Lirtugical Abuses

[DavidFilmer]

I was recently in Germany, and went to Mass at a small parish in a suburb of Stuttgart. Although I don’t understand German, I knew exactly what was going on at all times (except for the content of the homily). For example, when the priest said, “The Lord be with you” (in German, of course), and everyone else responded (in German), I was able to respond softly, “And also with you.” I didn’t understand the words, but I knew exactly what he was saying, and I could participate. How could I do this in a foreign land? Because the Mass is Catholic – Universal. It might be said in a different language, but it’s fundamentally the same Mass.

I live in the state of Oregon, the least-Christian state in the Union (of all the States, Oregon claims the smallest percentage of people who identify themselves as “Christian”). The large, urban areas of Oregon are extremely liberal in both politics and theology. And this mindset pervades many Catholic parishes. I have been to Mass in Portland, Oregon where I scarcely knew what was going on – and these “Masses” were in ENGLISH! How is it that I can follow along with a Mass in Germany, but not one in my own hometown???

We live in an age where liturgical abuses are common. Every once in a while, my family will take a month or six weeks and visit different local Parishes – places we’ve never been to, just to commune with and experience the spirituality of different congregations. And we see some amazing things.

I’ve seen lots of abuses which many would consider “minor.” Such as a Sanctuary with no candles. The General Instruction on the Roman Missal (#79), which carries force of Canon Law (and which no priest has authority to alter or ignore), requires that at least two candles be placed on or near the altar. But I’ve seen sanctuaries with zero candles. Now, this may be a “minor” thing, but it’s not a difficult instruction to adhere to. Why not abide by the instruction and put a couple of candles on the altar like you’re supposed to? When I see this, I think that the priest is either ignorant or rebellious. Either way, it leaves me with a bad impression.

I visited a parish where the ordinary means of reception of Holy Communion was for the recipient to do his/her own intinction – dipping the Host into the Chalice and consuming it. This is absolutely forbidden by Canon Law. It is considered “self Communion” (ie, giving Communion to oneself instead of receiving it from a minister of the Church). It is permitted to give the Host to the minister and for the minister to dip it and place it on the communicant’s tongue, but not for the communicant to do this.

And I have been to many parishes where they felt at liberty to re-word the Mass to suit their own preferences. Most notably in the area of “inclusive language” (I think I’ll start another thread on the topic of “inclusive language,” so I won’t expand on it here).

But, I think the absolute worst liturgical abuse I’ve seen was one Mass where I was subjected to the unique experience of hearing the homily preached by a layperson. I’m not talking about a “reflection” which should occur at the end of Mass (and is often a thinly disguised liturgical abuse itself) – I’m talking about a homily. It dealt with the subject matter of the Gospel reading and was in the ordinary place of the homily. The presiding priest offered no input other than to introduce the speaker (who happened to be the director of the parish CCD program). Now, keep in mind, this is clearly FORBIDDEN. A priest might be ignorant about candles on the altar, but no priest is ignorant about this! No nun may preach a homily. No monk (2nd Order brother) may preach a homily. No seminarian may preach a homily. And certainly no CCD director may preach a homily! You gotta be Deacon, Priest, or Bishop, and every priest knows this!

I would be interested to hear the experiences of others.

[royston]

Hi David ! I was in Shenzhen, China for six months last year... There was only one Catholic church around and the mass was in Mandarin... But I used to attend there almost every Sunday as that was the only option I had... I used to go to Hong Kong sometimes on Sundays and hear an English mass at the catholic church there.. But more often than not I would hear mass in Mandarin in shenzhen, as Hong Kong was quite a distance away... The Mandarin mass was exactly like the catholic mass I hear in India. I couldn't understand a word of course, but I could figure out what was being said based on which part of the mass it was.. An interesting thing I learnt was how difficult it is to remember your prayers when others are saying something else :-) Well, that's my experience for you...

Royston

[secretman]

Liturgical Abuses are our "daily bread", you have to go to Latin America, U'll get surprised!

