peregrinator_it:
Since reverence arises from an acknowledgement of what one is doing, it seems to me that the only really effective remedy for the lack of reverence in the liturgy is conversion of heart. And so I don’t agree with those who propose a return to the TLM, for example.
Will following EWTN’s customs automatically produce a reverent congregation? No, but it would give those who desire to be reverent a chance to do so. And I think there is a greater desire for a return to reverence in the U.S. than many realize.
I’m proof of this because there couldn’t have been a more sloppy, irreverent example than myself just 4 weeks ago.
Before

I came to church late and I left early and I “limped” my way into the pew, missing my own genuflection many times. Genuflection for me was a mechanic without substance.

I almost always chose to sit when I could have kneeled. I talked to people on either side of me during mass and not about the mass. I was indifferent during consecration, allowing my mind to wander. In fact, my mind wandered throughout the mass.

A priest so focused on God in his mass, that in a matter of two weekday masses, he pulled me right in to help me see I that never had a God-Centered mass, because my focus was not on Him.
My mass was about me - me and my entertainment. If I didn’t like which priest was saying mass, I wasn’t charitable, reading the bulletin instead of listening to what he had to say.
After
The list could go on. And after I began a swift conversion from a life of “lapsed Catholic while sitting in the pew” to just a Catholic sitting in the pew, I recall asking God to help me restore a sense of reverence because I felt it was lacking and He didn’t appreciate it. After landing at Assumption Grotto in Detroit, He showed me I never had any.
I first felt like I dropped into the 1950’s and had the usual sarcastic thoughts when I first walked in seeing all the signs of reverence. But, my guardian angel worked overtime through many people there.

A girl only about 10 years old, genuflecting with such deep, visible sincerity, it struck me, then shamed me. She taught me how giving due respect to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament leads to reverence in his presence. I started first by showing respect, and in a matter of days as I continued to genuflect with purpose and sincerity, reverence “happened”.

A woman twice my age, kneeling in the back of the church, very deep in prayer and oblivious to anything or anyone around her, had only her nylons to buffer the cold marble against her aging knees. Combining this with the instruction of Fr. Eusebius, ORC in his Corpus Christi homily, that a straight knee is a sign of strength and a knee that is bent - a sign of humility, I put the two together and realized that showing respect meant being humble, and through this humility reverence “happens”. Now my untrained knees are getting a workout.
Just these two things led to other things.

Coming early and staying for a while, along with the many others in the Church enabling Jesus to work on us as he works his way through our body.

No talking during mass to anyone. Recognizing the need to not allow myself to be distracted by anything during the mass and developing a strong focus on God during the mass. I’m even learning to control my reflexes, tuning out the bubbly baby in front of me, in favor of the Lord, especially during consecration.

As many have read, my mass is in the process of shifting from an entertainment expectation, to one of full worship of God. It doesn’t matter whether I like the priest (provided he is in line with church teaching). Sometimes the least “cool” priest can offer the best advice.
I have found that the external dynamics that I thought were so important, mean nothing if the internal dynamics aren’t there. The Gregorian Chant I hear at the beginning of communion during the week, followed by utter silence, enables me to prepare myself and it is the “sameness” that enables me to focus. I was always looking for change, which is an entertainment oriented desire. I now value simplicity in my mass and I find it in the "EWTN type mass. " Needless to say, I’m no longer annoyed with it when I find it on TV. I find it soothing.
If it weren’t for the highly reverent atmosphere, driven by highly reverent people, I would never have learned these lessons.
Reverence is the result of showing proper respect to the Lord. And it requires humility - something that seems to have been missing from my 1970’s catechism along with talk of virtue, sin, sacrifice and a whole lot more.