Correspondence
Correspondence Jews & Christians Great Neck, N.Y. To the Editors: This is to congratulate you and to thank you for the editorial "Darkness Visible," in the April 25th issue. It is the most...
...It would also remove what is inevitably a social event from the precommunion period which is more naturally a solemn, private, penitential preparation for communion...
...Or consider those priests who misguidedly boast "I have never been distracted at Mass...
...Changing the liturgy so that it more clearly reaffirms the Real Presence as the core of Catholic faith, the source of peace, and the nourishment of our personal relationship with God while strengthening the feeling of community and the presence of Christ in the community and in the world through the community would combine the best of the old with the best of the new...
...It is evident in the homilies from the bishops to the deacons...
...This contrast in itself would help dramatize an atmosphere of quiet reverence—the hush before God's presence...
...To the Editors: David K. O'Rourke's plea for a liturgy that symbolizes the transcendent is well taken [Apr...
...This ending would signify that peace must be within us individually before it can be shared, emphasize the role of communion in giving us that peace, and provide a symbolic encouragement for the worship community to carry this peace into the world and by their embodiment of this peace emphasize Christ's presence in the world...
...but if God wanted that (Continued on page 382) Commonweal: 354 Correspondence (Continued from page 354) priest to sound like that, he would have (a) put him in the pews, whence the Great Amen is supposed to emanate or (b) inspired him to the pursuit of Thespianism, Commonweal: 382 not of whatever it is priests are supposed to pursue...
...In the old liturgy, the Real Presence in the Eucharist was the dramatic focus of the Mass, and the Latin symbolic ceremony created an atmosphere of mystery and awe that in itself symbolized the presence of God...
...Mullarkey's April 25 review, Miriam Schapiro's name was misspelled and the artwork pictured was "Golden Fan," not "Barcelona Fan...
...Of course, they look at the altar, floor or ceiling while saying "The Lord be with you...
...It is not just the intellectuals, but all Catholics, who need "to find the church's worship, as a whole, meaningful...
...SUSAN RODINES Correction: In Ms...
...But in the new liturgy the burden of creating a sense of God's presence has fallen on the priest...
...The music for responses and hymns should be melodic and singable...
...I hear a young man do his version of Sidney Poitier's Lilies in the Fields "Amen, amen . . ." almost every time I witness his presiding over liturgy—at the end of the canon, you know, at what we used to call "the Great Amen...
...The priest who "does Mass real nice" is often the one who manages to convey a feeling of God's presence through his body language, tonal inflections, and ad lib additions that reflect his personal relationship with God...
...The communal Our Father should be used as the post-communion prayer, signifying the transcendence of God's prayer over the man-made prayers that preceded...
...That was a nice enough movie...
...Teach readers and priests the art of reading aloud and reciting with meaningful emphasis...
...That's what's happening...
...It is the most lucid, the most thoughtful, and the most courageous piece I have ever read on the subject of the Jewish-Christian relationship...
...They are ecclesiastical automatons: the church's answer to R2 D2 without the personality...
...The increased social character of the new liturgy is an indication of its faithfulness as a "public gathering...
...WILLIAM MESSENGER Thanks for art's sake New York, N.Y...
...Restrict choirs and musical ensembles to the role of supportive song leader...
...Mullarkey's writing was both stimulating and informative...
...The single priest's ability to put on a good show" will be the death of us all who go to church these days...
...However, he comes dangerously close to personifying the misconceptions of the word "intellectual" which he attempts to avoid...
...He makes God's presence felt because he shares with us his own feeling of God's presence...
...Consider those priests who "say" Mass just as they...
...REV...
...Thank you for a welcome addition to your magazine...
...Receiving communion in a group at the foot of the altar rather than in single-file would enhance the reverence and dignity of the rite...
...It is also most felicitously written...
...They differ precisely in that liturgy is a social event...
...and followed by a joyous hymn, the final blessing, and ending with the sign of peace...
...And like the rest of us, not all priests are capable of publicly conveying their feelings in the unself-conscious manner that would make them effective...
...The halfway decent preacher-liturgist will not be so loud or intrusive that the lay person cannot have some good musings while he's at it...
...He misconstrues a few elements in the new liturgy and capitalizing on weakness, overconcludes his evidence...
