As long as we're dappling, Father...

...a few random thoughts on a recent subject in the hallowed halls of St Blog's.

Don Jim (Father Jim Tucker) has made some careful and thoughtful reflections on the liturgy -- Gregorian Chant and the Synagogue (I've got more on that for you, Father, so stay tuned...), Low Mass mentality, and How Harmonious a Coexistence? The discussion concerning the state of Catholic worship is taking place elsewhere as well, as is already reported.

But for a few of you Vanguards of the Sacred...

Let me see if I've got this straight. The priest stands at the sedilia for the beginning of Mass, the Scriptures are read in English (so we can understand the Word of God. What a concept!), a practice of "bidding prayers" is returned from established ancient usage, and an additional Gospel account attached as an historical afterthought is removed. So all of a sudden, we've got a completely different missal! Is that what some of you are trying to tell me?

For the innovations I have mentioned, the 1962 missal currently benefitting from an indult can be used without any trouble, simply allowing for a few amendments, as called for by no less than an ecumenical council. None of you break into a sweat when there's an additional "Confiteor deo omnipotenti..." before Communion, so what gives?

If this were the Byzantine Rite, a few petitions would be left out, an antiphon might be omitted, some silent parts of the priest might be spoken aloud or chanted on any given Sunday (depending on the diocese in some cases), and all would switch from the vernacular to Slavonic and back again -- AND NO ONE WOULD GIVE A RAT'S BEHIND!!! Certain things stay fixed, certain things stay loose. Everything is understood. Tradition is not just talked about as an organic thing, it's treated that way. This preoccupation with "one way or the highway" seems to be uniquely Roman.

That being the supposed modus operandi, let us take a look at that Garden of Catholic Orthodoxy, that is known in polite company as the Diocese of Arlington. We can find considerable variation in liturgical practice -- not so much in a manner that is codified, as much as the personal whim of the priest. Of course, we do say all the right words at the right time, don't we? Apparently, on the night He was betrayed, Our Lord didn't say "Do this..." but "Say these words." The liturgy, then, is less an action performed, so much as a series of words and texts to be gotten through (otherwise known as "minimalism").

Makes sense so far, huh?

I imagine most altar servers, even in this neck of the woods (boys only; girls need not apply), wouldn't know what to do with a thurible if you shoved one in their hands. And yet, I've seen young men astutely trained for their positions. They attend the priest at the altar, as if they belong there. Then one day the pastor leaves, and is replaced by some aging demogouge, who shows everybody who's boss by rearranging furniture in the sanctuary (in a manner not unlike deck chairs on the Titanic). Then he tells the servers that they must now stand at least fifteen feet away for most of the Mass.

This, we may surmise, is so they cannot get in his way if he decides to show off what a caring and sharing kind of guy he is.

I see boys at the "Old Mass" go through intricate motions and recite prayers in a foreign language from memory. But in Northern Virginia, where we just LOVE to brag about the abundance of vocations, God forbid we give these fellows credit for the sense God gave a duck!!! Will somebody tell me what difference it would make if we HAD altar girls?

Soooo... after rearranging all the little piss-ant things, and alienating the prerequisite number of people along the way, Father Fabulous moves on to the next assignment. He takes his little fan club (and sometimes his hired staff, or paid choristers) with him. He is replaced by yet another furniture-mover. In a region that is growing quickly, with a sense of community very difficult to establish (hey, weren't we talking about "community" just the other day?), we don't have parishes, so much as a system of personality cults. What difference does it make where you live? That's not your parish down the street. You must be mistaken. The message from these guys in charge is more audacious than saying, "It's my parish." As far as they're concerned, "I am the parish."

It is quite possible to celebrate the Mass according to the reformed missal (we don't use misnomers and prejoratives like "Tridentine" and "Novus Ordo" in this neighborhood, so deal with it!), in such a manner and in some parts of the Mass, as to render almost indistinguishable the difference between the classical and reformed missals. It doesn't take much. Just an appreciation of the sacred, a sense of our heritage, and a priest who has enough sense to know that it's about the Sacred Mystery, and NOT ABOUT HIM!

Maybe then we'll have altar servers who know how to serve at... oh, the altar, perhaps. Who knows? Maybe they'll think there's something to this job. Maybe they'll go out on a limb, and discern that God is calling them to be priests.

Quite a stretch, huh?