Am I too picky about liturgical abuses?

[Chorister]

I serve on the liturgy committee at my home parish and I seem to be the only one concerned with propriety in the Mass and the liturgical abuses going on. Several individuals, including the parish priests, freely make decisions (of various gravity) and celebrate the Mass contrary to the rubrics or regulations of the GIRM and other Church documents on liturgy.

When I raise the point that what they’re trying to do isn’t allowed by the Church or isn’t provided for by “the books,” I’m simply met with eyerolls and, most recently, generic responses, like, “We’re doing the best with what we have,” or “Not everything can be perfect.” I have also been called a “legalist.”

Do you have any suggestions on how I can respond to these accusations of legalism and the sheer complacency of the others at church? Am I simply being too picky?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Am I simply being too picky?

It’s a fair question to ask yourself. Look carefully at the responses to your concerns you’ve been receiving. Eyerolls and platitudes usually indicate that someone is thinking, “Here we go again,” and trying to find a polite way to deflect you without antagonizing you.

This isn’t to say that your concerns about how the liturgy is celebrated in your parish may not be valid. It may indeed be the case that you are liturgically correct in each and every one of the concerns you’ve raised. But, as you’re finding out, constantly pointing out errors or deliberate deviations is not constructive to solving the problem. That is why it may be better to “save your bullets” only for the most serious liturgical abuses that affect the validity of the Eucharist. With lesser abuses it may be more constructive to make the general case for fidelity over “creativity,” without pointing out each and every instance of unauthorized novelty in which your church’s liturgical ministers engage.

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Problems in the Church by Jimmy Akin
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