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PDF versionShaken up so we can pour ourselves out
Spontaneity is an essential part of liturgy
Aug. 21, 2010
(NCR photo/Casey McCorry)
Viewpoint
The following was edited from remarks delivered at the Celebration Conference on Effective Liturgy in Chicago, July 21-23.
Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement taught me something about liturgy. Remember those scenes in places like Selma or Birmingham, Ala., with the police dogs and the fire hoses? When those ordinary folks were marching, singing and facing incredible horrors -- the vicious dogs that were attacking even the children, the fire hoses that were coming out with such incredible force -- I asked, “How did they do that?” Here’s what I found out.
Before every single march, those people gathered together for liturgy. They had church.
Before they would step out to march or do anything, first they had to come together to pray as a community. They had to sing songs. “Oh, Mary, don’t you weep, don’t you mourn. Oh, Mary, don’t you weep, don’t you mourn. Pharaoh’s army got drowned. Oh, Mary, don’t you weep.” They knew that Pharaoh’s army was waiting for them, and when you know Pharaoh’s army is waiting for you, you have to sing a song like that.
They didn’t need some cantor begging them to sing. The preacher could not afford to deliver a dull, lifeless sermon. That preacher knew it was his responsibility because he was hearing the word of God himself, and he knew that at that moment, God was saying, “Get up. Come. Walk with me.”
So church -- liturgy -- became necessary, not to get to heaven, but to get through life.
It seems to me that we can’t ever do good liturgy unless first we have some idea of why we are coming together in the first place. I do a lot of parish missions. When I start a mission, one of the things I always ask people is, “Why are you here?”
They say, “I come here to praise the Lord.” I reply, “You don’t have to come to a church to praise the Lord. You know that God is everywhere.”
Or they say, “I know I’m going to die someday and this is like my ecclesiastical insurance policy.” I always tell people, “If you are coming here in order to save your soul, you’re trying to buy what’s already been given to you, for I believe that the grace of God is such that he has purchased your soul already. There is nothing you can do to earn what God has already given you.”
People look at me as if to say, “Well then?” I always say these three powerful, prophetic words from scripture: “Here I am.”
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God called Moses. He said in effect, “Moses, Moses, I want you to partner with me. I want you to become my mouth, my eyes, my ears, and I want you to go out into the community and the world and I want you to make a difference in my name. I want you to tell them you’re there because I sent you.”
Moses answered with these three words: “Here I am.”
If you don’t know it from scripture, you know it from the song. “I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry. I have wept for love of them. They turn away, but I who made the stars of night, I will make their darkness bright. I will give my light to them.”
And then the question. It’s not a rhetorical one. It is a real question from God to us. “Whom shall I send?” I ask, “Have you come here today to say to Almighty God, ‘Here I am. What is it you want of me? What is it that you need of me? Tell me. Here I am’?”
John Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” I ask congregations what this world would be like if everyone who walks through these doors today said, “I am not here today, God, to ask what you can do for me. I am here to ask, ‘What can I do for you?’ Here I am, Lord.”
The changes we are seeing in liturgy fail to take into account that while we are all brothers and sisters, there are things that are different culturally about many of us. Not better but different.
How do you know in a black church when Jesus becomes present? In the black church, the preacher will start preaching. Jesus is on the way. The mood in the church starts to change. Jesus is just outside. Suddenly, something happens to the preacher where he can’t stand still anymore. The church starts to move. Jesus is at the door. Suddenly, the preacher can’t say his words anymore, and he starts to sing. Something is happening now. Jesus is here.
We seem to be squeezing out any possibility for such spontaneity -- which is essential for people -- if every word has to be pronounced exactly, if there can be no commas or anything slightly out of place.
People need to feel. There are things that we genuinely need to feel in order to worship, because we feel racism. We feel hatred. We feel pain. We feel anger. We feel frustration. We need to have a service that lets us feel the love of God, that lets us feel God’s power, that lets us feel the negative stuff so we can feel the positive stuff that comes from Jesus Christ.
We must also, even liturgically, deal with the issue of women. Let me tell you why. In our minority communities, because of the devastation that has taken place for so long, a lot of our black men were not there. So we were led by these strong, powerful, loving women.
We see our mothers and our wives as being powerhouses. The church has got to understand that they can say anything they want, but in today’s world, if you say, “Because you are a woman, you cannot be ...” what? Fill in the blank. A doctor, lawyer, firefighter, police officer, pilot, teacher, member of Congress? There is only one thing that I can’t fill in: “Because you are a woman, you cannot be a priest.”
The church has to understand that if you are saying, particularly to minorities, “You either accept this or go somewhere else,” what is happening is we are going somewhere else. We have to stand up and talk about this stuff. When you say, “Because you’re a woman, you cannot be this or that,” you better have some really good reasons. I’m not sure it’s because you can say Jesus had 12 men as his disciples and from that, he meant for you to infer for all eternity they were alone worthy to be priests. As a liturgist, I know the symbolism is having a devastating effect.
