In praise of Novus Ordo!

Preface: attendance at any Mass in the “Catholic Rite” is valid.

That includes Latin; Byzantine; Alexandrian; Syriac; Armenian; Maronite and Chaldean rites which are all part of our family of liturgical expression.

Preferences in the Latin Rite:

Like many distractable Catholics, I have to remind myself that the Mass is not defined by “The Priest” or “The Homily” or “the bad music” but rather by the miracle of the Body & Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

Both the Traditional Latin Mass (the T.L.M.) and the Novus Ordo (N.O.) are valid liturgies within the Latin Rite. Curiously, our ‘Latin Rite’ has a kerfuffle over the Latin Mass—more specifically the 1962 Tridentine Mass a.k.a. the TLM.

Prayer is too personal for there to be a single sterile, mass-produced liturgy which will suit every person. [Pun intended.] We have to remember that the focus of the Mass is the Eucharist, but each of us has preferences about the type of liturgy we gravitate towards.

I like aspects of the TLM…but love the Novus Ordo! Especially when the priest makes the Eucharist the center of the celebration. I need the Homilist to show my muddy feet each baby step they have to make to the Lord. I cherish uplifting music—which drags my sorry-ass soul in praise to the heavens! I want a small congregation, so I can hear and see the miracle of the Mass. I love a community which comes to the Lord in peace and quiet—yet will happily take a load of noisy kids over a barren parish any day. (Well, maybe not all the time!!) Kids are the lifeblood of the Church and Christ commanded us:

“Let the little children alone, and do not stop them from coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of Heaven belongs.”

Fr. Dwight Longenecker listed additional benefits to the Novus Ordo.

• The simplicity lends itself to being celebrated in a prison; battlefield; mission field; etc. when people cannot attend a physical church.

• The N.O. has more Scripture readings! (I would not have guessed that!)

• The ancient traditions of the gospel and offertory processions have been restored! (Going Trad? Then go really Trad!)

• Properly composed Prayers of the Faithful focus our prayers.

• The N.O. can be celebrated very traditionally. (In Latin; Ad orientem; altar-rails; communion on the tongue; kneeling faithful; well-trained altar servers; good music, vestments, architecture and art)

• The N.O. is better for most converts as they can follow the celebration.

Conclusion:

My preferences are not the same as any of my Brothers and Sisters in Christ. And that is just fine!

Others may choose an immigrant community which integrates their specific language and culture. (Say, Hungarian, Vietnamese, etc.) Some gravitate to the joy of the Charismatic Renewal while others need the deep reverence, respect and tradition of the TLM.

As St. John Paul II said about the Catholic Rite:

“The Church must breathe with her two lungs…The East and West are part of the same Body. Therefore, the entire Church should appreciate and respect the valid gifts and traditions that are breathed from both traditions.”

“Our Eastern Catholic brothers and sisters are very conscious of being the living bearers of this tradition, together with our Orthodox brothers and sisters. The members of the Catholic Church of the Latin tradition must also be fully acquainted with this treasure and thus feel, with the Pope, a passionate longing that the full manifestation of the Church’s catholicity be restored to the Church and to the world, expressed not by a single tradition, and still less by one community in opposition to the other; and that we too may be granted a full taste of the divinely revealed and undivided heritage of the universal Church which is preserved and grows in the life of the Churches of the East as in those of the West.”

Surely, the Church has room for all believers who are in communion with the Catholic Rite?

Kevin Hay

(You can follow Kevin on 𝕏/Twitter @ kevinhay77)