Sufferings of Liturgical Abuse
Perhaps this is a stretch for some to comprehend, but there is genuine suffering of soul and mind and body when one goes to a Catholic Church in which the Mass is mangled, the Sanctuary not representative of what Pope Benedict XVI has requested/mandated of all Catholic Churches--and the gestures in the Mass not what the USCB have agreed upon.
There ought to be a site as in a consumer complaint site, to forewarn unsuspecting Catholics who move or visit and attend Mass. At least they ought to know what is in store for them, if it is going to mean suffering. Mass attendees, beware! Scammed from a liturgically safe Mass! Ripped off by disobedience in fellow Catholics and clergy! Well, it is a thought.
Surely Jesus would desire the anguish of liturgical abuse and the underlying disobedience to be offered in reparation for sins and for souls--whatever Jesus can use it for.
Such disobedience, according to mystics and saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary, grieve and offends our Lord Jesus Christ. It ought to grieve and offend all Catholics, lay and cleric and religious, dead and alive.
posted by The Catholic Hermit at 12:22 PM
5 Comments:
I usually just get angry at Mass...I try to focus on why I am there and in Whose House I am so privileged to be seated; but I am not blind, nor can I be indifferent. The House has become a stage for fools. Yesterday at Mass, the anger evolved into anguish, an emotional distress of a different order. Thank you for your timely commentary. All is not lost when the Mass is not as it should be if we can suffer for Christ. Your words have directed me to a deeper purpose, an even greater reason to be present at Mass. He Is there suffering too, and I don't want to leave Him alone in the garden. Thank you. The Holy Spirit Is with you.
It is I who am thankful for your comment, for I often feel very guilty for having such thoughts during Mass. Yet, when we think of the saints--they did not just stuff it in all the time. They offered it, and often they spoke up to those who could be enlightened. A man beside me thought a resurrection Jesus cross was a crucifix. There was no crucifix in this Cathedral, the Tabernacle all but forgotten off to a corner. This is the status of this small city, in the churches visited. I commented to the elderly gentleman, and showed him the crucifix I wear so that he would know the difference, and mentioned that the Holy Father has required all churches to have a crucifix and Tabernacle central to the worship. He said they had taken down the large crucifix that used to over the altar. When there was something else distressing, I whispered prior to Mass that I was going to write to "THE POPE!" He sort of stared and then tensed a bit. If the people in that Cathedral aren't going to stand up for Jesus on the Cross and be obedient and in union with the Holy Father and the Body of Christ, who will restore Tradition and know the reason we are saved?
Whether I write to the Pope or not, I did try to do as we are supposed to do, kneeling, praying, bowing prior to reception of Christ's Body and Blood. It was a novelty there, however, to see. But even if the man alone was miffed, and no doubt his wife when he would report it later, it does seem best to do as we are asked to do regardless of what is going on around us.
But the suffering, as you understand all too well, is so deep and real--an anguish. All for God.
Could you be more specific about the "abuse" in question here?
Liturgical abuses include altering words that the priest is to pray during the consecration, not having certain elements/fixtures required in the Sanctuary, not following the rubrics of the Mass, and so forth.
Does that help?
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