Look at a bottle of Italian salad dressing, not the creamy kind, but the kind that has oil at the top and all the good stuff at the bottom. That looks like a lot of Christians I know. If you want that salad dressing to be good, what do you have to do? You have to shake it up.
This should be happening in liturgy. I ask people, “How many times have you come to Mass, received the Eucharist, heard the word of God? How many blessings have you received in your life? How much have you gotten and, still, on the outside, you look lifeless and dull? If you stay motionless and still, all that good stuff just sits there.”
So you shake it up, and then what do you have to do? You have to pour it out. Once you pour out all that goodness, your vessel is empty. So when you come back to the house of God, now you’re hungry. Now you’ll want to hear, “All right, God, what you gave me last week, I poured out. What do you have for me this week? Let me hear the word of God this week.”
If what you heard there is enough to shake you up, then you do something with it, you pour it out into a hungry world or a church that we love that needs to hear your voice. It is up to folks like us to make sure we shake the foundation because that’s what Jesus Christ did. He shook us.
How many Masses do we go to where we settle for feeling lifeless? We need to be shaken loose. We need to be shaken up so that we can pour ourselves out.
[Grayson Warren Brown is an internationally known liturgical composer, author, recording artist and speaker. He has published six collections of liturgical compositions.]
Online resources
All of the conference presentations are being prepared in edited form and will be available in the coming weeks on NCRonline.org and celebrationpublications.org.
Wonderful. I just attended
Wonderful. I just attended Mass in the Baker, Oregon Diocese, run by a bishop who considers himself the chief liturgist and who has published a long pamphlet micro-managing the way priest and people celebrate liturgy. At the same time, he has imported a number of priest from other countries. These are good men who seem to want to do their best. But their English is marginal.
The priest at the Mass I attended was from Mexico, with a heavy accent. The little church had a bad echo. I could understand one word out of four. I have rarely felt so desolate and spiritually unfulfilled. And yet that idiot of a bishop thinks he is providing for the spiritual needs of his people.
He is famous for this statement about the lack of priests: "It is good for the people to fast from the Eucharist. They will appreciate it more."
The bishop IS the chief
The bishop IS the chief liturgist. It says so right in Vatican II.
"Every LEGITIMATE celebration of the Eucharist is REGULATED by the bishop, to whom is committed the office of offering the worship of Christian religion to the Divine Majesty and of administering it in accordance with the Lord's commandments and the Church's laws". Lumen Gentium 26.
Yes, the bishop is the chief
Yes, the bishop is the chief regulator of the liturgy in his diocese.
On the other hand, Bishop Vasa apparently has shown little competence in regulating the liturgy in the diocese entrusted to his care.
I would hope that the conciliar fathers presumed that a bishop would demonstrate competence in liturgy and governance.
Something Vasa has apparently yet to demonstrate.
and you want to return to
and you want to return to having the Vatican "micro-manage" the liturgy? The Vatican practically invented the word. From dictating what shade of violet the bishop's cassock and lace pantaloons should be to how you take communion(either standing or kneeling, or in the hand or on the tongue)?
Sorry, I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the local bishop just about every time before I trust the liturgical "experts" in Pope Benedict's court in Rome.
YES! YES! YES! "Botched
YES! YES! YES! "Botched Patriarchy at Ground Zero" http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978459272
This is absolutely what is
This is absolutely what is needed in our church! I attend Mass regularly, and leave ... and thinking how my inner spirit has been in a "tomb". Yes, I participate -- sing, respond, etc -- but I long for the freedom of expression you describe here.
Sadly, it seems the Church is going in the opposite direction. I can only say those who want to regulate every word and motion of the people of God will be really surprised in heaven where in freedom all will be a thunderous, spontaneous, EXPLOSION of praise and glory!!!
let the people of God say
let the people of God say AMEN!
You should try the
You should try the Traditional Mass. If you want to reach the deepest depth of your soul, you need quiet and serenity. This superficial spontaneity and noise will never get you past the physical body and into the deep interior castle of the soul.
Amen to that! I write the
Amen to that! I write the prayers of the people for our parish part of the year, and the first one is for the Church. Many many prayers I've written to bring us to life, shake us up, tear down the hardened walls, open us to the fresh sharp wind of the Holy Spirit...
....and let the church say
....and let the church say "AMEN"
Oh dear. How to alienate
Oh dear. How to alienate straight young men in a few easy steps - liturgy with NCR online... Get a grip.
Is this Catholic at all? Are
Is this Catholic at all? Are we really suggesting that the Eucharist is unimportant and the important thing is "spontaneity?" I agree that we come to Mass because we are hungry. But not to be ambiguously "shaken up." To be filled with Christ as present in the Eucharist, and to worship Him. It's not about feelings.
And just how do you worship
And just how do you worship God without feeling? Christ himself said the lukewarm would be spat out...I pray to God for you not to be spat out...
