Pastor’s Letter
Dear Parishioners,
In the COVID-19 age in which so much has changed, I pray that we will look to that which does not change—Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and tomor- row. The great thing about God is that He is not bound by human constrictions. He does not have to “social distance” Himself from us. His relationship to us can be as intimate in private prayer and devotions, even in a “Spiritual” Communion, as it is when we are together with one another and receive Holy Communion
in “community” rather than by watching on an internet live feed.
COVID-19 has affected every aspect of life, including the Church, and has placed many of us on edge. Once again, I encourage you not to overdose on the news, especially CNN, Fox, and MSNBC.
All of these become toxic to each of us and our society if we overdo it or think they do not have a political and social agenda with which they are trying to manipulate a wide swath of the population.
Those of you old enough to remember the Church prior to Vatican II will know that the Church of that period might have been better suited to the new norms of social life in this period of COVID-19.
At Mass and prayer and in the church building, people were not to socialize. Everyone faced the altar at Mass, and I remember Sister Angela and Sister Lillian warning us children never, ever,
turn to look behind us at Mass. Our eyes were to be focused on the tabernacle and the altar and what was happening in the sanctuary.
The Mass in Latin was not an encouragement for the congregation to speak or sing (thus no chance of viruses being spread by way of these two things in a confined area). Most of the Mass was prayed in a low voice by the priest as the theology behind this is that prayer is directed to God and He has great hearing! There was no such thing as holding hands during prayer, no “sign of peace,” and no socializing with each other before or after Mass in the church building.
Of course, the pre-Vatican II Mass was suspended in 1970 as the “new” Mass was introduced in the vernacular, with more of a social aspect a part of it, hand holding encouraged, the Sign of Peace before Communion, and socialization before and after Mass. However, Pope St. John Paul II allowed the ancient Traditional Mass to resume on a limited basis by the mid 1980s, and on July 7, 2007 Pope Benedict allowed every priest who had a working knowledge of Latin to celebrate the older form of the Mass.
Pope Benedict’s vision for the Mass is that the older and newer forms converge in continuity with each other. It appears that COVID-19 physical distancing directives is accomplishing this. Our attention during Mass is toward God and less so towards one another in a touchy-feely sort of way. Personally, I don’t miss the “sign of peace” or handholding during Mass, and like many of you prefer silence in the church before and after Mass. It is good to contemplate the glory of God in silence, especially in these noisy and divisive times. God bless you.
Your pastor,
Fr. Allan
23 comments:
"Most of the Mass was prayed in a low voice by the priest as the theology behind this is that prayer is directed to God and He has great hearing!"
There is no theology of the acuity of God's hearing.
The idea that there is a "theology" behind the notion that, by facing the same direction as the people, the priest is somehow facing God to whom the prayers are addressed, is false.
As we all know, God is omnipresent. Whatever direction the priest faces, he is facing God.
You can write whatever you want in your bulletin, but you ought to at least try to present the understanding of the Mass as the Church teaches it, not as you imagine it to be.
To that end, you also ought to write a column on why the orientation of the prist was changed and what the benefits of that change are.
Good letter ! You did forget to mention that at one time people had to fast from midnight till the Mass in order to receive communion. They also had to "go to confession." I don't know what the Eastern Orthodox rules are for the reception of Eucharist, I know their tradition of fasting is much more stringent than the Latin Rite. A lot of the older traditions were better for pandemics than this newfangled Mass. I think it is excellent that you mentioned it in your bulletin, perhaps that letter will become part of a larger series of "letters to the parishioners" regarding Church traditions .
Father McDonald,
All good points! My parish experience was a bit different prior to the Council. We typically had a Missa Cantata in which the congregation participated by singing the chant. However, I recall maybe 20% of folks, at best, went up for Holy Communion.
Well-stated, Father. Thank you.
Anonymous Kavanaugh,
Since attendance at Sunday Mass has collapsed since switching to versus populum, we’d like to hear your take on the “benefits!”
