catholic liturgy the problems with catholic liturgy are likely to continue for some time the problem is in a nutshell this the liturgy is a symbolic action in other words catholics do or should believe that the signs during the mass water blessings vestments altar relics etc are real that is the sprinkling of water bestows real almost tangible holiness the vestments are a real indication of real sacred time the point of a symbol is that it is understood by all to be connected to an underlying real referent this kind of thinking precludes analysis holy water is not holy because of anything it simply is holy but modern westerners find it extremely difficult especially if well educated to think of the mass as a symbol we are more likely to see it as a sign ie an action that represents grace but which could be replaced with other signs in concrete terms this means the mass has become a commercial for god s grace rather than the real thing you can mess around with a commercial in a way you wouldn t dare with the real thing ask coca cola co these attitudes have been encouraged by liturgy workshops etc which instead of focusing on how to do do liturgy have focused on how to create a meaning in liturgy you can only create signs symbols have to come from god or the heart or somewhere deeper than analysis the most dramatic example of this shift in understanding has been in the treatment of the sacred species the consecrated host and wine now with pita bread etc it is common to come away from the altar with hands covered in particles if the host is a sign of grace this isnt and issue but catholics in the past would have been distraught at this real desacration of the real symbol of jesus body modern catholic liturgy is caught in this epistemological shift we try to perfrom the old rites but then we have some liturgomaniac priest get up and explain what we are doing so we stop doing it and start pretending to do it this is not a soul filling experience it doesn t help btw that we have got stuck witha huge amount of two and three chord ersatz folk music again a result of mis analysis complicated tunes are in fact easier to remember than simple ones this was the genius of wesley and the c anglican hymn writers taize is only slightly better what are we to do well i suggest rejecting the parish system if it doesn t work for you search out a church where the liturgy is well prepared not well explained they exist in every city this is not btw a matter of particular style the music might be old or new it is the attitude of the church that counts also note that a conservative liturgy harking back to pre vatican ii days does not necessarily mean the church will be socially conservative in nyc i can recommend corpus christi w st st corpus christi w st st very conservative liturgy st joseph s greenwich village modern clean largely gay oratorian church brooklyn very beautiful avoid anywhere anytime a church with electric candles happy easter christos aneste christos voskrezhne christ is risen paul halsall halsall murray fordham edu