Oh, it's nice to have good
Oh, it's nice to have good feelings while worshipping at Mass. In fact's it's pretty great. But that's not what it's all about, feeling good and having fun. It's about adoring Him for what He did for us on the Cross, and being completely in awe of that. Whether we feel good or not.
I must have missed the part
I must have missed the part where you're qualified to label the worship habits of others as "lukewarm" because they don't coincide with yours.
No, it is not Catholic, and
No, it is not Catholic, and yes, that is precisely what this article is suggesting. To the progressive left, both inside the Church and outside, all that matters is feelings.
Brother Joseph, as usual your
Brother Joseph, as usual your posts sadden me. I see such a tendency amoung partisans to paint the other side in such broad strokes. I would be classified as what you would call part of the Left. I can assure you that I care about many things other then feelings. I can also say, from my observation and involvement with many good people on the left, that they too care about much more than feelings (are you unaware of the great sacrifices many of the Catholic Worker movement make to live out what they see as Christ´s call? Do you think that standing in the blazing sun for hours to protest the arms build up feels good? Do you think that those on the left who have gone to jail, do it because it feels good?).
Yes, I understand that life is easier when you have such a clear, clean
good cop/bad cop approch to life and to others. The problem is that it is a false view of life and it impairs an honest, Christian view and understanding of the other and their soul.
I often learn a lot from those on both the Right and the left, but never when what they have to say is filled with such self-righteous, divisive sureness. Being Christian is often hard work, but understanding that others, even those who see things differently are part of the mystical body of Christ is a valuable struggle and quite a joyfilled experience. And, I believe, that this is a struggle of which we are called to participate; that will bring our very own souls closer to the God we claim to worship. If one is unwilling to do this hard work, one will become more comfortable in their own self satisfaction and sureness and this satisfaction and sureness will become the substitute for a real relationship with the divine. Also, bitterness will be part of this sureness and it wil become increasingly difficult to love ones neighbor. As a matter of fact, one will find ways to hold their neighbor in contempt, but disguise this contempt by wrapping it is rithteous indignation and outrage.
Brother Joseph you are a learned man, but I so often cannot see any love in your responses. I pray that you do not fall into these traps of sureness and that you too can see the mystical beauty of Christ´s love for those who you yourself may find unattractive or be in disagreement.
May you know Christ´s peace,
John David
Too many Catholics are bent
Too many Catholics are bent on preserving triumphalistic antiquarianism.
Don't forget the earliest responses to Paul's preachings were in fact in the form of liturgical exuberance of one kind or another. Speaking in tongues an liturgical dance or trance is more likely was a form of it.
If you go to parts of Mexico and Guatemala you will the best examples of this WITHIN Catholicism. The indigenuous peoples have been practicing their own unique brand of it since the Conquistadors landed. Even the local bishops--most of whom are more reactionary than the prancing queens we have here in the USA--have tried to stamp it out, but they've failed miserably after 500 years of trying.
and why would the eucharist
and why would the eucharist have to be at odds with spontaneity? Since when did "spontaneity" become a dirty word and take on negative connotations? Please go back to your wedding cake altar, your fiddleback chasuable, and your lace nighties.
What's more, Christ is present at Mass in more ways than simply the eucharist.
Absolutely YES! AMEN!
Absolutely YES! AMEN!
Great, great article. Thanks
Great, great article. Thanks so much.
Unfortunately, the far
Unfortunately, the far majority of Catholics don't want to be "shaken up"...they prefer the rules, the status quo, nothing new...I doubt they have ever really heard the Good News, because really hearing something demands action...if they believe that Jesus is in their life & that they are "saved", then they become self-righteous "me" persons, so much better than "them" (which is the word we use to dismiss others from any claim on us)...they do not hear the entire dismissal...Go and serve one another"...they only hear the "Go" and know that their part is done...but Mass/liturgy is just a start; "serve one another"!! it is a marching order, and order to go into the world (which God made...& I fail to understand how people who believe God is good and all God made is good and yet reject the world and dirty the world and destroy the earth & each other!) and love each other, give to each other, receive from one another, live for each other, love the earth so that they do not foul it...
Does the rejection of women as priests and the adoption of gibberish-sounding anti-grammatical English in liturgical texts contribute to a good "shaking up" or is it a continuation of the rejection of the "other" & a means of stubborn inclusion by a small insular group cognizant of how quickly it is losing its "power" over people?
I fear what G.K. Chesterton said is unfortunately far too true in our current world: "Christianity has yet to be tried".
Shake away!!
Unfortunately, most
Unfortunately, most progressives don't want to be shaken up! "No don't change our timeless 1973 translation and our 80s pop music--it's timeless plus it's to hard to change and understand." Anytime a new priest preaches to them about sin--to shake them up!-- they cry out that he embodies the mortal sins of the liberal--not being "nice and pastoral." Everything is well in NCR land--crappy music horrible ad libbing priests making up not only the words of the liturgy but the whole liturgy and even the faith! And any bishop or priest who tries to preach what the Church actually teaches, TO SHAKE THEM UP, is looked down upon with scorn.
