Why is it that some people so rigidly want to regulate every single action of every last member of the liturgical assembly?
Because that is what the liturgists are telling us must be done. These sentiments are told to the laity by bishops and priests who don’t follow the GIRM themselves. They tell us we must all be uniform, we must all obey their directives without question. Yet they ignore every directive that comes from Rome.
Why is it that some people want to start talking about disobedience as soon as someone doesn’t hold their hands at the right distance from their body should they choose to receive Communion in the hand?
Because we live in a period of hyper-obedience. If we don’t do
everything exactly as we’re told, we’re disobedient. You don’t know the number of non-Catholics I’ve encountered who believe the Catholic Church teaches that capital punishment is intrinsically evil because John Paul II came out against it. I tell them the Church has always taught that capital punishment is morally licit under certain conditions. They tell me it isn’t because their relative/friend/neighbor who is Catholic told them it’s against Catholic teaching because John Paul II said so and if I don’t accept what John Paul II says than I’m not following the teachings of the Church.
John Paul II had every right to believe what he believed about capital punishment as a Catholic. I still disagree with him. Unfortunately, most people think I’m not following Church teaching because they can’t distinguish between papal infallibility and prudential judgment.
Why is it that some people think that it’s possible to judge from exteriors what someone is doing interiorly?
It isn’t possible and I don’t know why anyone thinks than can judge the thoughts of another. Doesn’t Jesus tell us not to do this in the Gospels?
Why is it that Mass needs to be some exercise where you are talked to for an hour by a cast of characters who demand that like jacks in the box you stand, sit, kneel in lockstep and recite responses and sing songs as you are told in a tone and at a vocal range that proves to their satisfaction you’re “participating”?
Because this has been ingrained into oru minds for the last 40 years. The Mass is both contemplative and vocal. Sadly, the contemplative aspect has been almost completely taken out of the Mass.
Why is it that some people really seem to think all of these things are regulated by rubrics and rules and “norms” that are all of equal importance and must be carried out by all who would consider themselves faithful, orthodox, dedicated Catholics?
It’s a combination of hyper-obedience and being ingrained into our minds for the last 40 years.
Sheesh. Study liturgical history. The Church, wisely, has traditionally never become obsessed with every last thing people are doing during Mass.
Sadly, the vast majority of Catholics are ignorant of liturgical history. Most Catholics only know the Novus Ordo Mass, so they think the Mass is nothing more than robotic responses and uniform rubrics. Granted, the Mass must be orderly. When I go to the Tridentine Mass, most people are following uniform rubrics. However, uniform rubrics aren’t the be all and end all of Mass. There is time for personal, private prayer after Holy Communion, which is also found in the Novus Ordo Masses at my parish.
If Catholics truly knew liturgical history, they would see the innovations that were forced upon the Church with the promulgation of the Novus Ordo Mass. I don’t want to be misunderstood. The Novus Ordo Mass is valid and licit because it was promulgated by Paul VI.
However, this doesn’t mean that just because a pope promulgated a Mass that there aren’t liturgical innovations with that Mass.
I have to obey the pope as a Catholic, but I don’t have to like everything a pope does as a Catholic.