I always get a huge response when I write about this topic. I’m writing about it again, not for that reason, but because it came up on my Facebook page after I posted a meme concerning it, and I had some things to say that I thought were worthy of a blog article. Here are my past offerings on the subject:
Posture During the “Our Father” Over Against the Rubrics [7-7-08]
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My position, and I believe that of the Church (concerning the Latin, western rite) regarding hand-holding or raising hands during the Our Father, is that the congregation should not do either. Even deacons are supposed to abide by that as well. Most do, but not all.
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The usual response of Catholic critics of this view (and believe me, I have heard this many times) is that it’s 1) legalistic, 2) condescending towards other parishioners who are worshiping God as they see fit, and 3) majoring on the minors, or a trifle. I respond as follows:
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Liturgical rubrics exist for a reason. No one is saying it’s the #1 priority of everything in the world, but it is a set of rules, and Catholics ought to respect what the Church has decreed.
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What critics in this regard often imply is that because there are lots of problems in the world (Dave: always have been!), therefore, no one ought to ever highlight what the Church requires in terms of liturgical rubrics. To do so is unnecessary and unimportant, and hypocritical, of the sort that Jesus condemned.
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That sounds like antinomianism (an extreme “anti-law” attitude) to me, if there is so little concern for Church decrees and regulations.
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We worship a certain way because that has been the liturgical tradition that the Church has sanctioned. It’s important, along with doctrine and (above all) love.
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It’s untrue that in order to care about souls and the world’s problems, I (or anyone else of like mind) must refrain from ever pointing out that many folks don’t properly follow the liturgical rubrics of the Catholic Church. The two have nothing to do with each other. In fact, I would say it is charitable — not uncharitable! — to educate Catholics about what the Church has taught concerning gestures at Mass. The rules are good for us; that’s why they’re there. And if they are good, then it’s good for me as an apologist to educate Catholics about them (since many many priests obviously aren’t doing so). I blame priests and deacons for not making these things known: not the folks in the pews.
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I think defense of anything that the Church has determined at a high level, with widespread application, is a fight worth having. The mystery to me about the critics’ position is why they seem to be so utterly unconcerned about liturgical regulation, as if it were literally of no importance at all. That leaves me scratching my head and shrugging my shoulders. I could see a low church Protestant thinking like this (just as I myself used to for many years, so I am familiar with the perspective), but a Catholic? No, I don’t get that at all.
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As an apologist, it’s my duty to defend not only the Bible and tradition, but Holy Mother Church and her decisions as well: including liturgical ones. I’m no kind of “expert” in liturgy, though I have written about it, such as explaining the propriety and utility of formal worship and repetition, etc. Consequently, I pretty much entirely relied on others in my own articles on the present topic: mostly Jimmy Akin, Karl Keating, Fr. Colin Donovan, and canon lawyer Edward Peters. I was basically just passing along their conclusions, as folks that I generally trust to be reliable and helpful.
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I can assure all that I don’t stay awake at night worrying about this stuff. Nor am I looking down my nose at parishioners who violate the rubrics (most in my parish don’t, anyway, and it’s charismatic). My focus is on Jesus at the Mass, and no one and nothing else. It’s about 500th on my priority list. I repeat — since this is very important to understand about my position — : “I blame priests and deacons for not making these things known: not the folks in the pews.”
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But unless one takes a position that priests ought to have not the least concern about teaching their congregants about proper liturgical and worship behavior at Mass (which would be a weird and odd view, in my opinion), I don’t see how my position could be criticized. It seems utterly self-evident to me. “The Church decreed x regarding liturgy, so the obedient Catholic — as we all should be, by definition — follows x.”
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Now, if they don’t know about it (as I believe is the case for the vast majority), then that’s one thing. They’re not culpable, and whoever taught them about behavior at Mass is. Once they learn these things, they are responsible, and if they blow them off, then I think it’s clear that that isn’t a Catholic attitude. It’s placing private judgment and preference above the Church, which is a quite Protestant, “pick and choose” outlook, and needs to be pointed out and corrected, with all due gentleness and understanding. And to do so is certainly a loving action, even if some may be offended and get their feelings hurt.
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Photo credit: Photo by B Hartford J Strong (11-30-08) [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license]
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Summary: There is a controversy about the “Our Father” posture at Catholic Masses. Are we supposed to hold hands or raise our hands? The Church rubrics say no. So do I.
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