This is so true! As a convert my one and only disappointment has been the Liturgy abused in certain parishes that I have visited. In fact at the end of one almost heretical Liturgy a laywoman said that she hoped that we liked their Liturgy… My thought was "It must be your Liturgy because it certainly didn't appear to be God's." This is the primary difference between Protestant and Catholic worship. Our audience is God and we are on His stage with anamnesis bringing a past moment in time and space (the first Eucharist) into our present moment of worship and adoration. The Eucharist is not a simple memorial service that we observe, like the Protestants, but the life giving "Presence" Body ,Soul, and Divinity. The sacrifice in the mass is not sacrificing Christ again as we are accused but rather the offering of the one and only true sacrifice by the Holy pure Son of God once for all. I am in no way saying that the Novus Ordo is an invalid mass. With the right focus it too is Christos-centric if we look to the table as an alter and see his broken body and poured out blood for our sake. I attend both and I have fallen in love with being Catholic. I would be interested to know more about the Agape meal practiced by the early Christians and how that fits in to all of this. I have heard it argued that this was the Eucharist and I have heard it argued that it was not. Can anyone shed some light?
That was beautifully said. Thank you Father for sharing what I know to be true and thankfully experience every Sunday at Holy Rosary in Indianapolis.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! As a convert my one and only disappointment has been the Liturgy abused in certain parishes that I have visited. In fact at the end of one almost heretical Liturgy a laywoman said that she hoped that we liked their Liturgy… My thought was "It must be your Liturgy because it certainly didn't appear to be God's." This is the primary difference between Protestant and Catholic worship. Our audience is God and we are on His stage with anamnesis bringing a past moment in time and space (the first Eucharist) into our present moment of worship and adoration. The Eucharist is not a simple memorial service that we observe, like the Protestants, but the life giving "Presence" Body ,Soul, and Divinity. The sacrifice in the mass is not sacrificing Christ again as we are accused but rather the offering of the one and only true sacrifice by the Holy pure Son of God once for all. I am in no way saying that the Novus Ordo is an invalid mass. With the right focus it too is Christos-centric if we look to the table as an alter and see his broken body and poured out blood for our sake. I attend both and I have fallen in love with being Catholic. I would be interested to know more about the Agape meal practiced by the early Christians and how that fits in to all of this. I have heard it argued that this was the Eucharist and I have heard it argued that it was not. Can anyone shed some light?
ReplyDeleteCatholicSeymour