GOD SAVE US IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE
Whoever gives the homily must recognize that isn’t about himself, but that he is “giving voice to Jesus, he is preaching the word of Jesus,” the pope said.
https://www.archstl.org/popes-message-homilies-must-help-people-reflect-not-nap-1214
—Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service, “POPE’S MESSAGE: Homilies must help people reflect, not nap,” St. Louis Review, February 12-18, 2018
A good priest preaches the
Word of God—they don’t propagate their own insufferable idiosyncrasies,
childhood neuroses, pet peeves, social and political opinions run rampant,
blighted scientific ignorance, or overbearing religious partisanship inside the
Roman Catholic Church. Stick to a rooted, sound, tested, seasoned theology, and
you can’t go wrong.
Photo of ear plugs courtesy of Quinn Dombrowski
ReplyDeletehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/2388120713
Gonzalinho
The celebration of the Holy Mass is a community prayer. It is a formal, structured liturgy that, among other purposes, is intended to give material expression to the prayer of the community.
ReplyDeleteIt is not the personal prayer of the priest except in the sense that he joins in the prayer of the community.
Before Vatican II, the understanding of the celebration of the liturgy was that it was supposed to “erase” the presence of the priest—if this were at all possible, and it isn’t—so that the priest would be reduced to a moving part, practically unnoticed, in a machine that would run mechanically and operate consistently.
Post-Vatican II, this unrealistic ideal has given way to a recognition of the unique personality of the priest and the manner in which he influences, for the better, we would hope, the celebration of the Holy Mass.
Unfortunately, following the liturgical reforms of the council, the greater leeway today given to the priest has swung the pendulum in the opposite direction by opening the door to another type of abuse, the excessively individualistic priest who intrudes upon community prayer and disturbs it.
We believe that the priest should as much as possible refrain from inserting his own highly personal prayers and especially his unduly disruptive, idiosyncratic manner when he celebrates the Holy Mass. The Holy Mass is the celebration of the community. It is not the eccentric, violative prayer of the priest.
“He must increase, I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
The priest should lead us to Christ. He will do so more effectively if he avoids pointing his finger at himself.
Gonzalinho
Off-color jokes have no place in a homily or anywhere else during the celebration of the Holy Mass.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho
All this is forgivable but when it is a habit it requires the attention of the ordinary of the priest.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho
When the priest habitually changes the Kyrie and in a manner that is violative, inserting his own personal confession of sins and his own particular expressions of contrition, it is very irritating and disruptive. The Kyrie is the prayer of the community, not the priest’s idiosyncratic personal prayer.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho
Some relevant texts:
ReplyDelete“No priest is ever permitted to change any text in the Missal, and certainly he may not change the Eucharistic Prayer or the words of consecration.”
https://adoremus.org/2006/10/what-is-the-effect-of-the-priest-changing-the-words-of-the-mass-is-there-anything-we-can-do/
—Fr. John Flader, “Q&A – Can a priest change the prayers and parts of the Mass?” The Catholic Leader, July 12, 2022
“That is, the liturgy, and in this case especially the Mass, is not an action of the individual priest, but an action of Christ together with his Mystical Body, the Church.”
https://catholicleader.com.au/life/faith/qa-can-a-priest-change-the-prayers-and-parts-of-the-mass/
—The Editors, “What is the Effect of the Priest Changing the Words of the Mass? Is There Anything We Can Do?” Adoremus (October 15, 2006) 12(7)
Gonzalinho
“In the devil’s theology, the important thing is to be absolutely right and to prove everybody else is absolutely wrong.”—Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation (2007), page 96
ReplyDeleteMerton is making a point that I believe is critical in the Roman Catholic Church: we have to respect the legitimate freedom of the members of the faithful. Many times, theological reality is not monadic but multifaceted, not writ in stone but dialectical. Therefore, let us respect and honor the exercise of legitimate freedom in the Church.
Gonzalinho
Merton wrote under religious obedience. His writings were reviewed by religious authorities before they were published. This arrangement protected him.
DeleteHe was not a devotional writer, meaning, someone who sought to foster traditional Roman Catholic piety among his readers. He was more of a Catholic intellectual, provocative and interesting to read. He wasn’t publicly regarded as a saint.
Maybe one reason some Catholics don’t like him is that he doesn't drop into their box of a pious writer or a saintly monk. A monk-writer like M. Basil Pennington would be better regarded in this respect, but he doesn’t have as large an audience.
Gonzalinho
HOLINESS OR NEUROSIS?
ReplyDelete‘BEING A NUN WAS THE GREAT LOVE STORY OF MY LIFE’: CATHERINE COLDSTREAM ON WHY SHE JOINED – THEN FLED – A CONVENT
By Kate Kellaway
The Guardian, February 25, 2024
…[Catherine] Coldstream is, in the book’s most horrifying chapter, beaten by one of the prioresses. She is abused for being the devoted person she is and for expressing her opinion, when asked, about the community’s need for reform. Would she now say that “Irene”, the prioress aggressor – supposedly a progressive – had become unhinged? “Irene was pushed too far. She assumed everyone would go with her and there was a mutiny. She became a jelly and spineless and started trying to please everyone. I think she lost her moral compass… I’ve never known why she beat me. We didn’t have conversations about it.”
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/feb/25/catherine-coldstream-cloistered-my-years-as-a-nun-god-interview
Cloistered life can be genuinely fulfilling, but living it properly is an exceptional challenge. The monkey wrench in this case appears to have been deficient leadership, resulting in destructive factionalism.
I wonder if a more psychologically healthy and flexible attitude of the leaders towards the exercise of religious freedom by community members might have helped. But then again, maybe not. Not everyone is built to live in a hothouse.
Gonzalinho
We’re getting somewhere.
ReplyDeleteGonzalinho