Participation in Mass?

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Wed, 09/19/2007 - 10:16 — dengel

Father Peter Daly recently wrote about the experiences of the pastor at his neighboring parish with the Tridentine rite of the Mass. Many people refer to this as the "pre-Vatican II Mass," giving the misimpression that Vatican II changed the Mass; but that's another story. What strikes me most about Father Daly's piece is the degree to which his neighbor parish's experience with level and type of support for and attendance at the Tridentine Mass is so at odds with that of other parishes. I don't know anything about Father Daly's parish or the surrounding area. Maybe it's a really backwards place; maybe he just hasn't talked to very many people, and support for the Tridentine Mass is more vibrant and diverse than he realizes. I don't know.

What I do know is that the Tridentine Mass has found devotees of all ages throughout the country. Yes, certainly from the older folks who have "been there, done that," and find it a richer experience than the new rite (we shouldn't discount out of hand the wisdom that comes with their age), but also from couples right in the middle of raising families, as well from young adults who find great edification in certain rituals within the Tridentine Mass--rituals that have been all but obliterated from the current normative rite of the Mass, such as the prayers that the foot of the altar.

The one thing I feel compelled to write about, however, was a comment made by Father Daly--almost a side comment--in which he attempts to contrast of the attitude of those who attend the Tridentine Mass with the type of participation in Mass called for by Vatican II. The phrase, oft-repeated by those who want Mass to be a constant flurry of activity, is "full and active participation." The actual quote by Father Daly is this:

For them, a good liturgy is one where they don't have to speak to anyone or do anything. Their whole attitude says "I want no commitment, and I want no communication." Hardly the "full and active participation" that Vatican II called for.

Consider a person listening to the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony on a CD. One might find him sitting in an easy chair, eyes closed, not moving a muscle, but thoroughly enraptured by the music. On the other hand, one might find someone cavorting around a skating rink with "A Fifth of Beethoven" playing over the loud speakers. Both listeners are hearing the same basic musical progression. (OK, not quite, but close enough to make my point here.) So here's the question: Which case more completely approximates a full and active participation in that musical progression which is the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony?

If you didn't say "well the first guy," then you can stop reading. You're hopeless. You'll never get it.

The point is this: active participation in something doesn't mean physical activity. It means willful attention to one's relation to something. Sometimes that might entail physical activity. For example, if you're a father, then active participation in your family means doing things for and with your wife and children, both pleasant things like taking them to the park and unpleasant things like disciplining children when they misbehave. But as we've just seen, not everything requires physical activity for "active participation."

The active participation that Vatican II was calling for, and the end towards which the reforms of the rite of the Mass were to be directed, is our willful attention to the prayers and rituals in which the Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is revealed and re-presented on the altar. It is our spiritual participation in those prayers and active preparation to receive Him in the sacrament of Holy Communion. This is what our participation in the Mass is supposed to be.

Back to Beethoven. The reader might have supposed that I was making some kind of analogy. Indeed I was. For the classical music devotee, an attempt to "participate" in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony by listening to "A Fifth of Beethoven" would be madness. While the musical notes and progression may be similar, there's just too much noise in the "A Fifth of Beethoven" piece for the music originally authored by Beethoven to come through. One can't "get into it." Well, not without a pair of skates, anyway.

And that's the thing about so many instances of the current normative Mass. The kinds of things that pass today for "full and active participation" at Mass is just so much noise that gets in the way of true participation. Sometimes attempting to participate in the Mass is a little like trying to enjoy a really good symphonic production when, well, when a bunch of people are circling around you on roller skates. He goes up; now she goes up; now carry this here; now hold hands; now raise them up; now you can drop them; now run all over the place glad-handing. And then there's the music. That's another story, too. What it all amounts to, thought is a lot of noise that frustrates the will in any attempt to fully turn one's attention to one's role at Mass, which is, through the ministry of the priest, to enter into a share in Christ's Sacrifice, and through that to enter into a share in His life in the Father.

Of course, everyone realizes that "A Fifth of Beethoven" isn't supposed to be a performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Even though the one was based on the other, the two pieces of music were created for different purposes. The Mass, on the other hand, is the Mass, regardless of which rite is used. This truth makes all the more tragic the modern tendency to drown out its true nature and purpose with distractions.

I often wonder whether some of those people who are so enthralled with the most modern and progressive practices at Mass like them precisely because it fills the time and the mind without requiring them to apply their minds to what Mass is really about. It's kind of like a young dating couple who spend all of their time at parties, movies, and other activities that fill the time without ever requiring them to converse with one another. Obviously, a recipe for disaster. They're filling the gap between them with noise and distractions so that they never have to actually pay attention to each other.

So, when the guy says "sorry, Bob, we're going to beg off of that party you invited us to and have dinner and an evening of cards at her parents' house, where we can spend time in conversation, getting to really know each other," does one suppose it makes sense to accuse him of wanting "no commitment" or "no communication?" This is how Father Daly characterizes those who attend the Tridentine Mass in favor of the normative one.

Don't misunderstand me. My purpose here isn't to level indictments against the modern normative form of the Mass itself. Good men may honestly dispute whether the post-Vatican II changes made to the Mass were for better or worse. In either case, the growing interest in the Tridentine Mass is a sign of the a spiritual hunger. This hunger may be brought on by the depletion, wrought by the changes made to the Mass, of prayers and other spritually edifying rituals of the Tridentine Mass. It may be a result of the inability of people to access the spiritual fruits of the Mass in the modern noisy way of offering it.

Whenever Mass is offered, it should be done in a manner that is conducive to the intent of its author, which, of course, is Jesus Himself. In many people's experience, it's just plain easier to become detached from that idea with the newer rite of the Mass than it is with the Tridentine rite.

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