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Friday 21 August 2009

"The Mass is Not Worth Your Time"

No, no, it is not true, and no one, no priest, no liturgist, no MC, no Office of Worship actually SAYS this.

Well, not in so many words...

But over and over, this is the message telegraphed, this is not worth your time, so we'll make it more efficient, bow to the backside of the person ahead of you in the communion line, (that's right, reverence someone's glutes, rather than wiat till you can reverence the actual Blessed Sacrament); don't let that time while we are singing the song of the Heavenly Host, (Glory to God in the Highest!) go to waste, we'll get the Gloria out of the way while we do the Sprinkling Rite or the new archbishop's reception line...

No, no, we'll avoid unnecessary ritual, and singing, and moments of silence accompanying the Word of God, and then, oh, I dunno, the re-presentation of the ritual torture and execution of the Son of God for the salvation of all the world, before He condescends to feed you with his very Body and Blood -- so we can spend time on the little roast we're gonna hold for our beloved parish secretary, who is retiring; or the cute presentation the third-grade has been practicing, (with hand motions!); or the three girls from our youth ministry who are gong to tell you, tag-team style, about the swell sacred sleep-over from which they are just returned.

But ye gods and little fishes, don't make people hang around for the long form of the appointed Gospel reading, or one more verse of the entrance hymn which would remind us that there's a third Person in the Trinity!

So that attendance that's, ewww, we hate this word, an obligation? we'll make it worth your while, we do some cool extra stuff so that it's not a total waste of a fifty minutes on a Sunday morning.

4 comments:

Mr. C said...

I gave less than a minute's thought regarding "To post or not to post?" vis., the installation Mass in NOLO.
For once in my life I remembered the cliche "If you have nothing good to say, say nothing."
I did offer up some pithiness about Janco's Mass of Angels and Saints which confounded poor Abp. Aymond's singing capabilities unceasingly and mercilessly.

Mr. C said...

NOLA

Scelata said...

Yeah, I've been thinking about the installation Mass as well, and whether to post about it.

I take it the General Intercessions were part of the Mass of Saints and Angles setting?

Steve Janco is a nice man.

(Save the Liturgy, Save the World)

Mr. C said...

No, G, I don't recall any Spanish in the Janco; no score at home.
But that was egregious; that poor deacon!
What got me about that which we shall not comment upon....this is among the handful of American cities where "music" would be the next word uttered after its name was called in some psych associative game.
I mean Omaha at least "got game."