This week two people in different parts of Ireland have made comments on attending Mass in Dominican churches.
One person said that they were very tempted to get up and walk out. They could not hear what was being said and they found it difficult to take the antics of the celebrant.
The other person said that they went to Sunday Mass in a Dominican church - a different church from the one above - and they were made feel very depressed.
And there will not be the slightest hint of a suggestion that we Irish Dominicans need to sit down and start talking about important and relevant issues.
And not in a Dominican church. The priest forgot to consecrate the hosts in the ciborium which was on the side table. So when it came to communion someone in the church told the altar server to bring the ciborium to the priest so he could distribute the breads.
It is a great example of how many priests have failed in giving any sort of understanding or explanation of the celebration of the Eucharist.
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2 comments:
This is certainly not simple a Dominican problem. Sitting in the pews is a depressing experience on Sunday in most churches, IMHO. There are three distinct elements to the celebration of Mass that seem to have been downgraded by many celebrants:
1) The presence of God. The lack of reverence is startling in many cases, with the priests giving the impression in many cases of rote practice of a boring ritual. A class is here is the priest who turns the pages of the missal while welcoming the people, not making eye contact, and coming across os thoroughly unprepared.
2) The quality of preaching. The standard of preaching is generally abysmal. It doesn't even rate as theological in many cases. I get the impression many of these "preachers" must never read anything about the topic or about preaching
3)Understanding the liturgy. The prayers, the sequence, the gestures, all have meaning. How is it that so many celebrants seem to have no sense at all of the liturgy?
Many of us laity are reasonable well informed theologically and reasonably well read. Pulpit thumping, bullying tactics, rants and threats have no place in the contemporary Church.
Finally a plea: I'd like to ehar a great deal more about the unending love of God than about sin and failure.
The standards are shocking. Truly shocking. The dearth of communication skills and care for how the liturgy is put across among the clergy is scandalous. I feel bad saying this, because I know that there are many good guys out there doing everything they can, but they could learn a thing or two from the many Church of England services I have attended here in the UK.
The C of E is far from a perfect church, but it is intensely democratic and members of the parish have a great deal of say in who their minister is and they can opt for the kind of minister who will suit their parish needs. I have to say that RC priests could also learn a lot from the dynamic pastors of the many evangelical and independent churches now proliferating around the country. They have their faults, but they certainly know how to draw people into the service, make it relevant and deliver a relevant message in an interesting way,
Sean
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