Tell it like it should be!
Tell it like it should be! Shake up our church!!
Amen! Allelulia!
Amen! Allelulia!
Grayson has made wonderful
Grayson has made wonderful points. Unfortunately, the starting point for current reform of the reform is platonic duality. Reason is good, emotion is bad and must be controlled. I really regret that the Jewishness of Christianity has been largely lost and was replaced eons ago by greek philosophy. We are the less for it. It is as if the Incarnation did not take place, that God did not re-create us in Jesus. Again too bad. I hope Grayson keeps at it.
Spontaneity, yes--but not the
Spontaneity, yes--but not the manipulated kind we see too often. Example: Father invites the children forward for a special homily, and then uses kids and their comments as props to entertain the big people.
Spontaneity has to be of the people, not reactive to a gimmick. People have to arrive breathing, interested, welcomed, encouraged, and loved. Not much of all that in our Churches, right now . . . .
Too often, Father does not seem comfortable with the fact that we have feelings. He stands up there, tells us he has six shelves of books stacked up to the ceiling in his room, and that it's his job to tell us what to believe and how to think. (The he sneers at the Episcopalians for voting on the truth. That Cathedral pulpit homily was a doozie.)
Bureaucratic Church is about anything BUT shaking things up. And the guys have the bully pulpit, right now.
Sometimes I feel like a Motherless child . . . .
Dear Liz, Peace and
Dear Liz,
Peace and Good.
I read your post, and especially your last words.
This comes from an Australian priest in Iquitos, Peru. Permit me to suggest something, with much respect. The Latinamerican Bishops met in Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007. Their charter document for the Church in this continent speaks of the process of formation for all Christians, which includes community - they said that there can be no Christian life without community. Perhaps if you could find some likeminded people, and meet together, in your homes, every so often, to share your lives and vision, and pray together, you might find that the Spirit strengthens you greatly.
Every blessing and fraternally in Christ,
John Andersen
The Church where genuine
The Church where genuine spontaneity exists as a perfectly natural, authentic response to the liturgy is not at odds with the traditional piety associated with the Mass down through the centuries, and it never has been. Those who scoff at spontaneity in Catholic worship are usually the bead fondlers and prayer book Catholics who expect total silence from everyone while a priest whispers prayers at the altar in a language nobody in the parish knows, or, if did know it, don't know it now. These traditionalists want an entertainment too. To be simply onlookers. Where they can sit in the pew, let their mind wander, and WATCH a floorswhow. Hoping nobody else's prayer's or responses will distract them? LOL LOL LOL
Maybe they should try to hire a "chantry priest" as were common in Europe and the British Isles before the Black Death in the 14th century. Some priest to come out to their estate and say Mass just for them in their private chapel.
Yes, I say yes! I'm a
Yes, I say yes! I'm a Pastoral Musician who wonders if the coming "changes" will close the door on all those who long for the Living Lord and not the way things used to be. Will I be able to continue to minister in integrity? I doubt it.
Thanks, NCR, for the FYI
Thanks, NCR, for the FYI regarding availabilty of these presentations. I'll certainly look forward to reflecting on them.
Thanks also for this first installment. If it's a harbinger of things to come, we're in for many treats for sure.
Other than the the summation paragraph the sentences that most deeply touched me were these: 1)"People need to feel". Yes! Yes! Yes! Prayer of any kind should never be a head trip, an abstraction from real lived life. 2)"The changes we are seeing in the liturgy fail to take into account that while we are all brothers and sisters, there are things culturally different about many of us. Not better only different." Of course that's a prime ecclesial problem in the RC church of our time: Catholic Identity, based on uniformity rather than harmony of differences....
WOW! GREAT! AMEN!
WOW! GREAT! AMEN!
What a heart shaking article.
What a heart shaking article. This is what the church needs today - not just changing one word for another in the liturgy. I have not felt such outpouring of God's message in a while and myheart is singing, here I am, Lord.
I am "all shook up"
Spontaneity is never, ever
Spontaneity is never, ever part of Catholic liturgy since the liturgy is given to us by God and not something made of human hands. We share it in communion with the saints and the whole Church. You can't unilaterally change something you share. That's why we call it Holy Mass and our Eastern brethren name it the Divine Liturgy.
"Spontaneity is never, ever
"Spontaneity is never, ever part of Catholic liturgy"????
Then why does the Sacramentary so often say "in these or other words"? Our God-given liturgy is primarily a Jewish Seder celebration. And I've yet to see where Jesus uttered the word "Catholic".
From many conversations through the years, it seems what people liked most about the pre-Vatican 2 Mass was that there were no expectations of them other than to be on time for Communion.
