The Weakening of the Mass - Cardinal Burke and Canizares

There is an article out there [Bad Mass= Weak Faith] that I am sure just about every blogger and their little brother are going to be writing about, but it is so important that I want to cover it. I know it is "bad" to be a "copy-and-paste" blog, but there are somethings worth repeating. It may be one of the most important posts that I have written in a long time, if not ever.

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we are not the center of the Mass

Speaking at the release of a book by Father Nicholas Bux, Cardinals Raymond Burke and Cardinal Antonio Canizares had some rather forceful, but important statements to make about the Mass.

For some, a priest's strict adherence to the Rubrics of the Mass are of little importance. There is a plague in the modernist mind of the AmChurch [The American Catholic Church - culturally and theologically] that cares only of a Mass's validity and not its licitness. This is a dangerous and incorrect way to view the Mass. Too many Catholics go to Mass and talk about what they "get out of Mass." This thought process, while not completely faulty, does lead a person to view the Mass as something that is about them, and not what it truly is – about God.

Cardinal Raymond Burke

Cardinal Burke had this to say, at the book launch:

“If we err by thinking we are the center of the liturgy, the Mass will lead to a loss of faith,” said U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke, head of the Vatican’s Supreme Court.

This statement is thick, because there is more to it than meets the eye. Father Z has commented on this piece and to this statement has said that there is a "reciprocal relationship between how we pray and what we beleive." What he is essentially saying is: "Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi." The concept is that "what we pray is what we believe." This means that how we pray and the way we pray, are both a reflection and a formative factor in what we believe.

If the Mass is the "source and summit of Christian Life" (see also: Lumen Gentium #11) then we must treat it and view it as such. Anything less degrades in our mind and heart that it is exactly that. We share in the duty to make the Mass as perfect as it should be. What we do at Mass, as both laity and clergy, is not necessary but for the request of God. That does not excuse us from attempting proper conduct and adherence to liturgical norms in an effort to make the Mass as universal as possible.

Cardinal Burke told those gathered for the book presentation that he agreed with Father Bux: that “liturgical abuses lead to serious damage to the faith of Catholics.” Unfortunately, he said, too many priests and bishops treat violations of liturgical norms as something that is unimportant when, in fact, they are “serious abuses.”

Cardinal Antonio Canizares

These abuses draw us away from the Mass and damage our faith not because God and the Mass are easily destroyed, but because we are. Our nature, as fallen men, is to be swayed and deceived by the slightest distortion of the truth. Satan is the master of deceit, his power comes from his twisting of the truth and not some incarnate evil.

Cardinal Canizares said, “Participating in the Eucharist can make us weaken or lose our faith if we do not enter into it properly” and if the liturgy is not celebrated according to the Church’s norms."

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the Mass is something God does, it isn't something a priest and a congregation do

Having two Cardinals speak to this matter, and ones that so deeply understand and profess the faith of the Church is a telling sign of what we need to inspect in our own parishes. The most telling comment may have come from the author himself though. Father Bux touched on the fact that there should be a continuity in the Mass. It is by definition a universal action that helps unite the faithful.

Father Bux said that too many modern Catholics think the Mass is something that the priest and the congregation do together, when, in fact, it is something that Jesus does: “If you go to a Mass in one place and then go to Mass in another, you will not find the same Mass. This means that it is not the Mass of the Catholic Church, which people have a right to, but it is just the Mass of this parish or that priest.”

The strength of our Faith comes not from what we do, but from what God gives us. This does not mean though that the way we pray, the way we practice our faith, and the way we choose to worship at Mass does not somehow both reflect and effectuate in us spiritual conversion. This can occur in both directions, the good and the bad. Therefore it is vital that we adhere to the premise: "Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi." What we pray truly is...what we believe.

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