Our friend MichiganCatholic wrote the above while commenting on Sal's post below about the tendency for some hispanic/latino Catholics to embrace evangelical protestantism upon immigrating to the U.S. I understand why recent immigrants from countries that still have a Catholic culture would be turned off by many Catholic parishes in the U.S. Indeed, I attended Mass yesterday and had that very reaction.
We had the de regueur neutered Gloria and a long homily mentioning centering prayer in a ski-chalet in the Hill Country of western North Carolina.
All visitors (by which I thought Father must have meant non-Catholics) were supposed to tell the congregation from whence they came.
After Mass, Father walked through the congregation to find the one-year-old infant to hold him up for our applause.
The Collect was improvised, as were many other prayers of the Mass.
BUT the matter appeared to be valid, and the priest used the correct words at consecration. Thank God.
My lovely wife attended Mass in central Virginia. She reports that they prayed for the Mormons. Praying for the conversion of the Mormons is a good idea. Praying for the Mormons as "our brothers and sisters in Christ" who are opening a new church is banal and misguided. Their baptisms aren't valid, so we can hardly call them "brothers in Christ."
When we're at home, we attend either the Tridentine Mass at Old St. Mary's in Washington, D.C., or in our home parish in Clifton, Virginia. Our home parish has three reverent priests who say and do all the right things. The abberations I describe above would never happen in either of these parishes.
I know how the immigrants feel. Attending Mass that is nearly unrecognizable is painful. Having the big-bottomed liturgical women sneer if you make a comment about the banners, dancers, ad lib prayers, altar bread with honey and baking powder, irreverent hymns, the lack of statues, etc., is discouraging. Being forced to experience New-Age Catholicism and not being allowed to retain any of the traditions is maddening.
I'm not speaking only of matters of taste, but taste is very important. Who decided that austere iconoclasm was the way to go, anyway?
Ultimately, these issues are what will cause us to remain in the Diocese of Arlington despite the traffic, the taxes, the crush of people, and a multitude of other annoyances. The Catholic-Lite we have to endure in the Dicoeses of Richmond, Charlotte, and elsewhere tempts me, and that's frightening.
What is it with this new thing of holding up infants for applause? I was at a recent Baptism, where the priest did this at the end of the ceremony. I thought I was in a scene of the Lion King.
Maybe it's a political act?
I think it's about worshiping the "ones we let live". These are people who would applaud for the first baby in a family, maybe the second, but start sneering at any more than that.