Jesus is quoted as having said, "take and eat ... all of you ... take and drink ... all of you ...", not "take and drink ... SOME of you". Looking at the new texts online, we appear to need to change the texts of the Eucharistic Prayers to reflect the apparent new reality of Communion.
I hope, Andrew1215, that there is spontaneity in your life. If liturgy is to be life-giving, allow some there as well.
Sorry to have to enlighten
Sorry to have to enlighten you Andrew, but liturgy--every speck of it--is constructed by men. Read a history of all of the rites and you will see, like the bible itself, it is put together by man himself. It does change, it always has changed, and it always will change.
Dear Andrew 1215, where ever
Dear Andrew 1215, where ever did you come across the notion that the "liturgy is given to us by God and not something made of human hands"? In my opinion that's as bad as saying the Jesus instituted the church.
To the contrary, liturgy is 100% "made by human hands" insofar as it's prayer ritualized. Prayer is something we humans do to acknowledge our creatureliness before God. HOW we do it is ritual which is part of liturgy; humans invent this HOW. How else to explain commissions, assemblages of liturgists, translators, scripture scholars, permission-givers, scribes/secretaries of all kinds, promulgators and monitors, etc., etc.? These humans all contribute their "hands" to make the liturgy. As human-made, liturgy can, does and should change throughout human history. Liturgy can and should be assembled in modes most accommodative to human prayer needs.
First of all the church was
First of all the church was instituted by Jesus, passed down to Peter.
Secondly, if you are listening to the Liturgy, a lot of the prayers are those that come from the Bible and are not "made up" by man. The Eucharist Litury is full of them. The "Holy, Holy" and the prayers duing Consecration are two examples. I am a strong believer that you make out of it as you will. If you are too focused on how the music sounds and that there is one hard word to pronounce, then you are missing out on the entire experience of Mass. If people spent more time praying the Mass instead of being concerned about being entertained by it, you would find that your soul is being fed. Too many people want Mass to be like a television show where they just show up and do not have to think or challenge themselves to understand what God is trying to tell us while they are at Mass.
By the way, the Liturgy changes have been in the making for several years. Actually they were started during Blessed Pope John Paul II's Pontificate. They are just finally getting put into place this year.
This excellent presentation
This excellent presentation reminds me of Thea Bowman!
I wonder how this would go over with those who are preoccupied with rubrics and translations, if they ever read it? Would this find a place in the curriculum of today's seminarians?
Being a Memphian I was
Being a Memphian I was blessed to take part in Thea Bowman talks and workshops! She had a gift for engaging all who were present. It did not rub off on all the priests but it did infuse folks with an enthusiasm for ACTIVE participation in the liturgy!
Some great ideas here for
Some great ideas here for Sunday Mass!
What? You mean the bishop/celebrant isn't wearing a cappa magna and a big flashy cocktail ring to go with his jeweled pointey hat? Now, how can you have good liturgy without looking like some medieval clown all dressed up in 16 vestments of white and gold silk from the top of your hat to your toes?
Pope Benedict, get out of that white lace dress and other ridiculous falderall and put on a plain white linen alb and wrap yourself in a sheepskin mantle dripping in lamb's blood. Putting on a wooden cross on a red cord, instead of some gawdy cross with flashing jewels. Then start getting that congregation in St. Peter's moving ,shaking, dancing, and trembling with fear and awe.
Then and only then you might start getting the folks back into the groove and back into the pews again too. Instead of them showing up to simply observe a highly publicized, meticulously planned drama, a carefully rehearsed floor show made up of pontificating old buggerer protectors..
The Vatican is quick to
The Vatican is quick to assert that there is no place for gay men in the priesthood. But when it comes to "clerical couture" it sure looks to me like High Drag is still OK.
So who is trying to kid whom?
and the obsession with
and the obsession with "clerical couture" is from this pope on down. Time to get rid of the lace dresses, the purple and scarlet trains, the pointy hats, and big flashing cocktail rings. Sweep that rubbish into the museums and the trash cans of history.
The entire Church needs purification from centuries of pollutants, the hierarchy's obsession with rigid liturgical uniformity:, trying to return to a world liturgical language which is no longer a world language and nver will be, and a rigid adherence to archaic ceremonialism, antedeluvian practices, and the never ending army of pharisees in the congregation for rites in Rome with their passion for granting indults for virtually everything.
These duds in scarlet have got time for a "recognitio" and endless decree-writing, but they never seem to have time to meet with the victims of clerical abuse.
These whitened sepulchres are being roundly ignored by bishops and laity alike throughout the world, and so they should be. The liturgy belongs back in the local bishop's bailiwick . Where an appreciation of modernity, the needs of the local people and their art and culture, and an awareness of Sacred Tradition all come together to meet the spiritual needs of everyone.
And bring on the flannel, the
And bring on the flannel, the polyester, the priests in polo shirts, the cheap glass "cups," the burlap, the rainbow stoles and the "children of the world collection." Only the best for our God!
