A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
A few weeks ago we posted some thoughts about celebrating Mass ad orientem, i.e., with the priest facing the altar. I missed something important then. It was recently brought to my attention by a German Professor, Robert Spaemann. I read a translation of his thoughts about ad orientem from an interview in a French publication.
For years it's been clear to me the lack of good Catechesis has prevented generations of Catholics from knowing our Holy Faith. Some get a superficial sense of the Faith, by the grace of God, but it's rare they get any sense from what and how their taught in what passes for religious instruction. To be clear, I don't mean to denigrate the sincere efforts of those who teach the faith to our kids. There are Catholic schools that do try to communicate the truths of the Catholic Church diligently. And while I've learned that the materials they use in the classroom have improved over the years since Dietrich von Hlidebrand's "The Devastated Vineyard" was published, you can just see what's missing if you attend a Novus Ordo Mass - at least the ones I've attended.
What's missing is any sense of mystery, of the sacred. To be more specific, what's missing is a deep and profound belief in the Real Presence. I'm not going to draw up a list of behaviors that belie that belief, but if you know what I'm talking about, you know the list is long. And one's behavior is a more reliable indicator of one's beliefs than are one's words.
Now here's the translation that reminded me of something I've always known, but slipped through the cracks in the remarks posted a few weeks ago. Speaking of a child observing the way most of us, including priests and bishops, comport ourselves in front of the Real Presence (in this case during a Eucharistic Procession on Corpus Christi when a bishop turned his back on the Sacred Monstrance to face the people even as he addressed prayers to Our Lord), Professor Spaemann comments with great insight about a child witnessing this:
Doesn't it remind us of Our Lord's "Parable of the Sower" in Matthew 13: 3-8? Isn't the way we comport ourselves in Our Lord's Holy Presence the seed that fell on good ground?
For years it's been clear to me the lack of good Catechesis has prevented generations of Catholics from knowing our Holy Faith. Some get a superficial sense of the Faith, by the grace of God, but it's rare they get any sense from what and how their taught in what passes for religious instruction. To be clear, I don't mean to denigrate the sincere efforts of those who teach the faith to our kids. There are Catholic schools that do try to communicate the truths of the Catholic Church diligently. And while I've learned that the materials they use in the classroom have improved over the years since Dietrich von Hlidebrand's "The Devastated Vineyard" was published, you can just see what's missing if you attend a Novus Ordo Mass - at least the ones I've attended.
What's missing is any sense of mystery, of the sacred. To be more specific, what's missing is a deep and profound belief in the Real Presence. I'm not going to draw up a list of behaviors that belie that belief, but if you know what I'm talking about, you know the list is long. And one's behavior is a more reliable indicator of one's beliefs than are one's words.
Now here's the translation that reminded me of something I've always known, but slipped through the cracks in the remarks posted a few weeks ago. Speaking of a child observing the way most of us, including priests and bishops, comport ourselves in front of the Real Presence (in this case during a Eucharistic Procession on Corpus Christi when a bishop turned his back on the Sacred Monstrance to face the people even as he addressed prayers to Our Lord), Professor Spaemann comments with great insight about a child witnessing this:
...he would not be able to believe that the Lord is present in the sacred Host, because he knows quite well, that little child, that when one talks to someone, one doesn't turn his back on him. Things like this are very important. A child may well study the catechism, but that comes to nothing if he see contradictory actions right before his eyes...Right. So even if Catechesis has improved since the "bad old days," the behavior our children see at Mass, or during any sacred liturgy will undermine what they are taught. As the expression goes, you've got to walk your talk. And while our talking may be more orthodox, our walking doesn't convey any sense of real understanding or the words, nor any real belief that we are in the Presence of Almighty God. The professor continues:
...Hence, I believe that the first thing to do would be to turn the altar around again. It seems that this is more important than a return to Latin...Having grown up with the the traditional Mass, what is now variously called the "Extraordinary Form," or "Tridentine Right," I can attest to the fact that I did understand the words I was taught in a much deeper sense simply because I saw those words translated - for the most part - into a deep sense of reverence in the Real Presence of Our Lord during the Mass, particularly during the words of consecration, whenever anyone passed in front of the tabernacle and carefully genuflected, etc. While words make a difference, behavior makes the words, as it were, come alive.
Doesn't it remind us of Our Lord's "Parable of the Sower" in Matthew 13: 3-8? Isn't the way we comport ourselves in Our Lord's Holy Presence the seed that fell on good ground?
...and they brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.Maybe we can all offer up a special prayer this Sunday that the scales fall from the eyes of our shepherds: Lord, grant them the grace to sow the good seed by restoring the ad orientem celebration of Holy Mass.
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