The Magic Bullet
Jen posted about head coverings for women at mass. It is one of those topics that makes me wonder. Is there something we are doing wrong? Is there something we can change about the way we do church that can cause people to connect with it better? It makes sense that a simple thing like women covering their heads at mass might really hit a sweet spot with being the right kind of counter-cultural message to send. Then again it might not. I have had these thoughts about ad orientem masses (the priest facing the altar), about kneeling and taking communion on the tongue, and about many other things.
Before I became Catholic I had thoughts like this to. Then I was trying to find the right song, the right story, the right way of praying before the service. Some magic bullet that we could use to cause the church to start touching people more deeply and more effectively. I wonder if my desire as a protestant was really a longing for a truly holy liturgy. In other words, a longing for the mass.
But the mass does not seem to connect with everyone either. So maybe we can do it better. The obvious place to look is the old liturgy. Bringing back the old liturgy completely might work. But we have done that. The growth of those parishes has been quite modest. Latin seems overrated to me. But some forms of reverence seem like they might be a big step forward.
The head covering thing appeals to me partly because I know society would be outraged at it’s sexist nature. But modesty is sexist. The issues just are not the same for men and for women. So you could make a statement about modesty and about reverence for the Eucharist at the same time. But I am a man. Women would need to buy into this for it to work. It could be a very good thing or a very bad thing.
What is needed is leadership. No matter what the change is, it needs to be made by the whole community. If one person kneels and takes communion on the tongue I don’t see a value in that. Perhaps for that one person but then there are issues of pride. What is needed is for the priest to call for a change, for him to teach and explain why this will bring the community closer to God, and then for him to require everyone to do it at least for that one mass.
That is pretty hard. Even a very minor thing is likely to cause some people to get quite upset. That is just the nature of our modern, uncatechized, even unevangelized parishes. But nothing is going to happen if you don’t rock the boat. Anything that draws people to a fuller commitment to Christ is going to upset people who don’t want to go there. The choice will always be there. The enemy will always be there. If nobody gets upset then maybe you are not doing any good.
I do think that these kinds of changes are what Benedict and John Paul were hoping for when he brought back the old mass. They want to see one liturgy develop that takes good things from both. Unfortunately to many people pick one they like and look down on anyone who chooses the other one. So neither camp has any appetite for synthesizing the best of the two liturgies into something even better.
I’m thinking that interior change is far more necessary and effective than outward change. Head coverings mean nothing without changing the head they’re covering and the heart that pumps blood to the head. Will head coverings work such a change? I don’t think so.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:16 am
Sure, interiour change is needed. But how do we get there? Are there things the church can do different to better pray what we really believe? The theory is that if we pray better then over a long time it will strengthen our faith. I don’t doubt that. What I wonder about is which changes would bring about the most fruit.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:18 am
It always struck me as curious that, in the Synagouge, men cover their heads (with a shawl when the Torah is processed) but, in Ctholic Churches, women were asked to cover their heads. Yes, I know the quote from Paul, but why did he change things?
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:13 pmThere was a dislike of tradition in the culture and the church at that time. Things were changed just for the sake of change. We do need to review many of the choices to throw out old tradtions. Some may be valid but I don’t doubt some should be reversed as well.
June 24th, 2009 at 8:11 am