Balancing the right and left brains at worship

[Ahimsa]

A few years ago at my Presbyterian church, we tried a Sunday evening alternative worship service at which we served Holy Communion. It was a terrific idea that ultimately failed for reasons unrelated to weekly Eucharist.

But that experience reaffirmed for me my conviction that both Catholic and Protestant worship were out of balance. They still are.

Protestant worship — at least in most denominations, including mine — is unbalanced because we don’t offer the Eucharist at least weekly. Instead, on most Sundays we rely only on the left-brained way of preaching the gospel, by which I mean the sermon.

Catholic (and Anglican) worship is out of balance because, in my experience, it tends to devalue the sermon, relying instead primarily on the right-brained way of preaching the gospel, by which I mean the Eucharist.

If I ran the world of religion (the thought scares even me), I’d demand a better balance. I’d insist that Protestants offer the Eucharist at each worship service and that Catholics pay more attention to homiletics.

 

[prodigalson12]

I can’t agree with you on that, we very much value the homilies, it’s the one place that gives our pastor complete freedom to discuss with us the gospel and many more things, it wouldn’t be mass without it in my book. The church has the most well balance of all the necessary components, which is why we speak of it as having the fullness. With the vast number of protestant churches I’ve frequented, they always leaned stronger in one area, almost exclusively, and too often out right ignored the rest. I.e worship that has excellent music and quire, but no message, or worship that had a great message, but horrible music, never have I found one that leaned too far into the tradition at all, but I imagine that was the case in their earlier formations. I think the reason having the Eucharist failed in yours, it was too “catholicy”, and people who aren’t catholic too often fear anything that mimics us, that and it’s also not really valid, so it’s a stretch for them to think of it as being anything more then symbolic ritual, and we know how protestants avoid rituals, and again, the reason being, it’s too similar to Catholic worship for them.

 

[CHRISTINE77]

I can’t agree with you on that, we very much value the homilies, it’s the one place that gives our pastor complete freedom to discuss with us the gospel and many more things, it wouldn’t be mass without it in my book. The church has the most well balance of all the necessary components, which is why we speak of it as having the fullness. With the vast number of protestant churches I’ve frequented, they always leaned stronger in one area, almost exclusively, and too often out right ignored the rest. I.e worship that has excellent music and quire, but no message, or worship that had a great message, but horrible music, never have I found one that leaned too far into the tradition at all, but I imagine that was the case in their earlier formations. I think the reason having the Eucharist failed in yours, it was too “catholicy”, and people who aren’t catholic too often fear anything that mimics us, that and it’s also not really valid, so it’s a stretch for them to think of it as being anything more then symbolic ritual, and we know how protestants avoid rituals, and again, the reason being, it’s too similar to Catholic worship for them.

I totally agree with you. The Homilies are always interesting and informative and explain the readings. I think Catholic Mass is just about as perfect as it can get.

 

[EasterJoy]

First off, I think that any part of the Mass can be perceived more from one side of the brain than the other, because the Mass appeals to both the mind and the senses. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a Mass in which the readings were proclaimed in a language you don’t know, but if you cannot understand the words of the Liturgy of the Word, it is still a profound ritual. It touches the senses, even without intellectual analysis. Likewise, if all you could do was read the words of the Liturgy of the Eucharist in closed-captioning, it is magnificent. The intellectual depth and connections are remarkable, even when they are divorced from their physical celebration.

While it is great if people can try to cooperate as fully as possible with every last way that the Holy Spirit appeals to them and through them at Mass, I don’t think it is whether one worships more in the left or the right brain that makes the most difference in the end. Because it is built with both intellect and all the senses in mind, the Mass is set up so that our natural variations in mode of perception and processing are accomodated. It can be prayed deeply in more than one way.

Rather, I think what makes the difference is whether one worships, not just with the mind, whether it be slanted to the right or the left, but with the heart and soul, too. It isn’t just how you hear. It is whether you truly listen, take to heart, and respond. That is the main thing.

 

[puzzleannie]

Catholic liturgy is perfectly balanced in the Liturgy of the Word, including the proclamation and the homily and Liturgy of the Eucharist in which the Word becomes present. We don’t need any more outside tinkering, tyvm. I am not competent to speak of worship in other denominations.