The Recovering Choir Director

No, Todd, I can’t agree with you.
You like to characterize the “good child” as hoping his sibling gets walloped, when all they really want is for Mom to stop the car and make the brat stop pinching the quiet kid in the back seat — whether because you are unaware of the true nature of the situation, or because you are one of the brats who won’t stop pinching us, I don’t know.

That said, I will agree that Seattle Catholic is so reactionary, their pages must be ingested with a grain of salt.

I also can’t agree that projected lack of effect is any reason not to publish stricter norms.

We don’t eliminate any of the decalogue on the grounds that people will continue to lie or murder anyway so what’s the use.

Peace, all.

Mark is pretty accurate. But the debate is really swirling around the judgment of the local parish pastor. Does a priest have a basic competence to make needful adjustments for the sake of the local spiritual good? Sure, some priests bitterly abuse the liturgy. Some of the abuse is ill-prepared homilies, incompetent musicians, and other bumblings. But some of the reports of “abuse” are little more than whining about technicalities which are somtimes permitted, but often reflect a serious and knowledgeable decision on the part of local leaders. Example: if a lay person can deliver a reflection on the Word of God to theological and pastoral satisfaction, why would such a thing be considered an “abuse?” Following the letter of the law will not produce good liturgy in and of itself. We need more. This document won’t give what we need the most.

Peace, John.

Could you give a few examples of such things? I do agree with you that liturgy presented with care and quality is instructive, and that’s important, but I also realize that at least two things are higher up on the list.

Peace, NJ

Our bishop has interpreted EM movement in the same way: they may enter a sanctuary but they may not be at the altar to assist unless the priest is elderly or infirm. In the latter case, the local pastor (or particular priest) makes the call. Lacking specifics in the rubrics, it is within the purview of the local bishop to determine specifics.

One EM at my parish wondered what all the fuss was about. He said it’s pretty clear that the guy wearing the vestments is the priest and the people who wear contemporary clothing are laity.

I admit I find your example unconvincing. Priests are often mic’ed, they wear vestments, they stand alone at the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer and following rites, and the lay EM’s do none of these. The unique role of the priest seems pretty clear me and everybody else from about the age of two. I would concede that lay people entering the sanctuary is a distraction for you and for a few other people, but a distraction is a personal/spiritual matter, and hardly qualifies as liturgical abuse.

And lastly, the undult for cleansing vessels applies to the entire US, anytime, unless the local pastor wishes it otherwise. I might have wished otherwise on one occasion when the bishop visited for an evening Serra Club Mass. Came in the morning after and all the Eucharistic vessels had been left in the sacrarium and on the countertop and the tabernacle key was still in the door.

“they stand alone at the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer and following rites, and the lay EM’s do none of these.”

Assuming what I have seen on the news is accurate, this was not always so in Rochester NY.

“He said it’s pretty clear that the guy wearing the vestments is the priest and the people who wear contemporary clothing are laity.”

In Valparaiso, IN, the EMs wear vestments. (I thouth they had scads of deacons, until i realized some of them were women.)

“The unique role of the priest seems pretty clear me and everybody else from about the age of two”

Not to the women presiding over what I thought was to be a charismatic prayer service in Baltimore, whihc turned out to be a pseudo-Mass.

“I would concede that lay people entering the sanctuary is a distraction for you ”

Not at all.
I am particularly pleased to have seen several lectors holding their infants while proclaiming scrupture from the ambo.

I admit, I find your pretense of not believing what does not support your thesis unconvincing.

Peace, all.

Mark, first of all, I think you’ve been corrupted by lingoists in assuming a term like “conflict” can be coopted as a greeting. Christ and the saints admonish us to charity and peace in our relationships, and not merely an empty peace misread from a state of bland agreement. Rubrics still take at least second place to an understanding of what liturgy is to accomplish. That doesn’t mean they aren’t essential, just not the be-all and end-all of good worship.

Mary, your examples are mostly worthy ones. Regarding number 1, I have not seen that in about ten years. And when I did see it in the past, I cannot remember lay EM’s having a speaking role. In Valpo, women were wearing albs I’m sure, a proper vestment for the laity. But I agree with you: albs, be they on choir members, EM’s, or even servers perhaps, might be a bit over the top. I remember a Rochester parish in which the servers did not wear albs. That seemed laudable to me.

Your charismatic prayer service could have been a Communion service. Most progressive liturgists reject the notion of Communion services, and I find them of questionable value, but it is true that lay people — even women — can preside at some non-Eucharistic liturgies. But these would not be covered by the concerns of IGRM.

I’m not sure it’s a matter of non-belief as much as non-experience. As a professional liturgist, I have a good amount of say about what goes on in my parishes. Generally, I have not committed any serious abuses, and occasionally have tolerated minor ones, especially on the pastor’s initiative.

And “Surfin’,” “grave” means whatever the Latin original meant. It probably means “serious,” but I would bet the practice is widespread because of the priest’s insistence, not on the laity’s. One of my EM’s, when informed of all the changes said he would welcome the priest processing to the sacristy during the closing song to clean up the mess. I have to admit I do not consider the matter of cleaning dishes to be very serious from my perspective. I would prefer saying hello to my parishioners and letting the priest clean up, but I acknowledge it makes a good deal of sense to keep things as they have been.

Peace, Mark.

In order of importance, an understanding of liturgy and its purpose is most vital. Second would be the whole framework of the rites: prayer texts, responses and rubrics taken as a whole. My problem is using rubrics as a legal tool for bludgeoning people. Guidelines provide great freedom to people who celebrate the Mass, and even lead parts of it: otherwise one reinvents public prayer every time it happens.

Many things are necessary. It would be good to see the curia comment on each of them.