Personal, True, and New
Something simply extraordinary happened today. This afternoon, I attended the Sacred Liturgy and participated in the Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Lætare Sunday), and it was absolutely by the book.
I know this because I follow along in my hand missal, and it’s always jarring to me when a priest goes off on his own.
This priest, Rev. Jacob Maurer, was reverent, and he appeared to have large chunks of the Roman Canon memorized. Yes, the Roman Canon. Eucharistic Prayer Number One. I have never heard it prayed using the new translation, and I have certainly never participated in a Mass where it was prayed like this.
Simply, it was letter-perfect. Every word, every gesture no matter how small, was done faithfully and precisely. Yet, the priest never appeared to be performing or reciting; he was simply praying, and we were caught up in his prayer, bourne aloft with his words to the presence of the Father.
It was an absolute revelation.
This priest was not putting on a show, he was humbling himself and making the prayer of the Church his prayer, and presented with this reality, the people responded not to him, but to Christ who was acting through him.
I am rereading The Spirit of the Liturgy, and I am reminded of the passage where Pope Benedict says,
The life of the liturgy does not come from what dawns upon the minds of individuals and planning groups. On the contrary, it is God’s descent upon our world, the source of real liberation. He alone can open the door to freedom. The more priests and faithful humbly surrender themselves to this descent of God, the more “new” the liturgy will constantly be, and the more true and personal it becomes.
Yes, the liturgy becomes personal, true, and new, not through tomfoolery and banal experiments with the words, but through a courageous entry into the great reality that through the rite is always ahead of us and can never quite be overtaken.
(Pope Benedict XVI, The Spirit of the Liturgy pp. 168-9)
There was more, of course, so much more. I read about the New Liturgical Movement, and I’ve often prayed and written on the subject, but this is the first time in Tacoma I’ve actually seen someone beginning the process. Brick by brick.
This is a new generation of priests. If he were more than 30 years old, I would be genuinely surprised.
Deo gratias!