Saturday, February 04, 2006
RENEWING THE LITURGY
Brian Mershon has an interview up at Renew America, that will be published in the Feb. 9 issue of The Wanderer, concerning the Tridentine liturgy. Being interviewed are Bishop Bruskewitz (Lincoln, Nebraska) and Bishop Corrada (Tyler, Texas). These two bishops, along with Bishop Doran (Rockford, Illinois) and Archbishop Burke (St. Louis, Missouri) are credited with being generous in the Ecclesia Dei indult application which was requested by Pope John Paul II.
A couple of interesting comments were made.
*** One of Mershon's questions indicates that there was nothing in the documents of the Second Vatican Council which authorized the switch from versus apsidum to versus populum (facing the altar to facing the congregation). Bishop Bruskewitz notes that versus populum obscures the fact that the priest stands in an intecessory role between God and the people. When he is turned to face the congregation the temptation is "that one thinks the personality of the priest has to come through".
*** Bishop Bruskewitz makes this startling statement: "We're in the middle of the disintegration of the Latin rite."
*** Bishop Corrada notes that in his diocese there is a mission that is buying and renovating a Baptist church which will be used for the Tridentine exclusively.
*** In response to Mershon's question concerning the fact that today Catholics can "walk into a church in any place in the world and not even recognize what is going on", Bishop Bruskewitz responds, "You don't even have to travel. Sometimes in one major city you can go from one church to another. You have to wonder, 'What is this about?'" He notes, however, that "we have to live with where we are now. You can't cut down the oak tree to get back to the acorn."
It's an interesting interview. As always, liturgy is a hot topic. Dom has had a discussion on this going on at Bettnet. It would seem that most of us recognize the liturgy needs work, but no one is quite sure how to go about working on it. A major concern is not to cause a division in the Church by trying to implement yet another major change.
Personally, I thought Benedict's Christmas Eve Mass was a lovely compromise between the N.O. and the Tridentine. It even allowed for inculturation that did not distract from the purpose at hand. I wonder if the Latin Mass people could be happy with it?
Retreating to 1962 once again strikes me as self-defeating. First of all, while I learned to love Mass from my childhood experience of the Tridentine, I also recognize in the N.O. some changes that are good. None of those changes would be possible with the 1962 Missal, hence I'm not anxious to retreat. For those Catholics who have known nothing but the N.O. and are content with it, retreating to the 1962 Tridentine would be as much an upheaval for them as abandoning the Tridentine was for my generation. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. It's too hard on faith. The need for reverence is a given, but some consideration must be given to those who like the N.O.
It is also unreasonable to claim that the N.O. is a "new Mass" since if it is a new Mass, there is really no reason for it to exist at all. We are a Tradition based faith. If it doesn't connect with Jesus and even with the Old Testament--if it is simply a new creation or a novelty without foundation--it's useless, an empty ritual. The N.O. is built on the Tridentine, and that needs to be recognized.
