Technology and the Mass

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It’s awful. I’ve experienced many of the things you listed:

Prerecorded music
Video screens
Loud music

All it adds up to is distraction. The best way to make a mass a good mass is to not add anything to it. Jesus is a headliner. He doesn’t need a gimmick to draw a crowd and he doesn’t need flashy lights and pyrotechnics to leave an impression.

The tabernacle isn’t supposed to be a trophy case but a place of honor for our Lord. A tabernacle should not be see through. It should be opaque and made out of gold or lined with gold.
 
kmuestwin said:
It’s awful. I’ve experienced many of the things you listed:

Prerecorded music
Video screens
Loud music

All it adds up to is distraction. The best way to make a mass a good mass is to not add anything to it. Jesus is a headliner. He doesn’t need a gimmick to draw a crowd and he doesn’t need flashy lights and pyrotechnics to leave an impression.

The tabernacle isn’t supposed to be a trophy case but a place of honor for our Lord. A tabernacle should not be see through. It should be opaque and made out of gold or lined with gold.
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Who said anything about “loud music?” Why do people keep adding to what I outlined so they can then attack their additions as if they are mine? Do you really think you’re fooling anyone?

We use pre-recorded music at my parish before and after Mass – in fact most of the day when Mass or other worship is not taking place. Mostly Gregorian Chant. It’s gorgeous. It’s hardly an excuse me, “distraction.”

The “video” screens would be still for the most part – not at all like the live CCTV screens posted throughout St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC.

I never mentioned “gimmicks, flashy lights and pyrotechnics” – you did.

I never suggested a tabernacle that looked like a “trophy case” – once again, you did. I reject your desire to add “gimmicks, flashy lights, pyrotechnics and trophy cases to the Mass/Catholic churches.”

Nice try… 😉
 
feed_me said:
The best idea ever for a church is 4th century church. No technology, leaky boards for the roof, hard board for the people to sit on, and holes in the ground for the dung… with flies added. 😃
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Oh, no, no. Don’t you realize that history/tradition began only after WWII and then stopped sometime in the 1960’s? 😉
 
Jegudiel said:
Who said anything about “loud music?” Why do people keep adding to what I outlined so they can then attack their additions as if they are mine? Do you really think you’re fooling anyone?

We use pre-recorded music at my parish before and after Mass – in fact most of the day when Mass or other worship is not taking place. Mostly Gregorian Chant. It’s gorgeous. It’s hardly an excuse me, “distraction.”

The “video” screens would be still for the most part – not at all like the live CCTV screens posted throughout St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC.

I never mentioned “gimmicks, flashy lights and pyrotechnics” – you did.

I never suggested a tabernacle that looked like a “trophy case” – once again, you did. I reject your desire to add “gimmicks, flashy lights, pyrotechnics and trophy cases to the Mass/Catholic churches.”

Nice try… 😉
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Different people have different tastes, what works for you won’t work for everybody. I agree that there are far too many people being openly hostile here. I also think that implementing all of these things at once is a non-starter.

For one, such changes would open up a can of worms. There are many other people who have there own idea of how to modernize the mass and church architecture. If we implement yours, then what about theirs. That is part of the reason why so many people are responding so hostilely I think. Incremental changes that keep well within the spirit of the liturgy and of the look and feel of a traditional church have the best chance of working.

If you are truly interested in designing churches and the like perhaps you should study the field and find a way to contribute. There are many reasons why things are done the way they are some are good and some are not so good. The Church always needs people who think outside of the box, as long as they try to first understand why the box is there and what it is for.
 
Jegudiel said:
Who said anything about “loud music?” Why do people keep adding to what I outlined so they can then attack their additions as if they are mine? Do you really think you’re fooling anyone?

We use pre-recorded music at my parish before and after Mass – in fact most of the day when Mass or other worship is not taking place. Mostly Gregorian Chant. It’s gorgeous. It’s hardly an excuse me, “distraction.”

The “video” screens would be still for the most part – not at all like the live CCTV screens posted throughout St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC.

I never mentioned “gimmicks, flashy lights and pyrotechnics” – you did.

I never suggested a tabernacle that looked like a “trophy case” – once again, you did. I reject your desire to add “gimmicks, flashy lights, pyrotechnics and trophy cases to the Mass/Catholic churches.”

Nice try… 😉
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My mistake. I didn’t realize that this conversation had become so uncharitable.

I will bow out of this thread before I distress you more.
 
Tony_the_mad said:
Different people have different tastes, what works for you won’t work for everybody. I agree that there are far too many people being openly hostile here. I also think that implementing all of these things at once is a non-starter.

For one, such changes would open up a can of worms. There are many other people who have there own idea of how to modernize the mass and church architecture. If we implement yours, then what about theirs. That is part of the reason why so many people are responding so hostilely I think. Incremental changes that keep well within the spirit of the liturgy and of the look and feel of a traditional church have the best chance of working.

If you are truly interested in designing churches and the like perhaps you should study the field and find a way to contribute. There are many reasons why things are done the way they are some are good and some are not so good. The Church always needs people who think outside of the box, as long as they try to first understand why the box is there and what it is for.
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I appreciate your comments. People become hostile not only because of differing tastes but because they really can’t cogently explain why they dislike what they have been conditioned to dislike. This often leads to fabrications. Several people brought up elements I that never mentioned and then attacked them as if they were my ideas. I really wonder if they were being dishonest or were they unaware they were doing it?

I don’t think I would ever get involved in redesigning/redecorating a church for three important reasons. First, churches shouldn’t be redecorated for the most part. They should be conserved. Second, when an effort is made to redecorate it all too often ends-up as a half-baked kludge with no one happy. Third even with the grace of God, few groups seem to be worse at working together than those from just about any church.

On the other hand designing a new, greenfield church might be a very interesting project at some point in the future. I have seen some truly wonderful features in different churches, but I haven’t seen all of them in a single church. I have also seen elements in commercial, industrial and municipal buildings that would work fantastic in a Catholic church.

For what it’s worth absolutely nothing that I described would be incongruent with a “traditional” looking/feeling edifice. It’s all about the quality of the design and the implementation.

Thanks again for your comments.
 
Jegudiel said:
I appreciate your comments. People become hostile not only because of differing tastes but because they really can’t cogently explain why they dislike what they have been conditioned to dislike. This often leads to fabrications. Several people brought up elements I that never mentioned and then attacked them as if they were my ideas. I really wonder if they were being dishonest or were they unaware they were doing it?
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You still haven’t addressed my issue. Or is it that it is a real issue, rather than one based on taste, and therefore you don’t have an explanation?

(Just a hint, you are picking and choosing which responses you answer. You also seem to think that if someone doesn’t like what you like it is because “Some people simply lack the life experiences and the imagination to conceptualize just how beautiful what I described could be. ,” rather than that than simply not liking your ideas.)
 
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