Am I right to be angry about liturgical abuses at Mass?

  • Thread starter Thread starter napoli426
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
N

napoli426

Guest
I travel quite a bit and I seem to see liturgical abuses at a lot of parishes. I have written to the local bishop and nothing seems to be done. I’m told in my archdiocese that I should pick my battles. I’ve been told that I can’t change everything and to just trust in the Holy Spirit. I’ve been told that often it was just bad formation of the priests in seminary that leads these priests to liturgical errors and not anything malicious.

I don’t believe any of these excuses. In fact, they drive me to the point where I cannot be prayerful during these Masses. I’m at the point where I only trust a few parishes in my archdiocese, and this does not include the cathedral. It seems to me that the Novus Ordo is to blame. Of course, I still accept the new Mass, but I can’t help feeling angry sometimes. Am I right in how I feel? What should I do? Why doesn’t the Church stop these abuses?
 
Rather than puzzle over whether or not you are “right” to be angry, perhaps you might consider instead whether or not your feelings, however understandable, are contributing to your spiritual peace and your growth in sanctity. I can only assess what you have shared here, but based on your admission that your feelings are corroding your trust in your bishop, in your priests, and in the Church, it would seem to me that this is not conducive to spiritual peace and sanctity.

Of course, you cannot wish away angry feelings just because you know they are unproductive. But you can use promptings of anger as signals that you need to pray, both for yourself and for your fathers in Christ. “Lord,” you might say, “please grant me peace, and please grant your vicars conversion and sanctity.” One prayer that helped me when I experienced similar angry feelings was based on this article: “Lord, please don’t let me become a spiritual fruitchucker!” (see the article for context).

Recommended reading:

How would a saint react to liturgical abuses?
A Crisis of Saints by Fr. Roger Landry
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top