THE UNION OF THE HOLY SACRIFICE

Here’s how this week’s arts and culture column begins:

Back in the mid-90s, a newly-minted Catholic convert, I often attended daily noon Mass at St. Basil’s in Koreatown. I found it thrilling—I still do—that the Mass on any given day was the same everywhere, subject neither to the whim of the priest, the sensibilities of the worshipers, or the free-spirit caprice of, say, a parish council.

Beforehand, an older lady led us in the Angelus, followed by the Morning Offering that begins: “Oh Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.”

I’ve thought of that prayer a lot lately. On one end of the spectrum is the “Mass” I recently attended that featured a large likeness of the Buddha, “hymns” by Leonard Cohen, and the Gospel read by a woman. 

The Trinitarian God, maker of all things visible and invisible, already includes everybody and everything. To purport to be more inclusive than Christ by individualizing the Mass only de-sacramentalizes the Eucharist.

On the other end of the spectrum is the crowd who wants to return the Mass to pre-Vatican II times and finds a non-Latin Mass sub-par.  

READ THE WHOLE PIECE HERE.