Hallelujah! I hope to see the
Hallelujah! I hope to see the day that we all can celebrate liturgy more freely. Most of all, I wish the hierarchy would take off its blinders and imitate Jesus in his acceptance of and respect for women.
Great article that helps us
Great article that helps us understand better the meaning of Liturgy every week! AMEN! AMEN!
Absolutely wonderful. A
Absolutely wonderful. A beautiful challenge that calls us to "Church", to be together. Let us also be sure that as we respond to the Lord's grace flowing up out of our hearts that we also allow the truth of the Word Of God to guide us. Not all spontaneous urges are Godly.
Sponetenity is certainly a
Sponetenity is certainly a part of PRIVATE prayer and devotion. However the liturgy is the prayer of the whole church, not any one person or group. More than that the very definition of the liturgy, as taught by VATICAN II (repeating the definition of Pius Xii verbatim) is that the liturgy is the prayer of the whole Mystical Body-Christ and his members. Im sure many readers here will complain about Rome overregulating, despite the fact that VATICAN II said that the regulation of the liturgy depends on the authority of the Holy Father. My own experience is that the only sponetnity is that of parish liturgy dircetor and ministers who tailor the liturgy according to what they want irrsespective of either the Church's norms or the average person in the pew. It has has become THEIR liturgy, their theology and their agenda. It is a question of power-their POWER.
Gerard, Until Constantine
Gerard, Until Constantine legalized Christianity and Rome started drawing more and more power onto itself politically and in other respects, the liturgy was largely local. It was decided by the parochia/diocese--bishops with their presbyterate-- and it was a reflection of local taste and custom. By the 7th and 8th century popes became obsessed with the entire west holding fast to Roman custom and ending Gallican, Byzantine, and Mozarabic practices. Charles the Great and Pepin aided in this process as did the later Ottonian emperors.
Now, that Benedict XVI is no longer Patriarch of the West, there is no need to adhere to strictly Roman custom and to have a single liturgical model imposed on a Church of 1.2 billion souls. All customs, east and west, are part of the universal patrimony and they always have been. Except for the times when Latin liturgists tried to stamp out eastern practice and liturgical culture, and substitute a uniform Latin liturgical praxix. Local bishops can and should draw upon that treasury, but at the same time draw inspiration from the local Church and culture as well. This pope has a narrow view of what is liturgically appropriate and he is being roundly rejected because of it.
His ever decision with respect to the liturgy is dictatorial--outside the broader tradition of Vatican II-- and it is looked upon with increasing loathing and suspicion.
Yes Vatican II says that the
Yes Vatican II says that the liturgy is property of the Church and no one, not even the priest, may alter it. I guess I made the mistake of reading the documents of Vatican II, not the "This is what I wish Vatican II said" collection published by NCR.
This is a nice uplifting
This is a nice uplifting article, but since this is a Catholic newspaper, it would be nice if it had been written or edited by a Catholic. If it had been certain mistakes would have been avoided; such as calling a protestant prayer service a ‘liturgy’; or confusing a group of people in fervent prayer calling on the Lord with the beautiful and mystical event of the consecration. What tipped me off that this writer was not Catholic is when he wrote ‘How many Masses do we go to where we settle for feeling lifeless’ – a-ha! We have an imposter here. FEELING one way or another at Mass is a very superficial level of engaging the Divine. God burns in the quiet of our Soul - the Mystics tell us that we can be moved to union with the supernatural by a thought, or meditating on a single word. And the fact that we receive our Eucharistic Lord at Mass is beyond words. My guess is that this author has long ago lost his Faith, belief in the Real Presence, and most of the beauty and mystery of being Catholic. Martin Luther King did great things and an article honoring his work is excellent. But this article is just wrong, and sad, and discouraging.
Right on, Mary. You hit the
Right on, Mary. You hit the nail on the head. The author can complain all he wants about liturgy, but I don't think that a spirited prayer service before a protest march even is a liturgy.
The National Anti-Catholic Reporter strikes again!
Thank you! After reading
Thank you! After reading this stirring article, I feel "All Shook Up" and ready to answer the call. Would that we all could experience this at every worship service.
Wow...this article was great.
Wow...this article was great. I'd love to hear it preached from every pulpit.
"...while we are all brothers
"...while we are all brothers and sisters, there are things that are different culturally about many of us. Not better but different."
Well, Mr. Brown, perhaps there are some of us who would rather have that time on Sunday for the quiet reflection to hear God in the wind, and not dance to every tune that comes beating down the aisles. Perhaps there are some of us who need that simple time together as a community amidst all the noise and twittering during the week. Perhaps some of us like a quiet meal rather than a family reunion picnic every week. And perhaps we are not all salad dressing, but warm bread and soft wine.
Oh, YES! I got "all shaken
Oh, YES! I got "all shaken up" and ready to go just reading this. I long for such a liturgy.
The current departure of
The current departure of people from the pews is minimal compared to what it will be come Advent 2011 when the new translation takes effect. If you think the liturgy is dead now; just wait ... it's about to get "deader".
