WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF . . .

Much of the work of Vatican II can be undone with just five simple words – words that strike terror into a liturgist who just wants to do the Roman Rite – and they are these, “Wouldn’t it be nice if . . .”  It is what follows these words that is often painful.

 

One of the things the Second Vatican Council did was to streamline much of the Mass.  What some saw as unnecessary repetition was trimmed away, accretions into the Mass accumulated over centuries were examined and much eliminated.  Now I like the extraordinary form of the Mass - don’t get me wrong - but I also like the ordinary form as the ordinary form.  “Wouldn’t it be nice” is a way to wedge into the Mass all kinds of things it is not designed to take on.  There are a limited amount of blessings that may take place during the Mass but that does not stop well intentioned people from requesting all kinds of blessings to take place at Mass with invented ceremonies that surround them.  Not that there is anything wrong (hopefully) with the ceremonies themselves and they may be jim dandy at any other hour of the day or week including just before or just after the Mass – just not during this one hour, which is aimed in an entirely different direction.

 

But it’s more than blessings, it new processions, recognitions, added ministers, invented ministries, new “rites”, presentations, and other activities, recognitions, and human activity oriented undertakings – all very well intended – during a time when the community’s attention is supposed to be drawn toward God, not to each other.

 

And even they still are aimed at God, the “wouldn’t it be nice” contingents (and at times I am among them!) still do not have footing to employ them.  Their brothers and sisters in the pews have a right to the Roman Rite.  I feel sorry for the poor priest who wants to return to what the Church asks us to do and to which his fellow Christians have a right who gets beat up pretty badly because he wrests the community back to what it is called to do, and not only to do, not only to do well, but in which he has no authority to add or subtract from that which all have a right. 

 

Now, wouldn’t it be nice if we were able to all start there?

ARE WE GETTING THIS RITE?

Maundy Thursday went off almost with no hitches, which is about as good as it gets.  It was well attended, though I admit that I have daydreams (at inappropriate times) that Catholics in general become so aware of their dignity, so grateful for their salvation, so in touch with the love of God that we cannot hold them all in the church building for such a celebration.

 

But that would cause problems of its own.

 

Champagne problems, but problems.

 

I like champagne problems.

 

After it was all done, our Blessed Lord was reposed and our valiant Knights of Columbus retired the watch (they are SO cool) I headed back to the rectory to text Fr. Pfeiffer, our former parochial vicar, who is having his first ever solo Triduum celebration at his parish as pastor. 

 

>So . . .  Howd it go?

 

You would have wept.

 

>Out of jealousy, pride, or embarrassment?

 

Pride.

 

And a little bit of jealousy.  ;>)

 

Seems my downy feathered curate has shed his baby priest feathers and begun to fly.  I guess I can say I am a proud father.  (Father as in priest that is, not dad.)

 

One of the things I was most excited about at our celebration was the presence of so many families who happen to like to and normally attend our extraordinary form Mass.  When Pope emeritus Benedict (God love him) gave broad permissions for this form of the rite to be celebrated, it was his vision that it be fully integrated within the life of a parish that would joyfully celebrate both forms of the Mass and sacraments.  (We also have baptisms, and weddings in the extraordinary form.  The diocese is working something out for confirmation.) 

 

I am not one to try to win anyone over to either rite.  I like them both.  I have a hard time understanding why there are people who are rather extreme on their position for either.  I think St. Sebastian could be seen as an example of that which Benedict envisioned: people spending time at the rite they prefer (or Mass time! – odd to see a 4:30 Saturday person at a 9:00 Sunday morning ordinary form!), but being open to attending the other rite when the situation warrants it without much fuss.  Last night gave me much hope that we are on the “rite” track.

SO WE KNOW THAT THEY GO TOGETHER - BUT HOW DO THEY GO TOGETHER?

Pope Benedict has gone a long way in making the extraordinary form of the Mass not only permissible, but as available as possible for those who wish to pray in that manner. Elbow room in the Catholic Church just got bigger. So now we know we can do it, but it is not entirely clear how we do it. It is another great experiment within the Church.

