This is more on the fatal flaw of the Ordinary Form Mass that enables the compromised, be they clergy or laity, to abuse the Mass for narcissistic, clerical or creative, entertaining purposes.
There have been so many corruptions of the OF Mass and it began with the vey first reforms of the EF Mass in the mid 1960's with the 1965 Missal. There is that Elvis Presley movie, Change of Habits, with Mary Tyler Moore, where folk music is sung an a 1965 Missal Mass, ad orientem no less and Elvis in the folk band singing and entertaining from the front. This movie even capitalizes on the changes in the Church at that period and two befuddled older parishioners wondering what's happening to the Church.
Fast forward to the destruction of classic church interiors and horrible new architecture. I posted photos of my interview of Santa Claus at a children's Mass in the early 80's which is exactly the kind of thing encouraged by liturgists at the time for children's liturgies. It is usually at a school Masses or children's liturgies that these bizarre kinds of things take place.
And what about the super creativity of nuns' Masses and seminaries and others with specialized Masses, puppet Masses come to mind.
And yes, the Ordinary Form Mass, feeds the narcissism of priests and congregations. They enjoy Mass as a form of entertainment and despise the reverence, awe, wonder and rigidity of the EF Mass--they simply don't want that, they want casual, friendly, entertaining type Masses and the OF Mass is designed for that and for narcissism and clericalism.
In fact the OF Mass places the clericalism of some priests, associated with narcissism, on steroids.
https://youtu.be/sTvIfSKCKVg
7 comments:
Two things that especially annoy me that I never saw with the EF Mass when I was younger: the "kidney brigade" and the "clapping for everyone and everything". I understand there are some people (mostly elderly) who take blood pressure medicine that makes them go more frequently but I see almost exclusively kids and young adults who get up all during Mass to "go to the bathroom" sometimes more than once. Usually the same ones every week. I'm not kidding; there are at least a dozen every week. I suspect a few just get up and go out of boredom. Hasn't the thought crossed their (or their parents') minds to go before Mass starts? Don't they care at all how distracting their strolling up and down the aisles can be? No, it's the narcissistic "It's all about me!" The other thing is the obligatory clapping every week which is the celebrant's fault. "This is Penelope's first time serving, didn't she do a great job!" Clap, clap, clap. "The choir did especially well this week, didn't they?!" Clap, clap, clap. "Is anyone here having a birthday this week? If so, raise your hands. Let's all sing 'Happy Birthday' to them!" (Heaven forbid the celebrant give them the birthday blessing from the Book of Blessings instead.) And after the singing, guess what? You got it! Clap, clap, clap. "Do we have any visitors here today; please raise your hands and welcome!" Clap, clap, clap. This happens in my parish every single week. One time I counted how many times they (I refuse to) clapped at one Mass. EIGHT TIMES!! I feel zero reverence after Mass on my way home, but more like I went to one of my kids' school programs.
Presumably the rubrics for that last picture would be along the following lines:
'Immediately after the Fraction the celebrant takes up the hand-held microphone from its place on the corporal with his right hand and elevates it somewhat (aliquantulum elevat). At the same time he hands half of the Host to a young woman with bared arms and shoulders (brachiis umerisque nudis) standing very close to him who takes it in her left hand and elevates it somewhat. Meanwhile he takes the other half of the Host and the chalice in the fingers of his left hand and elevates both, taking care not to drop them; also taking care to fix his eyes on the congregation rather than on her cleavage, as he says:
'Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi; beati qui ad cenam Agni vocati sunt.'
Deinde populus respondit: 'Phwoar!'
Now THAT’S funny.
The funny thing about that picture with the nuns doing the weird liturgical thing is that they are dressed in relatively traditional attire. Well, maybe those habits were radical when the picture snapped .
A lot of Priests are morons.
Dear Father:
No matter how many examples you cite of the newer Mass being abused, the usual suspects will continue to deny there is a structural problem with the newer Mass itself. I can only imagine them serving on a local planning commission or safety board, as people come to them saying, "this intersection is dangerous, look, another accident!"
"Oh, that doesn't prove anything!"
Anonymous at 3:56 PM, yes, I have tried to figure out why so many, kids and young people, need to leave to go to the bathroom during Mass? Are their kidneys that weak? When I was growing up, and the church was filled, and people lined the back and the sides, there was one little bathroom in the foyer of the church. I can't ever remember people using it, and certainly not during Mass. Why in this day and age, do so many kids and young people have kidney problems?
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