Let's Cut to the Chase

Well, this isn't exactly the kind of meditative, spiritual piece I was hoping to post during Advent, but something happened that ticked me off, so I'm writing this to vent. Seriously, the term "remnant" is really beginning to take on a whole new meaning for me as I contemplate the state of our poor Church!

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Okay, so we’ve entered the Year of Faith. And the Year of Faith’s grand kick-off date coincided with the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

Now, it may be just a coincidence (cough, cough), but ever since we started living with the misinterpretations of various Vatican II documents, the faith has been going downhill – abysmal Mass attendance, abysmal vocation numbers, etc., etc. There is a crisis. No one really denies that, do they? I mean the reason we need a “new evangelization” is that the old one has failed, and the reason we need a “Year of Faith” is because we have lost so much of it.

So, now we’re supposed to study the Catechism and the documents of Vatican II in order to deepen our knowledge of the faith. All righty, then.

Well, let’s just cut to the chase. Let’s study the misinterpretations of Vatican II right off the bat, and in so doing, set things aright at Mass.

For instance:

Vatican II did NOT say to turn around the altars and take away the altar rail. Let’s teach people that. Let’s teach them what “ad orientem” worship is really about, and let’s explain why the altar rail and receiving on the tongue are important!

Vatican II did NOT say that we could no longer use Latin in the Mass. The opposite is true! We are supposed to use SOME Latin in the Mass!

Vatican II did NOT say “Bring on the geee-tars! Bring on the folk music!” No! Vatican II said that the organ and Gregorian chant have “pride of place”.

Vatican II did NOT say “anything goes in the liturgy”!

I could give a class to cover those things, and it wouldn't take more than one hour.  I could even make it entertaining! Of course, there’s probably not a priest in this diocese that would let me do such a thing! And no one would come, anyway.

So…how about this: let the priest teach it himself! It really is not that difficult (heck, I could write a script for him! [Or the priest could teach himself a few things by taking a look at this post on “Readings from Liturgicae Instaurationes”, in which author Wendell notes some of the points that the instruction  on the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium).]

But the thing is, the pastor has to give the class, and then make the corrections. Period. No debate, no parish council vote, no backing down due to blackmail from parishioners who say they’ll stop giving their whopping $20 per month! The pastor says, “This is what the documents say, and this is how we’re going to do it from now on.”

What’s that, Fr. Friendly? People will leave the parish if you do that? Ummm…sorry to tell you this, but half of your parishioners are Catholic in name only. They left the Church long ago, and only show up to Mass if they feel like it and if it makes them feel good. At least half of them voted for Obama; more than that support gay marriage; and way more than that use artificial contraception. So if they leave, they are at least following their ill-formed consciences.

Who knows? Maybe an unwavering stance on the part of the parish priest will awaken a few sluggish consciences, and some will respond to the challenge and begin to come to a better understanding of what and why the Church teaches as She does on those issues.

You know, good parents don’t give their children an endless diet of fast food and cookies and candy just because that’s all the kids want to eat! They insist that their children eat healthy food, like it or not. A good pastor does the same.

Moving on…

Once we have things straightened out about the liturgy, many of the other problems in the Church would start to correct themselves. For instance, when the liturgy returns to some semblance of Catholic authenticity and reverence, then people will, without a lot of formal teaching, begin to recognize the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist…because of how the Eucharist is treated.

And when the liturgical missteps are corrected, the faithful will begin to understand what they are saying when they recite the Creed. Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi, you know: the way we pray is the way we believe is the way we live.

And once people begin to understand what the Creed says, and once they start to believe what they say they believe, then priests can give homilies that reflect those beliefs; homilies that build on those beliefs; homilies that help people live Catholic lives every day of the week...all through the year.

And once that happens, then people might come to sessions on the Catechism and the Bible and Vatican II with an attitude of openness to truly learning more about the faith.

But I don’t think it works the other way around. I don’t week after week of wishy-washy classes will really lead to changes in what people believe, or their level of faith. I don’t think week after week of wishy-washy classes will lead to reforms of the liturgy in individual parishes.

Nope. I think the liturgy has to be corrected first.

Save the liturgy, save the world, ya know.