I guess I am really bless. In the diocese of Tulsa, under the leadership of Bishop Slattery, we have the liturgies followed. Our priests, teach the flock, from the pulpit, and they teach the true teachings of the Church. I know that at St. Joseph, in Muskogee, OK, Fr. Brooks is a wonderful priest. Last week during his homily during the Feast of the Trinity, he spent quite some time talking about the mystery of the Trinity, passing on the best example out there, the one proffered by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen of H2O and its three persons/relationships while still always being H2O.
He also discussed this as the foundational belief of Christianity and how the JW and LDS don’t believe that. It was one of the best homilies I have ever been apart of. So, from what I have been reading on here, and hearing about from all over, I should consider myself lucky. I know that in Tulsa we also have the Parish of St. Peter, which is run by the FSSP and is an entire latin mass community. Fr. van der Putten is also a very good priest.
In the discussion of the 2011 Mass, I have read about it and read the missal up on the USCCB website, and I have noticed that Fr. Brooks is already implementing portions of it. I like the updates. They are more reverent, but in all reality, what would be best, in my opinion, would be the Mass, being a direct English translation of the Latin (1962) missal. Word for word, action for action. That would be a wonderful thing. The Novus Ordo doesn’t contain the reverence it should, at least in my not so humble opinion.
Growing up, when we would visit my grandparents, I would go to Mass with them at an Orthodox Church, as they were Orthodox. I loved their Mass. There was great reverence, tradition, and ritual. They hadn’t (1980s) ripped out the prayer rail. They still used incense in every Mass. That was a mystique that the NO Mass just doesn’t have. I have a feeling the Byzantine Rite Mass is on par with the Orthodox. Sadly, the 2011 doesn’t get us there, but it is a good step in the right direction.