Root Cause for Liturgical Controversies

[Conciliar]

There have been any number of threads discussing various issues concerning the liturgy; what kind of music is most appropriate, when is silence best observed, should we kneel or stand at various times, etc…

It seems to me there is nothing new under the sun. The baseline issue here, although sometimes subtle and hidden, involves the same struggle Adam and Eve faced and failed to conquer - can we overcome the desire to assert and glorify ourselves?

So what exactly is wrong with everyone singing a song together leading up to the Eucharistic prayer in order to express our communion with one another? Why not hold hands during the Our Father for the same reason? Why not stand until every person has received Communion, again, for the same reason? Why not sing songs like “We Are the Body of Christ,” we are aren’t we? And on and on…

How creative should a liturgy committee or an individual liturgist be? A general question that could just as easily be asked, to what extent should the liturgy reflect the fact it is something received by God’s people as opposed to something we create for ourselves? The real issue? How much do we assert and glorify ourselves.

Do we face East together, in anticipation of He who is to come, or do we sit in the round facing one another - a closed community of sorts? Same issue.

Is it appropriate to ask couples celebrating an anniversary to stand and be blessed and to receive the congregation’s applause during the Mass? Same issue.

Is it proper to have EEM’s at just about every Mass regardless of the number of people present in order to allow more people to engage in “active pariticipation” through their “ministries?” Same issue.

I could keep going. You get the point, Even just small matters of adhering to the rubrics instead of asserting one’s right to do that which isn’t explicitly prohibited comes down to this very same issue - how much do we seek to assert and glorify ourselves?

Can anyone think of any liturgical matter of debate that doesn’t come down, at its very heart, to this same issue?

 

[stbruno]

I think that some of the liturgical controversies arise because people just are not catechized fully or properly and don’t understand how a liturgy is decided upon.

I know for the mistaken sake of evangelization, many liturgists have taken very liberal steps to make the church appear to be more up to date.

More reasons to pray.

 

[paramedicgirl]

Can anyone think of any liturgical matter of debate that doesn’t come down, at its very heart, to this same issue?

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The only one I can think of is the readings, with the new lectionary covering more of the Bible than the old lectionary. There is nothing in this debate that speaks of horizontal worship, or as you say, asserting and glorifying ourselves.

 

[Revert07]

There have been any number of threads discussing various issues concerning the liturgy; what kind of music is most appropriate, when is silence best observed, should we kneel or stand at various times, etc…

It seems to me there is nothing new under the sun. The baseline issue here, although sometimes subtle and hidden, involves the same struggle Adam and Eve faced and failed to conquer - can we overcome the desire to assert and glorify ourselves?

So what exactly is wrong with everyone singing a song together leading up to the Eucharistic prayer in order to express our communion with one another? Why not hold hands during the Our Father for the same reason? Why not stand until every person has received Communion, again, for the same reason? Why not sing songs like “We Are the Body of Christ,” we are aren’t we? And on and on…

How creative should a liturgy committee or an individual liturgist be? A general question that could just as easily be asked, to what extent should the liturgy reflect the fact it is something received by God’s people as opposed to something we create for ourselves? The real issue? How much do we assert and glorify ourselves.

Do we face East together, in anticipation of He who is to come, or do we sit in the round facing one another - a closed community of sorts? Same issue.

Is it appropriate to ask couples celebrating an anniversary to stand and be blessed and to receive the congregation’s applause during the Mass? Same issue.

Is it proper to have EEM’s at just about every Mass regardless of the number of people present in order to allow more people to engage in “active pariticipation” through their “ministries?” Same issue.

I could keep going. You get the point, Even just small matters of adhering to the rubrics instead of asserting one’s right to do that which isn’t explicitly prohibited comes down to this very same issue - how much do we seek to assert and glorify ourselves?

Can anyone think of any liturgical matter of debate that doesn’t come down, at its very heart, to this same issue?

You’re right on point for a good number of the issues that keep resurfacing. Yes, new people are always joining the forum and may indeed have valid questions/concerns. But there does appear to be a desire to “assert and glorify ourselves” in many of these discussions. I’ve been surprised and dismayed by the opinions/beliefs expressed in some of the threads and the tenor used in stating those thoughts/beliefs because there does appear to be a strong emphasis on the self as opposed to God - what I/we want, what I/we need, what makes us feel good, etc.

In these cases, it seems, that some (certainly not all) believe that if the Church **does not **specifically state that such and such can’t be done when giving instructions on what is to be done during the liturgy either via document or statement, then of course that means that we can do it. By the same token, if the Church does specifically state that something can’t be done, then we can still do it because it’s either open for interpretation or it may change in the future or there’s some kind of secret rubric that applies in a given situation.

People’s desire to make things to their own liking accounts for the 1,400 mainline Protestant churches and over 32,000 Protestant sects that exist today.

Stbruno is correct. Unfortunately, people are not as fully or properly catechized as they should be. Add to that the fact that we are human and imperfect due to the effects of the fall and there is indeed more reason to pray, pray hard, and pray always.