US Bishop states "Mass is Not the worship of Jesus."

[goout]

I kinda thought that was the point I made.
Glad we agree.

 

[Lysander]

Very true (10 characters)

 

[tafan2]

Thankyou, in my very first post on this thread I asked the distinction between these terms, especially in the context of the mass. I appreciate the comprehensive answer.

I don’t think the bishop was saying anything heterodoxical.

I certainly would give the Bishop the benefit of the doubt and he was not intending to be heterodox. But his precise words cannot be reconciled with the Church’s teachings and the definition of these words. But the waters are muddy enough to write it up to a momentary confusion in his selection of terms.

My main point in this thread was not to criticize the Bishop, only to take exception to those who have said they understand what he was saying, yet cannot explain it.

 

[Wendy1989]

Can anyone really explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity? No. That’s why we call it a mystery.

The relationship we humans have with the Holy Spirit is different than the relationship we have with Jesus and the relationship we have with the Father is different than our relationship with either Jesus or the Holy Spirit but all is worship because the Holy Trinity is one. The difference might be almost undetectable and is certainly nuanced but in our completely sinful humanity, we just can’t fathom.the beautiful complexity.

 

[Wesrock]

I mean, I think in the western liturgies the prayers of the mass are very Patricentric. I’ve seen that criticism from some Eastern Catholics/Orthodox whose prayers at mass are more Christocentric. (A great oversimplification would be that the west prays to the Father through Jesus Christ, while some Eastern liturgies pray directly to Jesus Christ who is mediator to the Father). The most charitable interpretation might be that in the west the priest takes on Jesus Christ’s role at the mass as offering prayer and worship to the Father, without denying also that God is Triune or that Jesus Christ is God, and of course we have some prayers directed to the Triune God and not just the person of the Father, and of course we have prayers to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit individually as persons, too. (Note, I’m also not denying that the priest acts in persona Christi in the East either, I’m just going into the approach to the prayer of the liturgy.) While all the persons are in each other and God is one and all their external works are one and not separate, we still notionally do sometimes direct prayer to a particular person of the Trinity or notionally attribute certain roles in creation.

Please don’t interpret this as a defense of the actual wording of the original statement. It’s just some general reflection based on that and on the subsequent discussion.

 

[tafan2]

It’s a very good and charitable reflection.