[DavidFilmer]

>>> you have to go to Latin America, U'll get surprised!

Would that be pleasantly surprised or rudely surprised?

[secretman]

it woul be a very sad surprise

[Melody]

Hey all

I've had the pleasure - and I must say it indeed is a pleasure - of having participated in Catholic Holy Masses in many different languages in different parts of the world. Indeed, as David said, it's the universitality of the Catholic Mass which makes it's easy to follow & participate in even though one may not understand the language.

On another note: In India we have three different rites. These are the Latin, the Syro-Malabar & the Syro-Malankara. All of them have equal status (as per Vatican II). However due to the structure of the Holy Mass being different in each case (esp. in terms of the first opposed to the next two), it is difficult to follow these Holy Masses when they are celebrated in different languages (Malayalam, as the rites are mainly from South India).

As for abuse:
I always love being part of the Holy Mass Sacrifice & feast. I love participating in it. It really doesn't matter too much to me if the candles are on or not and such. My ex-prayer group leader once pointed out to me that a certain priest said "The Lord is with you" as a statement, rather than "The Lord be with you" as a final blessing. So I guess there are plenty of these things happening everywhere.

This one episode springs to mind - and here I will unfortunately outdo David's example of doing the Forbidden - a newly ordained priest brought 'holy books' from different religions upon the lecturn & read from them all (about 5 books in all, from the Hindus, Muslims etc) & then proceeded to preach on how "all Scripture is inspired by God"....

That incident became a very very very big deal in my parish. The Bishop was written to - and the priest who was a visiting priest, never returned. I do not know what action was taken against him.

All I know is this - I LOVE THE HOLY MASS. I love the fact that despite being the world's worst sinner, I am allowed to participate in the greatest healing service ever. I am allowed to received GOD in my weak & unworthy human flesh. WOW!!!

What I'm trying to say is that, if the offences are 'minor' as you call them, then we shouldn't let it bother us & take away from the beauty of the Holy Mass. Perhaps we could point it out to the Priest/in charge - perhaps they were innocently ignorant.

And if the offense is a major one, then we should follow the correct route in attempting to correct it - by not reacting negatively with anger, irritation, physical violence (add this as some members of my church wanted to whack the priest after Mass) or such. I believe the correct way to deal with this is to report to the authorities in charge - the Parish Priest, the Bishop, the Pope even if necessary. In writing, with support if necessary.

And PRAY PRAY PRAY. I can never emphasize fully the importance of prayer. I love the fact that all of you here are so passionate about us adhering to the rules and doing the right thing.

Now let's take our passion one step further - let's agree to pray together as one body so that all liturgical abuse, minor or major, willful or not, may be completely eradicated from Holy Mass. And that no matter what the situation, that everyone who receives Jesus at Holy Mass may be transformed by His Presence in their lives.[/size]

Amen.

Blessings,

Melody

[Ayodhya Nath Bhat]

Let us invite views from Father Eric Filmer on this subject. Frankly, I fully agree with Mama Melody's views.Let us not lose sight of our living God in these war of words.

Folks lets begin to pray so that calm,peace and love will prevail in our community.

Love


Ayodhya

[DavidFilmer]

Hello, Ayodyha - it's been a while since I've seen anything from you on the board. Welcome back!

Let us not lose sight of our living God in these war of words.

Huh??? I see nothing in this thread where anyone is even disagreeing about anything, much less waging a "war of words." Did you read the thread?

[Seeker]

Now let's take our passion one step further - let's agree to pray together as one body so that all liturgical abuse, minor or major, willful or not, may be completely eradicated from Holy Mass. And that no matter what the situation, that everyone who receives Jesus at Holy Mass may be transformed by His Presence in their lives.

Amen to that Melody!  Our spiritual lives should be centered around the liturgy (the Word and the Eucharist).  This is where we gain strength to combat evil in the world and spread the Good News!

