Have we become too casual in our approach to the Mass?

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CilladeRoma said:
We are at Mass to worship and adore God, not to make sure that all the others in attendance are meeting our expectations.
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Much less the expectations of people who apparently don’t even believe in Christ and seem to be looking to poke holes in the actions of people who do.
 
Yes, we have become more lukewarm and casual to our approach towards Mass nowadays in my opinion.

Liturgical reform is needed, a lot of what occurred after Vatican II was not in line with what the Council actually called for. It never called for the altar to be turned around, and for the priest to face the people (versus populam), the abolition of Latin, the prayers at the foot of the altar at the beginning of Mass, suppression of the last Gospel, the prayers after Mass (specifically the St. Michael prayer after Low Mass, which was ordered by Pope Leo XIII), the tearing out of the altar rails, Communion in the hand.

The liturgy should in my opinion go back to the pre-Vatican II and be reformed to what the Council actually called for. Prior to the Council liturgical reform was gradual and very organic. But that all changed after the Council, when the liturgy was reformed so drastically, no Catholic at the time recognized it anymore, and it threw the Church into chaos.
 
I struggle with these type of threads and I don’t really understand them. I am fortunate where I live. If you want, you can attend Latin Mass. If you want you can attend a mass at a Jesuit parish which is very informal and people dress very informally. You might here a homily Nietzsche, the similarities between Buddhism and Christianity, or Game of thrones. There is everything in-between too. You can go to some valid mass and people will try to reach you where you are. Some years you are one place, and some years you are somewhere else in your spiritual journey. Some days being very informal in dress will seem like humility. Other days it will seem like nonchalance.

Some days I don’t want casual, and I want deep reverence. Other days I want casual. Why judge? Why care how people express their faith?
 
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Scott84 said:
It never called for the altar to be turned around, and for the priest to face the people (versus populam) ,
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Um, actually, yes it did.

The council documents were a beginning point, not an end point.

You may be interested in this.

Here is a little snippet:

II. MAIN ALTAR
  1. The main altar should preferably be freestanding, to permit walking around it and celebration facing the people. Its location in the place of worship should be truly central so that the attention of the whole congregation naturally focuses there.
Choice of materials for the construction and adornment of the altar is to respect the prescriptions of law.

The sanctuary area is to be spacious enough to accommodate the sacred rites.
 
My friend. Can’t you see that this is not “my case”? I have nothing to do here. I am just amazed at the amount of resistance to the idea that God should be revered.
 
What resistance?

I have not seen one person who has said God should not be revered.
I just don’t need to wear a dress or suit to do it. That is what is being said here.
 
ontheway1 said:
You have no trouble understanding the need to dress up when going to a job interview. This is showing respect.
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you’d be shocked to learn how few people dress up for a job interview these days. For those of us who remember the 50s and even the 60s when there was a distinction between formal events and casual events this is still shocking to us. But people under age 30 have never really lived in a time when there were distinct codes for dress. You’ll see a lot of casual dress at weddings and funerals too.
 
Agreed. I attended a wedding this past weekend. Easily half of the folks in attendance were wearing t-shirts, the groom included. I was wearing a sport coat (which I promptly tossed over a chair at the reception) and was one of only two people with that level of formality. Millennials and many folks do not equate formal dress with respect. These folks might, instead, characterize formality as unnecessarily pretentious or artificial.
 
Lifeisbeautiful3 said:
These folks might, instead, characterize formality as unnecessarily pretentious or artificial.
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exactly, in fact, I’ve heard a lot of people complain about people who are all dressed up as attempting to impress their fellow church goers. These folks do not see formal dress as ‘reverent’.
 
@ontheway1 Largely, they’re apathetic to what you (or anyone else) wears. Many folks (me included) can be reverent in a suit or in tennis shoes and can likewise feel reverent regardless of what those around us are wearing.
 
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If it is a choice between changing kids in the bathroom and leaving mass early and having them in soccer uniforms and staying until the end of mass then what
 
Try to look at this differently. Take for example a student parish. Students may see their home in the morning and at night. It is good students make mass for and hour or so. It doesn’t make sense for them to spend the entire day in expensive and uncomfortable clothing. They may not have the money to wear this type of clothing once a week either. They dress very casually at mass. In this type of setting, I’d go with Saint Ambrose…“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”.
 
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Yes. We can come up with a thousand excuses. They are excuses. That’s all. The general idea is that “my will be done”.
 
ontheway1 said:
So it is OK for “these folks” to judge me, but not OK for me to look at them
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you are missing the point. What you consider ‘reverent’ doesn’t mean it is ‘reverent’ for everyone. So unless the church issues a detailed dress code for Mass I’d say stop worrying about what people are wearing and what impression they are making on non-Catholics. Dress varies from location and culture.
 
No one had any problem with this for the last 1960 years or so. Rich or poor. No one.
Now, we (Catholics) are confused. No one else seems to be confused.
 
ontheway1 said:
No one had any problem with this for the last 1960 years or so. Rich or poor. No one.
Now, we (Catholics) are confused. No one else seems to be confused.
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Culture changes. I don’t know any Catholics who are confused about this. I don’t know what you mean about no one else seems to be confused.
 
Who’s confused? I’m not confused. My fellow parishioners, friends and family are not confused.

Are you confused?
 
Well many don’t even consider missing Mass a mortal sin and then you got those that think it’s all about ‘fellowship’. Might be the result of the ‘spirit’ of Vatican II preaching Jesus as just another social worker instead of Christ the King.
 
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