The Eucharist is the
The Eucharist is the centerpiece of Catholic Liturgy. Christ is the center of our lives. We do not attend mass to be "shaken." We receive Christ and carry Him with us: into our homes, our families, our work places. We do this not by facing "firehoses." We do it in service to our families, our parishes, our neighborhoods, our employers. Through my parish I minister to refugees. My co-parishioners serve others quietly in marvelous ways. We don't get our pictures in newspapers or magazines; we aren't seeking to be noticed; we don't need approval from the public. God sees. That's all that matters. Mr. Brown doesn't sound like he's read scripture passages in the Catholic bible, where Jesus says that when we pray, we should go to our room and pray privately, and our Heavenly Father will hear us and call us according to His Will. Moses was called by God, not by being "shaken up" at a synogogue service. Black people should not expect everyone else to do their kind of worship. We're all different. For that matter, I think Black people need to quiet down, so that they may hear the Voice of God. Scripture also says that the Voice of God is not loud and threatening. It is quiet and gentle, yet stronger than anything we can imagine. One has to LISTEN for it, not demand to hear it via loud, noisy liturgy. What Brown is suggesting is to incite congregants to charge out of liturgy in anger and resentment to provoke a confrontation with what ever people we consider our foes. Jesus sends us out of liturgy with this message: "Love your enemies." Period.
I see replies that range from
I see replies that range from vividly "pro" to strongly "con" regarding the content of Mr. Brown's excellent article. Excellent, in that it's creating a conversation in which diverse voices are heard. And perhaps that's a type of shaking up which Mr. Brown is encouraging. I suspect that how folk react to the message of the article depends on their own spiritual needs and experience in worship: is one's soul fed? And, what is needed for that feeding? Perhaps churches should be like a good smorgasbord: the basics, with variety. Dave stated we're "not all salad dressing, but warm bread and soft wine". Some of us may well be mellow cheese, or sharp, others a slip of veggie or fruit to round at the meal. In the end, though, whatever meal we may have had -- complete and balanced, with or without music, with quietness or picnic enthusiasm or something resembling a family dinner -- the end
result should be renewed energy with accompanying action of service to others. Liturgy, however formal or untraditional -- should lead us forth into the world to love and serve our Lord, and our neighbors as ourselves.
Are you looking to be "shaken
Are you looking to be "shaken up" at a Catholic liturgy? Forget it, such an occurrence is as rare as finding a black orchid. Today, there is so much liturgical inconsistency and so many extremes in liturgical practice--more often a shock than anything else-- you'd be better off staying at home and reading your scriptures or your liturgy of the hours than participate in what has deteriorated into a Feast of Fools.
Find a Jesuit church.
Find a Jesuit church.
Disgusting NCR Heading:
Disgusting NCR Heading: Church -- liturgy -- is necessary, not to get to heaven, but to get through life.
The article is ok, but the heading is throoughly antiCatholic and anti Orthodox We celebrate Liturgy to transform ourselves as heaven is the ressurection of Our life, our Body.
This heading is terribly anti humanist: Theosis, our ressurection means to rise at the end, having overcome our sillisnesses and build our Human nature into the Trinitarian incarnation. The heading is typically RC and antiCatholic!
Our ressurection en Theosis is the essence of the Good news: the mediocrities of non Christian Human Nature are overcome!
Franz, what your spouting is
Franz, what your spouting is pious empty words taken from some third rate textbook on the liturgy. All doctrine and formulas and nothing emanating from the soul, or from any appreciation whatsoever of indigenous music, dance, or the arts in public worship.
It's little wonder the Roman rite has deteriorated into a schizophrenic frenzy. Because it's being directed and shaped by rubricists, liturgical deadheads who want to live in the Middle Ages, and canon lawyers fretting over details. The pharisees have triumphed!!!
About Truth, People and
About Truth, People and Institutions: Institutions do good things and bad things; they are boon and bane. They are good when they authentically represent and serve the people; they are bad when they arrogantly overreach people. For example, people, not institutions own “divinity consciousness.” People, individually and collectively, are Church. Institutional orthodoxists (absolutists), to the contrary, hold proprietary claim and exercise it unequivocally over the people. This is true of high church hierarchy and institutional orders of clerics.
For example, by their sworn allegiance to the papacy, the Jesuit Religious Order comes off as bane as well as boon. In blind allegiance to the papacy Jesuits are blind to truth and their first obligation to people? There should be no breach between people-interest and church-interest. So, it is appropriate to ask, “Are Jesuits moral agents or sincere menaces”?
