Silence at Mass

In the middle of a very nice essay on the Joannine Rite, we find this:


And this is, perhaps, the crux of the issue about the problem of silence at Mass. It is difficult
for modern man to endure silence because we are surrounded by noise that is ever louder and louder. We fear silence because it may force us in unguarded moments to introspection and self–
examination. The noise with which we have surrounded ourselves hides us from ourselves. Silence in the Mass is perhaps the greatest need of modern man because we so desperately need to peer into our souls, to enter into our own hearts, and to see there what God himself sees. In the silence of the Traditional Latin Mass we can listen to God’s voice within us.

The silence of the Traditional Latin Mass reveals so clearly that the Mass is NOT the work of the congregation, a performance which we manufacture in order to make God happy with us. Rather, the Mass is the work of God—it is Christ’s Own work of redemption carried out in our midst, on our altar. The Mass is not fabricated by man, it must be received in faith, and silence enables us to do just that: just as we do not “take” Holy Communion, but rather “receive” the Lord in the Sacrament, so do we receive Christ’s redemption in the Mass.

Fr. Meyers' analogy/juxtaposition of "take" and "receive" is very significant. It has become more common to use the phrase "to take Communion," which happens to be a Protestant formulation. It is not a co-incidence; it fits in quite well with the 'de-priesting' of Catholic liturgeists over the last 20+ years in their false interpretation of SC, the Liturgy document of the Second Vatican Council.

HT: L A Catholic