Sacramentum Caritatis: The Sacrament of Love

Bill,

An additional point that sprung out at me that I failed to make: That part of the universality of the Church is a certain amount of universality of culture. Not absolute uniformity, but there are certain gestures (sign of the cross) and postures (kneeling & genuflecting) that are part of Catholic culture. While retaining elements of our own cultures, would it not behoove a universal Church to have some common elements that are familiar to the traveler where ever he may be? This is part of the argument for Latin as well, not for the whole Mass, but for certain elements that are easily taught. On can pray the Lord's Prayer in Latin without being able to translate it, praying along interiorly with whatever language/meditation is helpful, but praying externally in unity with the whole Church.

I am also in favor of the re-discovery of the all-but forgotten Rites of the Church, from the Dominican and Ambrosian Usages of the Tridentine Rite (that too), to the Byzatine Rite to the many other Eastern and African Rites. Let these be the foundation for inculturation, as they and the cultures they serve have common roots in many cases. We have such a variety of rights that we can afford to take our time to revive usages and practices that may fit a particular local church as needed, with the proper permissions. In that, I hope that the CDW takes a liberal view in the coming years to allowing local temporary indults for the purposes of permitting organic growth of the Church, by way of micro-expermentation, as opposed to the last forty years of macro-experimentation.

(sorry, I did mean for this to be a two liner...)

"...the Mass is not just the community gathering for a thanksgiving meal..." Of course it is not. So?

"...but the Re-Presentation of the Sacrifice of Calvary." It is not "just" the "Re-Pres" but more it also and inextricably the risen glorious triumphant Christ, without which/Whom there is no Mass.

You have yet to answer my question above...

Anywho...

Actually there would be the Mass, but we would be absolute fools to put any faith in Jesus, and thus the Mass. But He still instituted the Mass, and I don't think there is a necessity for the Resurrection in and of itself for redemption, but... j/k

OK, back to the real point:

How we behave at Mass, what movements we make, what words we say, all reveal what we truly believe about what we are taking part in. I admit, as I have repeatedly done in the past, that I overemphasize the Sacrifice at the cost of the Resurrection, in opposition to the prevailing culture in the Church in the West that underplays the sacrifice to, and quite often beyond, the point of denial. I profess, as always, in the words of the Tridentine Offertory: that the Mass is offered "in remembrance of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Our Lord" and furthermore that the Passion and Resurrection are part of the same act of sacrifice and are therefore inseparable. Now that that little disclaimer is out of the way, what is your objection to liturgical norms?

Or, rather, let's just address one: kneeling (much bigger deal than the location of the Sign of Peace)? Kneeling has become part of Catholic culture, the highest form of respect that we can pay. It puts us in a position of weakness and submission. Is this your objection? It makes us look up, to Jesus as above us, rather than straight on, to Jesus as one of us. Is this your objection?