I rarely decide to comment on commentary or discussion posts by the men who make up the hierarchy in the Church today. However, there are a few times, now and again, when the laity must be willing to speak up and respond to clear areas of deficiency in teaching and/or commentary. Such is the case with a blog post made yesterday, Thursday, March 10, 2016. That post may be found in the page titled, “Have we lost it?” written by Timothy Cardinal Dolan.
In response, I say the “Catholic Sandy Koufax” (his term) began walking away on November 29, 1964. Those who know the history of the Roman Catholic Church will know that date.
As Cardinal Dolan notes at the conclusion of his post, “Religion requires ‘markers'” – the term used by sociologists to describe identifiable characteristics that people will seek or identify as strengths and values in a societal and cultural group. Those markers, though, begin with the leadership within the religion. Today, leadership in the priesthood is few and far in between. The pastor who actively encourages the parishioners of his parish to abide by the proscriptions of the Church – the markers – is a rarity.
On November 29, 1964, the “markers” of the Catholic Faith that bound Catholics together in reverence, attention, and devotion, began being removed in the following manner
- the use of the vernacular instead of Latin in the celebration of the Mass;
- the priest looking at the Faithful during the celebration of the Consecration instead of reverence toward the depiction of Christ crucified;
- removing the Communion Rail which, in turn, removed the sacredness of the experience of reverence upon reception of the Body of Christ.
But it has not stopped. Rather, it continues with the efforts of liturgists – not the Pope, not the College of Cardinals, but the liturgists – who seek new ways to deemphasize the virtue, value, and sanctity of the Mass. This is done any number of ways. Three that are most egregious are
Relegating the Tabernacle to a Side Location
This is not about space. This is not about access. This is about the proximity of the presence of Jesus Christ to the Altar of Sacrifice. Throughout the 1970s through the mid-2000s, the pastors and the Pastoral Boards of many so-called Roman Catholic churches have deemed acceptable to place the Tabernacle that holds the presence of Jesus Christ in the form of consecrated hosts to some side location near the Altar. While some places hold an equal beauty as chaplets or side altars, such action still relegates, marginalizes, demeans the presence of Jesus Christ within the church.
Converting the Altar of Sacrifice to a Stage
Another incessant effort has been to make the altar a stage on which wannabe actors can pretend to “perform prayer” through such bogus concepts as “liturgical dance” or some other malarkey passed off as “new prayer”. It is actually doing nothing but devaluing the beauty and reverential prayer-filled experience that is the Mass, the actual reason why the everyday Catholic attends Mass. Each time the Altar of Sacrifice is turned into a stage for the pompous and prideful male masquerading as a priest, the Faithful no longer see the value and respect so essential in the growth of Belief in the Faith. As such, another marker the Faithful needs – solemn, respectful prayer leading to the awe-filled experience of receiving Jesus into our lives through Communion – to prove we are part of something far greater and much more inclusive and valuable than anything in the Society or Culture is lost.
Words, Words, Words
For generations, Catholics received clear, definitive teaching and guidance from one of the parish priests who would say Mass on a daily basis. That teaching and guidance came in the form of simple, timely advice that drew references and examples from the readings for the day with exhortations and advice on how to live one’s life in the form of a three to five minute sermon.
Today, such valuable insight is like a fine diamond. Instead, we have priests and deacons who are nothing but carbonate. They will ramble for 10 to 15 minutes about manifold topics without valuable guidance or direction in how the Faithful should draw example from the readings when making decisions in their lives, when interacting with others, when being Catholics in daily life.
Then we have those priests who ignore the proscribed Antiphon and Collect and invoke their own plea and rogation. Still more frustrating are the ones who decide that “homilettes” at each point when the presiding priest is to speak are of use to the “congregation.”
When the leadership of the Most Holy Roman Catholic Church understands – and more importantly reestablishes – the standards and values of unity within the Church, there will be a return to the Faith. Until then, the Church will be seen as nothing more than a doctor’s office for the soul where the Faithful are told the same thing over and over during a yearly physical: “You need to get healthy.” And? So?
The heresy of Modernism entered the Church through the unguarded door of the Liturgy.
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