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letters from our readers
The worship wars
Editor: Greetings from West Virginia. I am writing in response to the October article by Linda H. Graber entitled “The Worship Wars.”
While many Eucharistic Liturgies leave many things to be desired, to claim that “The current Catholic liturgy teaches people to become Cathoprots by putting the emotional focus on ourselves, rather than on the Real Presence” (p. 8) is not only a dreadful generalization wanting in research; it is an unfair characterization of the depth of faith in the Real Presence which I witness in the People of God.
From where I am honored to stand, day by day at the Altar of God, I see in these people a sense of awe of the Divine Presence of Jesus, really, truly, substantially present among us in the Blessed Eucharist. A spirit of adoration is most evident. If there is any “focus on ourselves,” it is borne out of a tremendous hunger for Christ, the Bread of Life.
Linda’s observations regarding the goals of pop psychology are well taken, but the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist affirms the dignity of human life; that is something to “feel good about” in a culture where human life is often treated like trash. I want my people to feel good about themselves, because they have met Jesus Christ in the Mass, like the people of the Gospels whose hearts burned within them as Jesus was really present to them. Jesus becomes our Bread of Life in the Eucharist to show us that we are redeemed. He puts the focus on us that we might put the focus on Him; as the prayer of the celebrant says: By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the Divinity of Christ Who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.
I am very concerned, along with the author, about the percentage of people who no longer believe, or who doubt, the Real Presence. Nevertheless, blaming current Catholic Liturgy for this crisis is overlooking many other factors within and outside the Church which are responsible for such a crisis.
Thank you, Father for your publication, and the hard work you do. May God bless you, and may the Eucharistic Jesus be always the source of your strength.
Father Patrick A. Condron, JCL
Wheeling, W.V.
A refreshing article
Editor: Thank you for publishing “The Worship Wars,” October 1999. Just when it looks like there is no hope for the modern church, a refreshing article like this comes along which puts all the elements of today’s crisis in exact perspective. I pray that whoever will be responsible someday for reforming our present liturgy may be influenced by the important ideas contained in this insightful article.
Jeff Clemons
Greensburg, Ind.
The incalculable error
Editor: “The Worship Wars” (Linda Graber, HPR, October) was interesting to someone else that has “been there, done that” but with an added dimension provided by two decades as a convert prior to Novus Ordo.
The Tridentine Rite Mass that I knew and still love would not have become a victim of her described Liberal Protestant (if it has parochial boundaries) disease. The “incalculable error” described in the Intervention of Cardinal Ottavianni is what makes the comparison with Liberal Protestants viable.
Padre Pio seems to have set the stage early in 1918 when he reports in his memoirs that Our Lord wept bitterly and complained to him that “they are turning my Churches into amusement centers.” These entertainment centers, nee Churches, have created three generations of doctrinal and spiritually-impoverished Catholics that are fair game for liberal designs.
The “Cathoprots” creation is clearly an oxymoron. We have it on Our Lord’s word that no one can serve two masters. That must apply to churches as well. As predicted by Pope Leo XIII, the American heresy that one religion is as good as another has actually abrogated religion for many American liberals. If you believe in all, you truly believe in none.
From my vantage point, it is easy to distinguish the attributes of the chicken from this egg that followed the Council. If you compare statistics before the Council with the most commonly quoted statistics of today, you can almost calculate a previously indicated incalculable error.
Linda’s powers of observation were at their very best in her analysis of the contemporary Catholic liturgy. I could find no fault with reasoning, but lacking experience before the Council, she does not yet have a feel for the immensity of the crucifixion the Church is actually undergoing. The Protestant history lesson contributed nothing to the discussion for me, though I must admit in the context of her analysis that it certainly brought out the flaws that are now infecting liberal “Catholics” bent on repeating history without learning from it. One Reformation is quite enough. We can safely say that disobedience is the father of all the sins self-inflicted by Adam and Eve on humanity. And disobedience has amplified the smoke of Satan that filled the sanctuary after Pope John XXIII opened the windows (I am not faulting his intention, but neither was I surprised by the reaction).
The proposed upgrade package speaks for itself. Based on what followed the Second Vatican Council, it is valid, but also disheartening—the recommended reactions were not necessary before the council.
Keep lighting those torches.
Bob Rowland
Irving, Tex.
The off-limits theology shop
Editor: Father Baker is right, the Catholic intellectuals who are establishing a theological research center which will be independent of the Magisterium of the Church are thereby schismatizing themselves (August-September 1999 issue). One can establish a potato store that is independent of the Magisterium, but not an independent theological research center.
Christ has made all theology, whether based on reason or on revelation, the birthright of the Church. To Peter he gave the keys of that Building. Attempts to alienate theology from the Church are attempts at thievery. But even thievery disappoints. The moment people carry theological goods out of the Church Building, something strange happens. What was theology until then becomes a noisy gong and clanging cymbal in the hands of the would-be thieves.