Since we're on the topic of the Mass and the Liturgy, I'd like to recommend the book by Scott Hahn called The Lamb's Supper for an insightful commentary on the Book of Revelation and how it is related to the Mass.  This brings home why liturgical abuses are so tragic.  

On a positive note, this also reminds me how blessed Father Eric is to be the Lord's servant as he leads the people in the liturgy of the Mass.

[Rev. Eric]

Hello One and All,

On a positive note, this also reminds me how blessed Father Eric is to be the Lord's servant as he leads the people in the liturgy of the Mass.

You are right, Seeker, it is an incredible experience.  

I only have time for a few comments concerning this thread, so let me fire them away.

1)  Liturgical abuse is a disservice to the people.     A Catholic has the right to participate in a reverent celebration of the Mass that is in accordance with liturgical norms.

2)  Having said that, let me point out that not everything that looks like a liturgical abuse may actually be one (I am saying this as a general statement and not as a comment on anything that was specifically highlighted in this thread).  For example, at certain parts of the Mass, priests are permitted to substitute their own words for what is printed in the Sacramentary (although the same basic theme should still be conveyed).  Furthermore, a bishop is allowed to establish certain liturgical practices within his diocese.

3)  One can double check a suspected liturgical abuse by consulting the rubrics of the Sacramentary and the general instructions for that particular rite (for example, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, or G.I.R.M. for short).  Information concerning liturgical practices initiated by a bishop in his diocese should be available from his Chancery.

4)  What should you do if you are concerned about a liturgical abuse?  First of all, pray about it and ask the good Lord for guidance.  Next you could express your concerns to the priest himself.  Maybe he was reading a liturgical arts article and got carried away, and talking with you may help him get back on track.  In any event, it may be good to at least allow the priest the explain himself before going over his head.  I'm not a fan of anyone who commits liturgical abuse, but giving people the opportunity to explain themselves should be a common curtesy.

God bless,
-Rev. Eric

[Mary Liz]

The most disturbing abuse I witnessed was in our former parish.  Our priest  allowed a lay person to give the homily.  My son who was about 8 yrs. old said, "That’s Father’s job why is she doing it?"
After Mass we asked Father just that question.  His reply, " But she was good."
Even after my husband pointed out that it was his job to instruct the Faithful you could tell that he was very proud he had pulled this off.  It was most distressful.

On the flip side.
Our current priest was notified by the Bishop that he had recieved a nasty letter from a parishioner  with concerns over liturgical abuse and Church Teachings.  The Bishop informed the person that the ‘abuses’ were alternate Eucharistic prayers and the statements made were in fact Church Teachings.
I think that Rev. Eric's advice in following common curtesty is valuable.


I also recommend “The Lamb’s Supper”, by Scott Hahn. It is a GREAT book.

[jesusandyou]

I am told that it is an abuse to give mass to non-catholics? If thats the case there is a number of Priests who abuse the lirturgy.

[Melody]

JesusandYou,

I am told that it is an abuse to give mass to non-catholics? If thats the case there is a number of Priests who abuse the lirturgy.

I am not sure what you mean by "give mass".

The Holy Mass is a community celebration and ALL are welcome to participate in the Mass - non believers included.

However the receiving of Holy Communion is reserved for Catholics only. As far as I know, no priest will knowingly offer the Holy Communion to a non-Catholic.

If a priest is doing this knowingly then, yes, definetely it is something that is very wrong and against the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Blessings,

Melody

PS: Mary Liz, I've heard about the book too, unfortunately, it's next to impossible to get my hands on one here in India    I pray that God opens up some new channels of book distribution here!

[Seeker]

Have you tried to get the Lamb's Supper online from a foreign site Melody?

[Melody]

Have you tried to get the Lamb's Supper online from a foreign site Melody?

Seeker, Unfortunately, with the currency conversion rate, I (& I would add, many Indians) find it difficult if not impossible to shop online at foreign esp. US sites.

Blessings,

Melody