...But the liturgy, by definition, must be a dialogue among the community, and a community dialogue with God...
...And a good musing is hard to find...
...It is one of those ironic twists that the problem with the uninspiring priest is the same for the dramatic one...
...a Gospel which is social and communal...
...It is the inability or refusal to preach the Gospel—a Gospel that involves suffering as well as glory, death as well as Resurrection...
...The best bet for many lay people, David O'Rourke, is to find big, half-filled churches where they can seat themselves not too near the altar and have room besides to relax and soak in whatever of the transcendental is suggested by Gothic interiors...
...The effect of its present location has been to make communion an anti-climax rather than the climax...
...No doubt there are, and always will be, a few priests who pray as dramatically as TV evangelist Bob Schuller smiles...
...JAMES H. BOWMAN Preaching the Gospel Long Beach, Calif...
...did before only now they speak English and technically "face" the people...
...This places an unfair burden on priests who are as subject to emotional "bum-out" and the temporary loss of the immediate sense of God's presence as others in the caring-teaching professions...
...Stronger emphasis in the Penitence Rite on reconciliation with our neighbor...
...They stand out not so much due to their drama as the ineffective style of the vast majority of other priests...
...I cannot envision a very good liturgy in which each member of the congregation is engaging in a personal trance...
...ZOE LANTELME BELTH The Real Presence Wausau, Wisc...
...Words, rhythm, tempo, and tonal quality should reflect the emotion appropriate to the response— penitence, joy, reverence, etc...
...Have the congregation sing all standard responses...
...It is inevitably social because in our culture the smiling exchange is an integral part of our handshake ritual, and the unsmiling handshake indicates lack of trust and hostility...
...MARILYN KRAMER Musing right along Oak Park, Ill...
...As an avid follower of the art scene, I look forward to reading art criticism of such high quality in your future issues...
...To be sure, there is a need for dialogue with self, and personal dialogue to support personal amd communal prayer...
...We need more of this caliber of thinking...
...I submit that it is this refusal to preach the Gospel that is "common American overlay...
...It is also the same for Bob Schuller...
...If the intellectuals (and I am not sure they would all claim David O'Rourke as their spokesman) are unable to find this, I suggest that it is not because the individual priest has become a showman, but rather the majority of priests put no effort into their role as leader of the liturgy...
...In the absence of the Gospel, the liturgy must become either a show or a private communique...
...and emphasis on kneeling rather than standing...
...To the Editors: Blessed be David K. O'Rourke and all his works ["Eggheads, Pumpkin Heads, & Liturgical Popularism," Apr...
...To begin with granting his suspect thesis that "all liturgy, past and present, is a social process . . .", Father O'Rourke appears to blur the distinction between liturgy and devotion...
...To the Editors: I am writing to tell you how pleased I was to find that your April 25, 1980 issue featured an art review...
...Rewrite the Liturgy of the Eucharist, keeping in mind the difference between dramatic repetition and redundancy and utilizing the rhythmic, lyric, and dramatic possibilities of the vernacular (and cultural body language) to restore the transubstantiation to its former position as the dramatic focal point...
...Our apologies...
...Peddling kitsch" indeed...
...To restore the sense of God's presence and still retain the feeling of community that many say they find most often in "lots of singing," I would like to suggest these changes...
...To the Editors: There is much of value in David O'Rourke's article on liturgy, not the least of which is a little praise for the intellectuals in the church...
...Assuming the Gospel will not begin to be preached overnight, I opt for the priest who rides down the center aisle on a bicycle dressed as a clown, over the priest who mumbles (or shouts) ancient, irrelevant platitudes...
...The emphasis here should be on private rather than on communal participation, except for communal recitation of the concluding acclamation and singing of the grand Amen...
...THE EDITORS 20 June 1980: 383...
...Moreover, because the total emphasis on communal participation does not allow for the private, inner dialogue with God and self that nourishes our personal relationship with God, we have become more dependent on this sharing as a substitute for our own personal relationship...
...This refusal has rendered ineffective witness in our own society and the inability to speak to foreign societies...
...Restrict the homily to five to seven minutes (lengthy homilies focus emphasis on the priest and away from the eucharistic celebration...
Vol. 107 • June 1980 • No. 12