Esau lusted for that mess of pottage when he returned from the hunt, faint with hunger. He needed that pottage and needed it NOW! He got it, but with it lost his birthright. He ate that pottage as a disinherited person, no longer entitled to a special blessing from God, deleted now from the line of ancestry to Christ.
People working at the off-limits theology shop will all lose their theological potency while at the center.
Fr. Anthony Zimmerman
Nagoya, Japan
“The Monsignor”
Editor: I was saddened to read of Msgr. Daniel Bourke’s death in the August-September issue of HPR (“The Monsignor,” by John Henry Murphy). However, I suspect that if he hasn’t quite made it to his eternal reward, it won’t be long.
Msgr. Bourke was an avid supporter of CREDO (of which I am a co-founder) and I met him a number of times at various meetings of Catholic priests. In the early nineties, shortly after my ordination, I toured the Holy Land with a group of 50 priests from around the country. Msgr. Bourke was numbered among us. His infectious good cheer was soured momentarily when the tour guide (a priest) declared that we would not celebrate Mass on the first day of our arrival. He eventually led a charge to celebrate a Mass in one of the hotel rooms.
When the tour guide “dispensed” us from reciting the breviary because we were “on vacation,” Msgr. Bourke calmly went about the business of his daily prayer. For a newly ordained priest, it was a lovely sight.
It was also edifying to see an 80-year-old priest climb aboard a camel at a tour site near the Dead Sea. I still remember his tottering on the camel and positioning myself to catch him should he tumble. With child-like enthusiasm, he seemed to be oblivious to the danger. This time his enthusiasm was not exactly contagious. After seeing him on the brink, I resolved not to climb up on the creature myself.
I was only an acquaintance, but he greeted me with a natural friendliness that can only be explained by a supernatural love for the priesthood. I’m glad I knew him if only briefly. May he rest in peace.
Fr. Jerry Pokorsky
Annandale, Va.
Liturgical schizophrenia
Editor: The article “Celebration of Mass ‘ad orientem’ in a Parish Setting” by Father Timothy Vavarek (October 1999) was the most thorough, balanced, clear and practical treatment of the subject I have seen to date. My gratitude at seeing such an excellent presentation of the matter at this particular time is heightened since, after offering part of the Mass “ad orientem” in the parish this past Spring, I was asked by my bishop to “stop saying Mass with my back to the people” and to “follow the rubrics in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal!” I followed the bishop’s direction and am now suffering from liturgical schizophrenia.
(Name withheld)
On using the right words
Editor: In an interesting article in your August-September 1999 issue by Thomas A. Reso, “Certain Death or Life with Suffering?” the author makes the unfortunate reference to a condition widely described by journalists, and particularly by the pro-death community, as a “permanent vegetative state (PVS).” I would recommend instead the admonition by noted hospice expert, Dr. Richard Lamerton in his book Care of the Dying, that referring to patients as “vegetables” is “one of the most alarming degradations of modern medicine.” He cites the eminent pioneer in the field of hospices, Dr. Cicely Saunders, who insists upon the appropriate characterization of a damaged person as “unconscious, decorticate with only physical functions, decerebrate and so on. Such description describes the lesion without questioning the patient’s basic humanity.” Otherwise, “they become disposable.”
This is of course the same game that the death culture camp is now playing out on the end of life arguments and that they used so successfully in the abortion dispute, wherein they referred to the unborn child as “fetus,” and to abortion as “terminating the pregnancy,” “pro-choice,” etc.
Words are the vehicles for communicating ideas; and ideas have consequences. We should never let the enemy frame the argument. We cannot stop their semantic gymnastics, but we should certainly not be drawn into this game of “definitional dehumanization.”
Robert C. Cetrulo, J.D.
Covington, Ky.
The perfection of religion
Editor: I started to read the article: “Catholicism: The Perfection of Religion,” with a great deal of anticipation (August-September 1999). I was a bit overwhelmed with the concepts of “thick” and “clear.” It was only when I got to the part about the celebration of Mass that I got a different concept of “thick.” I think some of the thickness is in the author’s head.
“Instead of darkened churches . . . we now have a cheerful community meal in a well-lighted building that often looks like a large multi-purpose room.” This is supposed to be progress? The concept of the Mass as a meal has done much to ruin the laity’s sense of the sacred and the supernatural. The Mass was, is, and always will be essentially a sacrifice. It is precisely that element that has been obliterated. The holding of hands, the barren halls devoid of statues and crucifixes have resulted in our present day horizontal spirituality.
It seems that we are no longer interested in worshipping God. We are celebrating each other. It is no wonder that I heard one priest say that Jesus is not present in the church after the faithful leave. With an attitude like that, it is not hard to understand that people no longer believe in the real presence.
I am disappointed in your magazine which is usually quite orthodox. Perhaps we need to stop being so pedantic and return to the idea of simple faith. I can see why St. Francis was afraid of too much learning.
Father Celsus Griese, O.F.M.
Cincinnati, Ohio
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