Press the title of this Homiletic and Pastoral Review article/commentary to read the full article below my most cogent comments below the photo. The article, though, is very long, but well worth the read. I hope bishops and vocation directors have read it as well as Pope Francis.
Below the article, I post a money byte from it. This is a long section of liturgical reflections. Symonds tells an anecdotal story about a priest who started celebrating the TLM for the first time. “It really brought out to me what it means to be a priest.”
That was my experience in 2007 when I first started celebrating the TLM for the first time as a priest. I felt like a priest, meaning, what the word priest means in terms of offering sacrifice, praying and doing so on behalf of those behind him, to which I am configured also, and representing them to almighty God as a priestly “go-between” or better said, “intermediary.” This is the role of Crucified and Risen Lord, our Eternal High Priest, who is that representative before the Father but configured to the laity and clergy through His humanity, but our “go-between” or “intermediary” or “One Intercession” before our Heavenly Father. The ordained Priest is simply a sacrament of Jesus’ High Priesthood in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is especially evident in the TLM but not so much in the Modern Mass.
As lay Catholics who attend exclusively the Modern Mass, if they understand the priest’s role at Mass as I have described it above. I doubt they would see it that way.
I might add, that when I celebrated the Modern Missal ad orientem, the same gut reaction occurs. Thus it isn’t the form of the Mass, but the manner in which the Mass in either form is celebrated and has everything to do with ad orientem.
Ad orientem reduces or completely eliminates the temptation for the priest to see himself as a stage actor who must display his talents, meager or great, to entertain those in front of him and act as though he is truly prayerful, engaging, welcoming, inclusive and in touch with those in front of him. Eye contact, not eyes cast down, is the symbol of this celebrity and connection with his audience he is entertaining and coordinating.
Read the full article. It’s long but well worth the read and the last part on the liturgy is great too!
The Wheat and the Tares
A Reflection upon Contemporary Priestly Formation
Money byte:
A Major Solution: Some Liturgical Reflections
Some people intuitively sense that something is wrong in the Church, even if they can’t precisely articulate what they are sensing. Such persons are in a next to impossible situation with very limited choices. There are those who walk away completely. Others may go to Protestant communities. Still others turn to communities where they can believe a more authentic expression of the Faith exists. In this last instance, many present-day debates over the Extraordinary Form as a viable alternative have much to do with priestly formation.
A younger diocesan priest once told me about when he had started to celebrate the Extraordinary Form. “It just made so much more sense,” he said to me with much passion and relief. “It really brought out to me what it means to be a priest.” A Roman liturgy that is more representative of the collective wisdom of Western Catholic life and thought is attractive to people seeking refuge in an age that has rebelled against God and His Law.
1 comment:
Of course there is nothing in SC that requires the priest to face the people - that was a "spirit of V2" invention. It has been going on so long I can remember priests doing their best Phil Donahue impersonation before moving on to the Jimmy Kimmel style. Have not seen any channeling Fozzy Bear (yet).
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