Just Cat’s opinion–
I’m sure that there are some truly good Catholics who are at a place in their lives where the externals in Mass truly do mean nothing.
But I believe that most Catholics are kidding themselves when they insist that they are at Mass solely to be present at Christ’s Sacrifice and receive Him in Holy Communion.
God created us as physical beings, and therefore we crave beauty that we can perceive through our senses. There is nothing wrong or “lacking” about that. To say otherwise is to fall into the heresy that some Protestants hold (my childhood church taught it) that the “physical” is not important, only the spiritual is of eternal significance. That is wrong.
Yes, we don’t require beauty to survive. Saint Maximillian Kolbe certainly didn’t say Mass in a beautiful setting.
But we still crave beauty.
There’s nothing wrong or sinful or lacking about craving a beautiful Mass. We are not worldly or “seeking entertainment” because we like being in a lovely building, hearing inspiring music and a well-delivered homily over an up-to-date sound system, seeing the enraptured faces of people that we know and love all around us, experiencing a heartfelt and emotional time of responding in hymns and spoken responses, praying fervent prayers that lift us up in our spirits and give us courage and strength to go back into our daily lives, and being thrilled in our hearts when the priest lifts the Lord up in the Word and the Eucharist.
If Catholics continue to argue that the “experience” of Mass is un-important, it ccould lead to a Mass expunged of all physical beauty as the parish attempts to eliminate any appearance of an “entertainment” or an “experience.”
e.g., music that is exciting, complex, and done well by competent musicians could be condemned as “entertainment performed by divas.” A priest who delivers a thought-provoking and challenging harmony could be accused of trying to turn the Mass into a teaching seminar.
This would be a sad situation, but after reading through this thread, I get the feeling from several of you that Mass should be devoid of anything resembling an attempt to give the people an “experience.” Take a look at what you are saying here. Be realistic, not esoteric.
If anything, I think that our Catholic parishes should do as much as they have the power to do (money, talent, volunteer base, etc.) to make it easier for the congregation to recognize what is actually happening (heaven coming to earth, a re-presentation of the Sacrifice at Calvary, etc.).
And in turn, the congregation should gratefully accept each Mass as it is offered, assuming that the priest IS doing everything he can to make the Mass glorious. We should not condemn music, a homily, architecture, etc. if it is simpler, more humble, less polished, etc. We need to keep learning how to see past the externals. But we also need to recognize and accept our human need to experience externals.
