This essay is not for the faint-hearted Catholic. Nor is it necessarily accurate in all of its parts.
But it certainly will provoke thought.
An excerpt:
At a Novus Ordo liturgy, with its ever-ending verbiage, from the improvised greeting of Father to the often poorly coordinated set of Scripture readings to the meandering homily to the “prayers of the faithful” and so on, we are battered and bored with words, words, words, not captivated by the quiet condescension of Christ. We are surrounded by human words that, more often than not, distract us from the One who becomes really, truly, substantially present among us as the ultimate Mysterium Fidei to which our silent, wonder-filled gaze of worship is the only suitable response.
In the following, an echo of the purposes of musica sacra:
One only makes it superficially active (that is, one actually makes it spiritually more passive) by forcing people to stand up and talk, shake hands, lift hands, wave hands, and so on. Man’s highest activity is the silent contemplation of divine reality through the power of his mind elevated by grace, and this the activity towards which the liturgy should be leading all of us.17 The most community-building activity is the inward contemplation of divine love, which have power to transform their bearers into icons of Christ.18 When men have no longer tasted something of the sweetness of contemplation – how revitalizing it can be just to gaze at a crucifix with trust in one’s heart, or to make a visit to a church and be at peace before the tabernacle, half-noticing its red lamp flicker – they will throw away or put into a museum anything that relates to it, like people going through very old family heirlooms who can’t figure out their importance and toss them aside with a shrug of the shoulders.
Worth the read. HT: PertinaciousPapist
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5 comments:
Don't you think there's a place for both types of Worship? Quiet, contemplative music, as well as joyus rocking music? Is there not "a time to dance"? Did not David dance? I see nothing wrong with people waveing their hands, and actually enjoying worshiping God. I did, when I first saw it. With some, it's an affectation, but, I think you'll find that in any church.
In a word, no.
To be so brief as to risk losing the benefit of nuance:
1) David did not dance while he was acting as a Temple priest; there is no comparison.
2) Do not confuse the Sacrifice of the Mass with "devotions." Devotions may well be loosey-goosey; the re-enactment of Calvary should not evoke similar sentiment.
3) It is an error to think that liturgical ritual is to be "enjoyed." That's imposing a very HUMAN (and very subjective) goal on the liturgy. Better to think in these terms: "participation" in the liturgy is really converting one's mind to conform with the mind of Christ, which should be enjoyable.
In other words, it's "inside-out" rather than "outside-in."
Without slamming the Protestants, the fact is that they simply do not have the Real Presence of Christ in their churches; which necessarily changes the shape and expectations of their services.
I guess, we'll just agree to disagree on this one.
"Don't you think there's a place for both types of Worship? Quiet, contemplative music, as well as joyus rocking music? Is there not "a time to dance"? Did not David dance? I see nothing wrong with people waveing their hands, and actually enjoying worshiping God. I did, when I first saw it. With some, it's an affectation, but, I think you'll find that in any church.
"
If you want that, become a Protestant
Anon, did that 9 years ago.
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