Theology of God's "location"
"Immensity and ubiquity, or omnipresence
Space, like time, is one of the measures of the finite, and as by the attribute of eternity, we describe God's transcendence of all temporal limitations, so by the attribute of immensity we express His transcendent relation to space. There is this difference, however, to be noted between eternity and immensity, that the positive aspect of the latter is more easily realized by us, and is sometimes spoken of, under the name of omnipresence, or ubiquity, as if it were a distinct attribute. Divine immensity means on the one hand that God is necessarily present everywhere in space as the immanent cause and sustainer of creatures, and on the other hand that He transcends the limitations of actual and possible space, and cannot be circumscribed or measured or divided by any spatial relations. To say that God is immense is only another way of saying that He is both immanent and transcendent in the sense already explained. As some one has metaphorically and paradoxically expressed it, "God's centre is everywhere, His circumference nowhere."
Therefore, to say that a priest facing this or that way is directing his prayer to God is not supportable in Catholic theology.
WHAT PASTOR WOULD WRITE SUCH THINGS IN HIS UPCOMING BULLETIN?
My opinion, a sensible, realistic one who is trying to reorient his flock during times that are reorienting society at large. There perhaps is an opportunity here to change, to reawaken, to reorient and to ignore that opportunity and the potential fruits of the aforementioned seems unwise.
Fr. you are so ahead of the curve when compared to many of your contemporaries that I do not think catching up is possible for them.
"Since attendance at Sunday Mass has collapsed since switching to versus populum, we’d like to hear your take on the “benefits!” "
And we'd like to hear Fr. McDonald's Catholic theology of God's location.
Don't hold yer breath for either.
Anonymous,
God is everywhere, but he is especially "here" in the Tabernacle under the appearance of bread. He was especially here in the Incarnation too, and looking to Him at that time is no less preposterous because of his omniscience as it is to "locate" Him in the Tabernacle. While we may not circumscribe or measure God, He has in the Incarnation and continues in the Eucharist to circumscribe himself - join himself - to matter to draw close to us.
We also gesture in symbolic ways, to the East, and the liturgical action embodies our belief. This embodiment of symbol is not superfluous but essential to our actions as body/soul compositions.
In fact, recently, my children brought this up to me in conversation. In that conversation, I realized that versus populum has the effect of eliminating the catechetical effect of the direction of our prayer. My 10 year old son intuitively understood that versus populum has the effect of disorienting the liturgical action - it obliterates the importance of the liturgical East. This liturgical East, which both the priest and congregation faces ad orientem, unites our action with the historical and supernatural event of Calvary.
Learning that God is everywhere is not the purpose of the Mass. Nature does that. In the Revelation of His Son and through His Son's Pascal Mystery and our sharing of it in The Eucharist, we come to know more than He is everywhere. We come to know that He is With Us - even In Us.
Peace,
Brent
Brent - I would suggest that God does not "circumscribe himself." Consider again: "Divine immensity means on the one hand that God is necessarily present everywhere in space as the immanent cause and sustainer of creatures, and on the other hand that He transcends the limitations of actual and possible space, and cannot be circumscribed or measured or divided by any spatial relations."
"Here" and "there" have no meaning when speaking of the presence of God. The Real Presence of Jesus in the tabernacle does not limit/circumscribe his presence in any other space. Fr. McDonald wrongly suggests, "... the theology behind this (ad orientem) is that prayer is directed to God. Praying versus populum is as directed to God as ad orientem.
Yes, our liturgical actions embody and symbolize our Belief. Our belief is that God is omnipresent, that He transcends the limitations of actual time and space.
I don't think that a Mass celebrated versus populum is any less effective in uniting our action with the historical and supernatural event of Calvary. It is the same Mass, the same prayers, the same actors carrying out the liturgy. As Benedict 16 wrote, NO and EF are two forms of the same rite. What is done/accomplished/brought about in one is done/accomplished/brought about in the other. If EF unites us with Calvary, the same is true of the NO.
I find it interesting that my bulletin letter said nary a word about ad orientem whatsoever. The hermeneutic of continuity of the manner of celebrating the OF and EF Mass is to make the human experience of worshiping the Divine more transcendent, more reverent and more universal.
1. Silence and contemplation is intrinsic to the EF Mass but added in the OF as tough icing on a cake rather than at its core. The OF could be less superficial about the use of silence and make it more intrinsic for the prayers that are more important rather than less important. The Roman Canon or any of the Eucharistic prayers could be said in a low voice to emphasize mysterium tremendum.