My parish is on the cutting edge of this movement. It is a strong, typical parish and did not need to begin celebrating the extraordinary form Mass in order to lure more people in the doors so that we could keep the lights on as is the case in many places. The Mass was begun as a service to the community in response to a real need in the area owing to a number of circumstances in play.

The pope has made it clear that there are not to be “extraordinary form” parishes but that both forms must coexist. This may sound easy enough but it requires much more than simply adding another Mass to the schedule. There are all kinds of “I never thought of that”s that come into play as we discover how one parish can provide both legitimate forms of the Mass.

To begin, the calendars do not necessarily coincide. For example there may be a feast in the ordinary form that is on a different day in the extraordinary form. At one Mass the altar may be decked out in green and the next one would need purple. This may seem minor and in many ways it is, but it something that one needs to be mindful about when doing anything in the church.

The cycle of readings is also most often different. A priest may have to prepare one homily for the ordinary form and another for the extraordinary.

Is it possible to simply redo the calendar for the extraordinary form? Perhaps. It would be wonderful to add some Masses such as for Saints that are more recently canonized. But I can only imagine the work involved in this process. If it took English speaking countries so long to come with our current English Missal, what might it be like to try to get the whole world to produce a new common Latin extraordinary form Missal?

Another area to look at is rubrical changes that affect the extraordinary form. Some laws do not change – especially those governing the Mass itself. Others do change. One is the Eucharistic fast. One need not fast from midnight until one receives Communion at the extraordinary form because the universal law has been changed. Nowhere however, as far as I am aware, are all of these things systematically written out and much advice must be sought.

Perhaps most importantly of all is the uniting of the entire community. We work hard to not have those who attend those who attend the extraordinary form of the Mass appear to be “the Latin Mass community at Saint Soandso.” Some of this is being very careful about the language that is used. One must guard against terms such as “their Mass” and “our Mass.” They are all just the Mass and we are one community. (As a side note, the extraordinary form of the Mass in not the “Latin Mass.” Any Mass may be prayed in Latin. The proper term is the extraordinary form.)

It also takes awhile to be vigilant on making sure that all parishioners are treated equally – such as in remembering to invite all to everything. This may seem obvious and easy enough, but it can be trickier than you think. Here are two examples. One is Donut Sunday. We have parish groups that volunteer to do this. That used to mean that a parish group might have to be going about the business of set up and serving donuts from about 8AM until 1PM. All of sudden beginning one weekend it meant 8AM until about 3PM. That is a long Sunday for volunteers. So how do you handle that? (Only wet babies like change.)

Even when you are sensitive to these issues things fall through the cracks. An usher’s meeting was held just before Christmas and during the opening prayer I realized to my horror that nobody had thought of inviting the new ushers from the extraordinary form of the Mass! Needless to say that became the first topic on the agenda and I had to apologize profusely to the 1:00 ushers (who were pretty good chaps about it.)

The idea of equal treatment extends to other things as well. Not wanting to treat any group of people within the parish as a separate community, we as priests at our parish often have the discussion about if we do something at one Mass, are we willing to do them at all Masses. And what of special requests – what does the parish offer the community at large and when can exceptions be made and where is the line that drawn so that exceptions don’t start dividing the community?

So far it has been a wonderful experiment. We’ve had some bumps but fortunately most people are understanding. There has also been promising developments of persons on both sides of the ordinary/extraordinary preferences visiting back and forth between forms. (That is a sign of health in my view.) The extraordinary form is also attracting additional converts to the parish we might not have had before; a couple to be welcomed into the Catholic Church within the next month and hopefully a few others on their way.

This is a unique period within the life of the Church.  Those in such parishes are pioneers.  We could certainly do things better and we most likely will as we cautiously figure our way, doing our best to navigate a parish community that likes everything from the ordinary form and folk music to the extraordinary form and Gregorian chant. It is a microcosm of a much larger Church that is incredibly diverse yet holds together at its center: the Eucharist.