tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35539648.post7377249424977056408..comments2023-10-18T14:53:28.622+01:00Comments on Forest Murmurs: 47th Convention of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors in the USAFr Michael Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15320336535138538635noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35539648.post-73415326900116799362010-11-15T00:12:16.272+00:002010-11-15T00:12:16.272+00:00Much of what Fr Roscia says is, as you say Father,...Much of what Fr Roscia says is, as you say Father, very good, particularly on scriptural studies, but I feel he displays the same negative attitude expressed by many towards those of us who seek to read Vatican II in a ‘hermeneutic of continuity’. The tone of his address was one which left me feeling insulted, and that he had lost some understanding of the Church as the Body of Christ.<br />For example: “There appears to be a trivialization, a fastidious and affected attention to externals more than a deep desire to find meaning, and foster reverence and respect for the Sacred Liturgy.” Not so; one gives attention to detail in the Eucharist so as to ensure a worthy celebration. We can at least give the same attention to correct arrangement and adornment of the altar that we give to our dining tables at formal suppers.<br />Fr Roscia goes on: “Among a particular segment of the Church today, and among some of our young people preparing for ministry or recently ordained, there is a resurgence of triumphalism. The triumphalist approach would like Church leaders and pastors to exercise authority through aggressive condemnation and excommunication and believes that the Church not only has the truth but also all the answers to every modern dilemma!” This is an overstatement of the desire for better use of authority in the present crisis, while ‘triumphalism’, if present, merely reflects the fact that the Church is the Body of Christ Who has triumphed and is in glory, seated at the right hand of the Father as King of kings and Lord of lords. Indeed, it is only from His throne of victory that Christ confers the graces of salvation. The idea of a ‘wounded healer’ to counteract triumphalism has some merit but is actually 1970’s mush: Alcoholics Anonymous would be of little use to alcoholics if it used active drinkers to sponsor those aiming for sobriety, and the church cannot use the lame to support the lame. I think a very telling phrase used by Fr Roscia is one that might find an echo in the hearts of many of our Bishops, clergy and laity in regard to those of us who use the EF: “Many of us are afraid of [this] new generation, of their robust sense of Catholicism, their manifestations of piety, their desire to ‘reclaim’ many things that have been lost or forgotten.” How sad to be afraid of one’s heritage.<br />All that said, I agree with Fr Roscia that liturgy divorced from pastoral care (I hesitate to use his phrase ‘justice and charity’ since for some, this seems be the ‘be all and end all’ of the Church’s mission) is indeed close to being “an aesthetic pastime or momentary palliative”. Our liturgical participation must be one where we bring to the Eucharistic Sacrifice our self-sacrifice of time and energy in the service of others. But this must be true of the laity too, and there is a need for promotion of the true nature of active participation which is not merely engaging in the Dialogues of the Mass, the signing and the ‘Offertory Procession’, but of participating in the Mystery of Faith: the self-sacrifice of Christ. I therefore resonate with Fr Rocia’s idea that liturgical reform “must concern itself not only with texts and ceremonies, rubrics and rituals, vestments and the number of candlesticks on altars, but also with the spiritual hungers of human communities that we serve.” However, I reject his exaggerations and caricatures.Fr Dicksonnoreply@blogger.com