2. There are two ways to do ad orientem and both ways can be applied to both forms of the Mass. One way is the traditional way used for more than 1,600 years, the priest joining the congregation in facing the same direction, the symbolic east, Jerusalem, Golgotha. The other way is what Pope Benedict suggested and to great effect, the "Benedictine" altar arrangement with the crucifix facing the priest--it accomplishes the same thing, facing east, facing Jerusalem, facing Golgotha.
3. Pope Benedict also modeled using Latin for the Eucharistic Prayer exclusively while chanting or reciting other prayers in the vernacular.
To state the truth about where God is as a polemic for liturgy is just silly. It is where we are and our stance before God who transcends us but also gives us a locus in prayer. Having prayers recited, chanted or directed in any physical way toward the congregation is a poor symbol for prayer despite the fact that God hears them and knows where He is in relation to the prayers recited by His people and His Church.
As a child who sees a priest facing the liturgical east at Mass and facing the congregation at Mass what his impressions are about who the priest is speaking to. That should tell you something about symbol intended or not.
"I find it interesting that my bulletin letter said nary a word about ad orientem whatsoever."
Yes, you did: "Everyone faced the altar at Mass,..."
The emphasis in the EF is entirely, to the exclusion of the congregation, on what the priest says and does. Laity could snooze, pray the rosary, gaze at the stained glass windows, count the number of tiles in the mosaics on the walls. The congregation was a afterthought.
"To state the truth about where God is as a polemic for liturgy is just silly."
Yet, that is what you did.
"Most of the Mass was prayed in a low voice by the priest as the theology behind this is that prayer is directed to God and He has great hearing!"
The priest is facing God when he celebrates Mass ad orientem. You go so far as to say that the location of God and the acuity of God's hearing is the "theology" that supports this practice.
Balderdash.
Anonymous Kavanaugh,
You’re becoming Mark Thomas, dodging legitimate questions like the “benefits” of versus populum celebration in light of collapsing Sunday Mass attendance since its implementation
Yes, the news can be overwhelming and depressing---and not really "news" anyway. Is it "news" when the number of nationwide deaths increases by 1,000 over the other day? Is it "news" when Savannah hits 94 degrees one day and 93 the next? Guess the news folks have to find something to fill the time. You hear a lot about baseball resuming---well, turned on a game the other night and fan noise was "piped" in, and cardboard "dummies" in the stands. Turned that off very quickly---"no fans, no watch" is my motto for sports this year. But hey, maybe a good time to get back to the lost art of reading---the Bible, catechism, some historical works. It is not as if this country reads too much!!!
Balderdash @ 8:56, calm down and stop being hysterical. But please be consistent. If God is omnipresent, you would should be quite content with God’s ears and eyesight and thus be pleased as punch to have the priest in a variety of geographical postures and levels of voice projection. See we do have common ground.
Fr. McDonald - I have no concern whatsoever for God's location, ability to hear, or ability to see. None.
My concern is that you present with bravado as "theological" that which is not.
One of the greatest mistakes a priest can make is presenting as the Church's teaching that which is not the Church's teaching.
It is similar to law enforcement officers who say "You can't do that because it is the law," or, "You must do this because it is the law," when, in fact, neither this nor that is law, but the preference of the officer.
Hysterical @ 11:56, calm down, reread and meditate on my reflection and allow the Holy Spirit to expand your thoughts in the right geographical direction, you are not at the end of your liturgical direction or are you? Que the twilight zone chant...
In the normal template for the Novus Ordo the priest faces the congregation throughout. Even when someone else is reading he sits in his chair, eyeballing the assembly. He uses the vernacular exclusively and rarely sings anything. Congregational singing usually takes the form of non-liturgical metrical hymns. Some people like this sort of thing, and for the majority this is the only form of Mass they know.
'The emphasis in the EF is entirely, to the exclusion of the congregation, on what the priest says or does'. The man who wrote this must have little knowledge of the Church's liturgy prior to 1965. Ironically, the description better fits the Novus Ordo, which is very priest-centred. The fact that a few hand-picked laypeople perform so-called 'liturgical ministries' in front of everyone else does not make for inclusivity.
