Format of the Mass loses followers

by Letters Editor · February 14, 2013

From Fritz Rijkenberg, Howick

After a somewhat heated discussion with older members of my family, I would like to offer this for consideration. In many parishes the Sunday benches are filled with my age group. We have effectively lost an entire generation and are equally effectively intent on losing the next one. The blame may be laid at many doors, but it is my opinion that the liturgists both in the Vatican and those locally will one day have much to answer for.

The Mass is the only spiritual support that most churchgoers receive.

The Mass is the only spiritual support most churchgoers receive.� The Mass therefore needs to be the vehicle from which young parishioners draw their� spiritual food.� Thus the Mass needs to be the most effective, nourishing and exciting service our liturgists, and we, can devise. Is that what we have?

We have a dour, unimaginative, boring service of rote and ancient symbolism built around the most magnificent mystery our faith has.

Mass has become a service of spectators sitting in rows, rather than a meal of participants sitting at a table. Can liturgists not design a more participative process?

In the past few decades mankind has made enormous strides in many directions. The unquestioning young person of yore has become a highly intelligent, questioning, critical and challenging individual.

Chasubles, boring rote, observation from a distant pew, and centuries-old symbolism just don�t cut it any longer. And please don’t hide behind �Rome has spoken�.

What is more important, the saving of millions, or grovelling to a few old liturgists in the Vatican who have lost touch with the real world?

Liturgists, get with it! Ask yourselves, if Jesus came to Mass on Sunday and was asked, �Lord, is this what you envisaged when you said, �Do this in remembrance of me�,� would his answer be, �I am so pleased, this is exactly what I intended!�

Or if St Peter came to church on Sunday and was asked to say Mass, don the vestments and go through the rote service, might he not say, �For Pete�s sake� – pardon the pun- �what is all this? I�ll do my own thing, thank you very much.�

Holy Spirit, please give wisdom, and courage, to see the status quo honestly and fearlessly, and to change what needs change before we also lose a third generation.