Upon Return To My Parish After The Traditional Latin Mass

Last Sunday, for the 1st time in 42 years, when I attended the Traditional Latin Mass, I noticed that there was grand reverence, participation is the sung phrases of Worship, an Invitation to Silence & Contemplation during the Offertory & Consecration, & kneeling In Reverence in receiving Christ's Body+One Canon or Eucharistic Prayer. I felt Spiritually-Fulfilled, for the 1st Time in a long time:

So, I went back to Mass(Novus Ordo) at St. Thomas Apostle-Woodhaven, Queens, NY, here in the outer 4 Boroughs of NYC, in the Diocese of Brooklyn. I was Ushering at the 11:00AM Mass(Yes, I'm a Member of The Hospitality Ministry, who guides one to a seat & shoves a Collection basket under one's nose & hands out Parish Bullitens after Mass);

I'm going to admit this after all these years of the Novus Ordo Mass, with Altar turned around to face the people, that despite having rarely if ever missing Mass, it felt at times as if it was so-unfulfilling. Something was missing;

I once heard a learned Man, a Teacher who is a Past Grand Knight of Msgr Sherman Council-Knights of Columbus #5103 in East Glendale, mention about the lack of The Tabernacle at the Center of The Altar, it being the place where the Hosts changed into The Body Of Christ, were kept & revered as His Body. The Tabernacle in some churches, is kept to the right or left side of the Altar, & in some cases, in a Eucharistic Adoration Room behind the Altar, where a reconciliation room(For The Sacrament Of Penance) is located. According to this gentleman, the lack of Reverence for the Church, is due to this, as well as a lack of true instruction in the tenets of the Faith, are systemic. With the Elimination of The Sacred Language of Latin & the Singing of Insipid Songs, as well as the Priest Facing The People, as if he was only a Group Leader, it led to a loss of the Sense Of Sacredness, as well as causing the Faithful not to participation in this Liturgy. Some saw this as Very-Protestant, & that same Past Grand Knight, on the Official Business of promoting the Council Blood Bank, was at a Lutheran Liturgy, which looked & felt like a Novus Ordo Mass, with only the Our Father, being prayed before the Consecration & not after the Consecration, as we Catholics & the Anglicans do. He mentioned that at his local Parish, that there's a Backyard, on Parish Property, which is the perfect place for teens to "Get It On" & get to know each other in the Biblical Sense of Eve "Knowing" Adam, complete with Condoms found in the yard;

In the Traditional Mass, which was the way I remembered it, there was only the Collect, Epistle, Gradual & Gospel. In the Novus Ordo, ala Anglican & Lutheran Liturgies, it's the Collect, Old Testament Reading, Psalm, Epistle(New Testament), Alleluia & Gospel. What I also remember is the Reading of Announcements before the Homily, which was the case at the TLM. Announcements are now made at the end of the Mass, before the Final Blessing, as they are in Anglican & Lutheran Liturgies;

In The Offertory of TLM, the Host(Latin Hostia or Victim) & The Wine are Offered by The Priest, as he is an Alter Christus, making an Offering to The Father. The Host represents The Unspotted Lamb in this Offering. Abel, son of Adam & Eve, sacrificed a Perfect Lamb to God, whereas Cain, his brother, only offered his earthen fruits to God, which was not pleasing to God;

But, in the Current Prayers of The Offertory in Novus Ordo In Vernacular-Western, the Host & Wine are offered as if they're Cain's Gifts from The People To God. It's as if The Priest & People are no different from each other, with only the priest wearing his vestments. Laymen & Women take the Gifts of Bread & Wine to the Priest;

What is really the case here is that there's little differentiation between Priest & People, as Luther believed that Priests(Sacred Ministers) are only representatives of the People & not an "Alter Christus", offering a Sacrifice;

Instead of Orienting toward God In Sacrifice, it's as if the Orienting is toward the people in the pews & not the People being led to The Lord In Homage & Worship The ONLY thing keeping the Novus Ordo from being a Protestant Service, is our belief in Transubstantiation, that is the Change of The Bread & Wine into Christ's Body & Blood, but, even that Doctrine, is NOT emphasized in current religion texts, which often follow the errors of the Notorious Dutch Catechism of 1966, which doesn't really teach Church Dogma;

The Beauty of the TLM, is in the Moments of Silence as the Priest is Offering the Gifts of The Host & Chalice Of Wine, representing Christ's Body & Blood, as a Sacrifice in the Offertory, & in the Consecration, when The Victim & His Blood are changed from Bread & Wine into the Body & Blood of Christ, under the Appearance of Bread & Wine. The Gregorian Chant does Homage to this Sacrifice;

The Traditional Latin Mass(TLM)brings about this Awe. It really isn't possible with the current "Lutheranized-Anglicanized" Mass of ours. It has been said that too much talking brings about distraction. I shall give an example in Layman's Terms, in regards to my favorite Sport, Baseball;

Over 20 Years ago, it was Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. When the NY Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox, 6-5, NBC Sports let the final pictures speak for themselves, without need for wordy commentary from a Lead Baseball Analyst;

Several Years Later, on FOX, there had to be verbose analysis of just what everybody saw, from somebody called "The Master Of The Obvious Observation", who commented that when someone homered in Game 4 of the '04 World Series, he grated nerves by stating that "One Thing About Ground Balls, they don't go out of the Ball Park"(Yes Tim, I had to get that in here, as this is usually a Baseball Blog);

So, I have decided that on the basis with the tranquility of the TLM, as compared with the Novus Ordo Mass(NOM), I will make the TLM a part of my regular schedule(1 Sunday Per Month), as it takes Silence for God To Speak to me, allowing me to contemplate His Plan for Me. Sheer Verbiage doesn't cut it for me;

Pax Vobiscum;

Michael