In a Solemn Mass (which is regarded as normative) the congregation will hear the priest sing the orations, to which they respond 'Amen', 'Dominus vobiscum', to which they respond 'et cum spiritu tuo', the Preface (which begins with a sung dialogue between priest and people) and the Pater Noster, to which they respond 'Sed libera nos a malo.' That's about it. The subdeacon sings the Epistle, the deacon the Gospel and the Ite Missa est. During the introductory rites the emphasis is on the sung Introit, not on what the priest and ministers say or do. Most of what the priest prays is not audible, so can hardly be emphasized, and is overlaid by singing. This even applies to the Canon, especially where a polyphonic Sanctus and Benedictus are sung on either side of the elevations.
There are moments of what Benedict XVI called 'filled silence', but they are few and far between. In the usual way the Novus Ordo is performed, the only way you can gain respite from an unending stream of verbiage is to have imposed silences which are supposed to allow time for private reflection but in practice are embarrassingly tiresome.
Also, in a Solemn Mass there is enough happening in the sanctuary to hold the attention. Why does the deacon proclaim the Gospel facing north? Why does the subdeacon hold the paten in a humeral veil from the Offertory to the Pater Noster? Why does the deacon raise the hem of the chasuble at the elevations? To a tidy rational protestant mind these ritual details are 'anachronistic' and so must go.
There is no point in arguing with these people - their minds are closed.
The EF Mass and an OF Mass ad orientem makes them hysterical to the point of heart palpitations and rising blood pressure John! What accounts for this physical and spiritual disorder/pathology?
Fr. McDonald, maybe you should add the following note to your posts:
"Anyone who disagrees with me or who is going to point out the flaws and weaknesses in my arguments is clearly hysterical. Even though I have made errors in reasoning, that does not impact the validity of my positions. While I am not capable of responding to serious objections or questions, I will consider any opinions contrary to mine as being a sign of a lack of true catholicity on the part of the person posting."
John, the ecclesiology of the EF emphasized, to the exclusion of the laity, what the priest did at the altar. As many have mentioned here, the congregation need not even be offered communion for the sacrifice to be complete. The people could respond as you note, but that was wholly irrelevant. They could also pray the rosary, read a pious text, or engage in some other pursuit. As long as what the priest did was done according to Hoyle that, not the full, conscious, active participation of the congregation was required or even expected.
The fact that you refer to the laity whose participation is encouraged and welcomed in the celebration of the Mass as fulfilling "so-called" liturgical ministries says it all.
Fr Allan
The only thing I can think of is that (as in Orwell's '1984') they have abolished history and live in a continuously evolving present. That the EF should threaten the existence of the OF is to most of us the height of absurdity, but the very existence of the past challenges the certainties of the present.
They would want to delegitimize older rites in the same way that the BLM fanatics want to delegitimize the history of a nation.
Anonymous
I could pray the rosary throughout a Novus Ordo Mass if I wanted to. I could wear earplugs to blank out the dreadful music. I could read a pious text, or better still read the EF Mass of the day in Latin. Another useful pursuit might be to study the chants in the Liber Usualis.
What's not to like?
God is here, there, and everywhere
Being is one of the fundamental aspects of existence. "To be" is to exist somewhere; in someplace if you will. Even with no physical body, the soul will exist someplace, as the Divine Being does. While human beings, excepting some miracle, can exist only in one place at any one time, God, who exceeds our limitations, can exist both everywhere and in one place, both in space and time and beyond. Christ in His glorified physical body, and likewise the Blessed Virgin in hers, both exist in some place and that place is the Eternal Heaven. God, being God, and superior to and all He created, can be omnipresent, and yet exist in a place such as Heaven. He is a Mystery beyond our comprehension, and capable of doing things beyond whatever His creatures are capable of doing. He sustains all things in existence after all. Christ in His human body is still God, so if He were to appear and one knelt down before His body one would be in fact kneeling not to the body as if it were a separate thing, but to God, the Second Person of the Trinity, inseparably united to a physical body. He is substantially present in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity at every Mass.
Both the air around us and the moisture it contains serve to sustain our physical being, but the moisture, though necessary for our existence, is not in a form we can take into our bodies. One would die of thirst if one could not partake of the water vapor in a more concentrated amount. It is true that God, even more so than the water vapor in the air around us, is present everywhere and that His presence is necessary to our continued existence. But it is spiritually necessary that we go and orient ourselves to where God is substantially present and to partake of His Divine Substance in the Holy Mass.
Post a Comment