Voice of the Faithful claims to represent all “streams” within the Catholic Church—liberal, conservative, moderate (never mind that what’s important orthodox or heterodox). So why does its proposed Lenten liturgy look like a liberal liturgist’s dream and a conservative liturgist’s nightmare? You have a strange set of petitions that don’t such much like petitions—
- For those who struggle brokenhearted to have their voices heard in the Church they love, a Church which cannot hear, will not hear, we pray to the Lord. (They may as well also accuse God: “The Church (woman?) you gave us, Lord.”)
—interspersed with rhetorical questions for the congregation. The gathering rite consists of anointing with holy oil “upon entering the Church or ritual space.” Ritual space sounds suspiciously like a liberal term. But there must be something for “conservatives” in here. Let’s see, Dan Schutte, Marty Haugen: Nope. Scripted pseudo-homily at beginning of Mass: Nope. Preparation of gifts that include “gifts” that symbolize “the works of Voice of the Faithful this past year”: How does one symbolize broken communion and dissent? And of course, so predictable, it’s almost an emblem of liberal liturgy: liturgical dance.
You think I’m making this stuff up, but I’m not.
