Sunday Gospel Comment
Alberic Jacovone OSB
YEAR C SIXTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - 22.7.07 Gn 18,1-10; Col 1,24-28; Lk 10,38-42 A time to be busy and a time to just sit Martha
and Mary Today’s
Gospel invited us to observe, assess, compare and contrast the attitude of two
women: one busy in ‘ministering’ to the Lord, the other ‘wasting’ her
time at the Lord’s feet. Both are
worthwhile and both highlight the importance of God’s visitation in our life.
As we read, we are invited to make ours Jesus’ gentle reproach, lest
‘we fret and worry about ‘doing’ when ‘only one thing’ matters,
to sit in silence and savour the sweetness of the Lord.
In the last two weeks people have commented on Pope Benedict’s decision
to allow disaffected traditional Catholics to celebrate Mass in Latin language.
Today,
I wish to offer my own comments, about the need of actively participating in
‘ministry’ (Martha) and also long for silence and reverence when the Lord
comes to visit us in the Eucharist (Mary).
It seems to me that the reaction to The Pope’s decision to re-allow the
use of Latin Mass comes from a longing for reconciliation of two sides: Modern
and Latin Mass people, so that we may all achieve intimacy with our Eucharistic
Lord. In this task, one group tries
to realise union through active participation and involvement in ministry, the
other feels that ‘Latin Mass’ has a strong sense of mystery, sacredness and
silence, that we cannot afford to lose, when it comes to intense, personal
participation in the Lord’s presence. It
seems to me that as long as everyone is moved by a longing for intimacy with
God, then both sides will come to appreciate even more the need for active,
personal, intimate participation, and at the same time the need to enjoy the
magic which created over the centuries by the genius of artists, musicians,
painters…. Should
we give Mel Gibson a fair go? We
know that Mel is a passionate Latin Mass attainder: he is no dull dreamer of
times past; he is a proud Australian, a good Christian and outstanding artist.
He is also vibrant and young. So,
I ask myself, what makes him tick, from what mind-set his is coming from, and
could he inspire the youth of today? It’s
vital that we understand who are the ‘Latin Mass people’, and on the
contrary, what are the promoters of Vernacular people trying to achieve?
As a Benedictine, I should be proud of the Latin Mass.
I have foolishly boasted for years about the splendid liturgies in our
monasteries: there was beauty in Gregorian chant, exactness in rubrics,
impeccable bows and processions…. and besides, our Monasteries were crowded,
when I joined. But
after years of ministry, I have also leaned to own a sobering thought: Adolf
Hitler was the greatest ‘alumnus’ formed at a great Monastery in Germany:
attending the liturgy of the monastery his genius perceived and learned to act
on principles of obeying and celebrating social events with power, solemnity and
spectacle. However, with his genius
he literally seduced the most learned and advanced Country of Europe into a
horrendous holocaust and millions died through World War II.
Whether
we like it or not the Tridentine Mass sealed forever the split of mind-set
between Counter Reformation and Protestant Reformation: Where the Reformers
angrily adopted a style of worship based on ‘Scripture alone’ and thus,
systematically destroyed and expelled from churches all: altars, sacraments,
icons, statues, paintings and stained glass works - treating these as idols.
The Catholic nations got entrenched in the conviction that the creativity
of artists inspires our act of worship with poetics, melody, beauty, wonder,
harmony, which lifts us into the mystery of God’s union.
The years from 1525 to 1575 were crucial in the split between North and
South of Europe. The North centred
in the pulpit its Christian worship, the South adopted the Latin Mass. _____________________________________ |
