The Joy of Authentic Liturgy

One could argue that no matter its mode or quality of celebration, the Mass is the most important event on Earth every time it is celebrated. The Church qualifies this understanding of the Mass by noting that there can be instances when a Mass is invalid due a defect of form and/or matter. Say for instance, if a gluten-free host is used. For the Sacrament to be valid, hosts must be wheaten and must therefore contain gluten, even if the amount of gluten is low. Another reason the Mass could be invalid is because the priest deliberately substitutes words not approved for use during the Consecration. If the priest intentionally leaves out a key phrase such as "This is my Body" or adds a corruption such as "This is just a symbol of my body," it is difficult to imagine how anyone could justify the changes and contend that the liturgy is valid. Catholics who are themselves properly disposed to receive the Holy Eucharist are entitled to the worthy celebration of the Sacraments.

All of the norms and exhortations set forth in this Instruction are connected, albeit in various ways, with the mission of the Church, whose task it is to be vigilant concerning the correct and worthy celebration of so great a mystery.—13, Preamble of Redemptionis Sacramentum.

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/print-edition/invalid-masses

Upon discovering the Ordinariate Liturgy, known as Divine Worship, this blogger rediscovered the meaning of the Mass which first led him home to Holy Mother Church those decades ago. Authentic liturgy, which is to say the beautiful celebration of the Mass, is pleasing to God. That we should seek to please God is a thought lost on many Catholics who have been made complacent by their adoption of limp theology. How many Catholics, or for that matter how many Christians of any flavour, ignore the witness of Scripture:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling(.)—Philippians 2:12

God invites us to cooperate with Him in our ongoing conversion to Him. God does not impose Himself upon us. He entices and tests us in order that we might grow in holiness, in likeness to Him. Contrary to the universalist heresy that all are saved (regardless of how they behave in this life), hell is real because our choices matter. God relentlessly seeks our love; we are made to love God. But, we can choose not to love God by not loving as God has designed us to love. He gives us the sacraments to nourish in us His grace so that we might live and love with His very strength and life.

The Mass, not distorted but "in focus", allows us to meet God face-to-face, on God's terms. A Mass remade in a community's image, i.e., in a way that wanders from one week's fascination or fad to another, is a liturgy that, instead of abiding by the Apostolic compass that always points to Jesus Christ, tragically turns to face the people and by so turning has the congregation worshipping itself.

But let us not despair about inadequacies. Rather, let us rejoice in Divine Worship, the Ordinariate Liturgy that is oriented to God.

As one recent article quoting Robert Cardinal Sarah puts it:

“If we give ourselves to ephemeral and insignificant things we will understand ourselves as ephemeral and insignificant. If we give ourselves to beautiful and eternal things we will understand ourselves as beautiful and eternal(.)”—Toronto, March 2018.

Liturgy that reaches "upward" to God leads man out of misery to joy, toward the paradise prepared for him. Liturgy that replaces poetry with pop tunes risks becoming religious entertainment, sappy devotionalism and spiritual junk food.

Divine Worship, by contrast, is a symphony that requires its players, under the baton of the Lord of Hosts, Jesus Christ, to offer true art of the soul. There is little doubt that architecture, stained glass, statuary and music that reaches toward magnificence is more appropriate to the temple of God than worship or self congratulatory praise that is stuck on the idea of being "relevant". A symphony requires of its players real effort—conversion, and skill that is informed by grace.

How might we define appropriate effort in worship? Art defines art. Art ennobles the soul and disposes it to God's grace. Christians who lap up the pablum of secular culture should not be surprised when their "faith" starts to resemble the memes of popular culture that rob believers of the trust they should have in the living God. The sloganeering of praise and worship music is far too easy an attraction for modern man. Deprived of an appetite for cuisine, man attempts to maintain a diet of theological junk food that leaves him malnourished and ill-equipped to carry on the work of Jesus Christ, the work of a spiritual soldier. By contrast, immersion in art inspired by the Holy Spirit feeds the soul to accomplish the art of God, the art which leads others into an intimate communion with Jesus Christ and His Church.

Such is the art of the Ordinariate Mass. The art of Divine Worship is nothing less than Jesus Christ clearly seen and heard and, yes, tasted—consumed!—in the proclamation of the Holy Gospel and in the Holy Eucharist. May that thought caress your soul and draw you into a deeper communion with Jesus and His Church.