But Father, what is so difficult about saying the black and doing the red? The Liturgy is clearly laid out, why the need to alter things, drop things, add things etc?
As a Catholic I don’t want a Mass that represents the mind of Father X, I want a Mass that represents the mind of the Church. Usually when a priest chooses to omit, or alter a part of the Mass, he does this consistently and this more often than not is done because he, personally, has an issue with something. Liturgy is a language that expresses theological meaning, change the language used and you alter the meaning. The priest is a servant of the Liturgy, it is not his property (nor is it the property of the congregation), therefore neither he (nor the community) have any right to alter it.
There are enough options already in the Roman missal (choice of 3 Penitential Acts, choice of 4 Eucharistic Prayers etc) why the need to make unauthorised changes?
There is also the issue that it is the right of the Faithful to have the liturgy carried out according to the norms and rubrics as laid down by the Church. What is so wrong on the faithful wanting their rights within the Church being upheld?
Yes priests need our prayers, you have a challenging job with huge responsibility (you don’t get much more responsibility on this planet than the pastoral care of souls) and yes like all of us, priests make mistakes. But whereas making an unintentional mistake is one thing, deliberately choosing to alter the liturgy is not a mistake, it is an intentional act. Redemptionis Saramentum makes it very clear that it is a duty incumbent on all of us (laity included) do do all in our power to stop liturgical abuses, without favouritism.
I don’t disagree with any of this. My contention, and what I would encourage those who post here to think about, is that we often times read things like this, “I went to Mass today and Father did such and such.” Or, “Father said such and such.” Fine. That might be true. But, it might not be either. My point is that we never hear the other side of the story. We don’t get to hear Father’s explanation. Did he make a mistake? If it’s onoing, why? Believe me, enough of my brother priests do enough quirky things liturgically to ruffle my feathers. But, they are still my brother priests. In most cases, they’ve put far more time into service to the People of God than I’ve even been alive.
To be sure, the faithful do deserve a properly celebrated liturgy. I agree with you 110%. But sometimes, what I read here and elsewhere seems to imply that most priests are renegades, just doing their own thing. I’ve not found this to be the case at all. In my experience, hideous liturgy is largely a thing of the past. Maybe I’m just fortunate in that the worst “abuse” I’ve ever seen at a liturgy has been the washing of feet of all in attendance at the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. I’ve never seen, and certainly never celebrated, the proverbial clown Mass. Maybe my experience is unique, but it seems to me that this mentality died out long ago. Maybe it’s still alive and well in other parts of the country/world.
But, if I may tell a personal story here…prior to entering seminary, I largely came to hear the Lord’s call through the liturgy. I read many things in books and online. I became friends with other people who loved liturgy. I remember the first time I saw a priest wear a cassock was in college. And, I thought it was cool…this dude looks like he’s Neo in the Matrix or something. I had no idea what a cassock even was. But, it attracted me. So, I began to get more involved in my faith and to hear the Lord’s call more deeply and clearly. As a result of my newfound love, I began going to daily Mass and more frequent confession.
This was all wonderful, but it had a negative side effect. I was becoming more and more accustomed to very “traditional” liturgy. I grew quite fond of the Novus Ordo in Latin. I read blogs that desired a renewal of Catholic liturgy throughout the Church. Again, this was all well and good. But, these blogs would give underhanded comments like, “It just drives me nuts that Father Smith doesn’t wear an amice, and you can still see his clerics. The rubric is VERY clear, ‘An amice is to be worn if the alb does not cover the ordinary clothing at the neck.’” Or, "Sigh…Father Jones started Mass today by saying, ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’ Doesn’t he know that the Third Edition of the Roman Missal changed this greeting? he’s supposed to say, “Communion!” Or, “Today is Wednesday of the Octave of Easter and Father Bill omitted the Gloria.”