About “Uninformed Conscience,” John F. Kavanaugh, SJ, writes “If a nation or church forms its people to accept assertions blindly, without supporting evidence, it will form a community not of moral agents but of menaces. They may be sincere, but they will be sincere menaces.” AMERICA Magazine, June 21-28, 2010, pg 9
As a Society, the Jesuit Order straddles the ambiguity between Theistic Evolution (Teilhard de Chardin, SJ) and Creation Theology (Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, SJ), even though it is privy to science that reconciles their conflicts. Reference: John F. Haught, SJ, book, “Making Sense of Evolution, Darwin, God, and the Drama of Life”, Westminster John Knox Press, AMERICA Magazine, March 15, 2010, pg 23, reviewed by Ilia Delio.
From the Fall of 2009 to the Fall of 2010, AMERICA Magazine carried my website ad that reads: “THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBIOSIS is nature’s pattern and God’s plan. Enrich your faith with the synthesis of science. Free resources at www.secondenlightenment.org, www.evolution101.org”
Only a few weeks ago I submitted a replacement ad to run from the Fall of 2010 to the Fall of 2011; this proposed ad reads: “EUCHARISTIC ALTRUISM is Evolution's Symbiotic Solution to gratuitous violence. www.divinicom.com”
But AMERICA Magazine rejected the proposed ad with no explanation, so I resubmitted a new proposed ad which reads: “Divinity Consciousness reconciles Theistic Evolution & Creation Theology. http://www.divinicom.com” As of now AMERICA Magazine has not responded.
By way of explaining the purpose behind the ad, I included this observation to the Editors, “Reconciliation pertains to the Theistic Evolution (Vatican II) of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, and the Creation Theology (Trent) of Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, SJ. As a matter of conscience, I acknowledge my personal complicity with church in gratuitous violence—thus my engaged commitment to broader reconciliation.” [ of conflicted worldviews.]
A fundamental teaching of moral theology is that Christians are obliged in conscience to settle their minds over issues morally conflicted. Surely, this obligation applies to Jesuits as to everyone else.
The last paragraph of the Introduction to my book The POETREE WORLDVIEW, Leafing through History reads: “When theology is revitalized in the ever new, open-ended vision of evolving Creation, and when humans are symbiotically harmonious with Creation, then, religion may come to be renewed (redeemed) continuously and may occasion the real possibility of human uplift in authentic moral exercise. And surely the healing of alienation and cultured schizophrenia can happen only with such continuing transformation, namely, with grounding religion not in erroneous, fixed presumptions of SWV [the static-centrist world-view] but in the open-ended dynamic of EWV. [ the evolutionary worldview].
What is clear to me is that the Editors of AMERICA Magazine are telling me that I am a theological non-entity, that I am treading on their proprietary turf and that they want me to stop it. On the other hand, they seem to show a little queasiness and uncertainty as to how they should handle the situation.
I ENJOYED THE ARTICLE AND
I ENJOYED THE ARTICLE AND INTEND TO SEND IT TO OTHERS!
The Jewishness of Jesus. A
The Jewishness of Jesus. A while ago I read a review of a book about the prayers Jesus taught, the Our Father. The book presented the research of Jewish, Roman Catholic and other Christian scholars. The Our Father Prayer is a Jewish prayer. It is not new and not unique to Christianity. I found this very interesting as many have no idea how Jewish our religion is.
I am a cradle Catholic and was fed many misconceptions by priests, archbishops, bishops over the years. Maybe they lacked the knowledge too. Of course a lot of us now know Jesus did Passover and Seder at the Last Supper. A lot of us do realize women and children were present too at the Last Supper despite the denial of the existance of women by some misogynist Roman Catholic clerics and lay people.
Of course Jesus made a new way, resisting the legalism, secularity, pettiness
of some Pharisees of his day. It seems too many times today the legalistic,petty materialistic Pharisees are taking over the RCC today. Look how Benedict fixates on secular,materialistic pomp, lavish dresses and jewels, and fancy headdresses too in direct contradiction of Jesus and God who condemn such dress in priests and clergy. He also makes an idol of both Latin and the priest, and damages the faith. It is Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit, not Latin or English-Latin, or the priest we worship.
In my lifetime I have had the
In my lifetime I have had the great honor to sing in a Gospel choir. The music was often Greyson Brown's and it so moved all of the congregation. He is so right about litugy. The spirit is with you Greyson and keep the music coming.
As a Catholic priest who has
As a Catholic priest who has chosen to lead an independent parish, i.e., outside the parameters of the Roman diocesan structure, I can vouch firsthand for the power of Spirit that is evident in our celebrations. The mysteries of the sacraments have been broken open, communion is available to all, and those who were on the margins or asked to leave or denied the sacraments due to their "irregular canonical status" have found a spiritual home. I am one of many such parishes springing up across the world, honored to serve the People of God where they are at, humbled to be part of a Catholic parish where when we sing "All Are Welcome", there is no footnote at the bottom of the page that says, "Some Restrictions Apply".
Do your parishioners stand on
Do your parishioners stand on their heads during your service?
When I read this article it
When I read this article it was obvious that these are the kinds of clowns we don't need involved in our liturgy. Thankfully, the pendulum is finally swinging the other way.
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