr Stock would expound on the history of the readings usually the Gospel, why, when and background, took him about 5 minutes, tho i don't remember much he died in a traffic accident when I was about 12. I could write a chapter just on his life. After a temp or two we were inflicted with a narcissistic wonder who announced that all sermons would last at least 20 minutes, wouldn't have been so bad but he talked down to everyone especially women and routinely ran out of material in 5 or so and just repeated himself. Our parish was and is a rural farm parish, a lot of dairy farmers, up at 4:30 to make it to mass, hungry and tired, there was snoring.
Best sermon I heard was at a Latin mass in Dayton, Ohio. it was a series on the 10 commandments, he had everyone squirming in their seats and it only took 4 minutes flat.
One local priest, a retired Marine Chaplin told me "if a sermon lasts over 5 minutes, you lost em, if you can't choke it out in five it isn't worth saying"
I don't have enough time to start on the stupid masses i have witnessed
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