To all the Doves
Modesty? Few seem to know the word.
The
way people dress, and the way people act, are but two reasons why I
stopped attending the Latin Rite Catholic Church. Just to clarify any
confusion, The Roman Catholic Church consists of many different Rites.
Of the Western Rites, but the Latin Rites is the largest, The Pope, and
the Vatican are the heart of the Latin Rite. The Vatican and the Latin
Rite overshadow the Eastern Rites. To the best of my understanding, all
the Eastern Rites are “Orthodox”, but do recognize The Pope. Certainly
there is a concern in the Eastern Rites about the “Latinization”
of the Eastern Rites, and in particular, the concern has touched the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and a group of Bishops have formally
split from Rome. To put this in context, prior to Vatican II, The
Vatican had very little interaction with the Eastern Rites.
Getting
to the point of the story, a few years back I was attending a Sunday
Mass, and between the people chattering, two teenage girls a few rows
ahead drinking pop, chewing gum, and holding hands was just too much for
me. Even going back 30 years, I had issues with the lack of reverence,
and the focus on community as opposed to worship. In the past, I used
to go to the church when it was empty: at least it was quiet.
In
the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the focus is clearly
on worship. The term “Mass” is not used: we celebrate the Divine
Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Generally speaking, those attending the
service are dressed up: for a man to not be wearing a suit and tie
would be the exception. Women are dressed up as well. A good analogy
would be people dressing as if they were going to a marriage ceremony.
No one is chatting, there is no shaking hands, there is no socializing:
The Divine Liturgy is focused solely on The Worship of God, and there
is a very clear emphasis on The Holy Trinity.
I
make no judgements, I just observe. What I see in the Latin Rite is a
celebration of community first, and the Worship of God second. In the
Ukrainian Church I see the Worship of God first, and community in the
hall next to the church. Just as an aside, I do not speak Ukrainian, only the older parishioners do, and the Divine Liturgy is celebrated in English.
Perhaps
the day is coming where the Eastern Catholic Rites will merge back in
to their true Orthodox counterparts? That is my guess.
We are all waiting for Christ’s return.
Robert G.
http://apostolictradition.org —>
I
invite you to make this empty forum your own. It is sadly lacking when
it comes to Reformed Theology, and meaningful discussions.