Faithful Mass (and Unfaithful Mass)

Priests are not rubrics; and priests are not the church. What is a "rubric"? Those are the liturgical rules written in the books like the Altar Missal or the Daily Office. They are written in red (thus "rubric", like "ruby") as opposed to the black letters which are what is spoken. What, then, is the Church? The Church is that spiritual organization created by Christ, formed by the Apostles, and continuing to the end of time; it alone has the authority over the people of God, which authority is held by the Pope.

Thus, priests are not rubrics. They are not the "written rules" for how to say the Mass. Priests are also not the Church. They are not the divinely inspired authority to determine what is right and wrong. Priests are supposed to submit to the rubrics when they say Mass or lead prayer; they are supposed to transmit what the Church has said authoritatively, and not what their personal opinion is. Yes, there are some instances where the Church has not spoken on a particular subject so a priest can, of course, express a personal opinion, but this never applies to the rules for Mass.

A few parishioners have told me about experiences at non-Ordinariate Masses lately. Some said they were scandalized by the liturgical abuse. Others expressed complete shock at how much the priest focused everything on himself. One even said she had to get up and leave because she was convinced that the Mass was invalid. Sadly, this does happen. There are rules that we are given to follow in life; that is part of what it means to be a good Catholic: obey the rules. There are also rules that are given to follow in the Mass; and they are not optional (in spite of what any priest says!).

Of all the things we do in this life, the Mass is the highest experience of the grace of Christ; it is the fullest expression of intimacy with our Lord. It is where we, in unison, give ourselves to Christ our Lord, and He in response gives us Himself. We are thus filled with His life in the Mass; if it is done validly. There should never, ever, be any doubt in the minds of the faithful that the Mass is valid. If there is reasonable doubt, then it must be abandoned. Far too many priests are ignoring the rules of the Mass and they lead their people astray in doing so.

It is not "fun" or "interesting" or "nice" to have the rules of the Mass broken. It is a grave sin, and you should beg God in Heaven above to protect you from the wolves in sheep's clothing who are destroying the souls of the sheep and desecrating the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I have heard priests say things like, "it is just a little rule; not that big a deal". Today's gospel reading for Mass shows us where Jesus said, "Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven". That is not something to play around with. God will overcome this liturgical abuse along with all His other enemies. In the meantime, guard your soul and stay faithful (and attend a faithful Mass).