Excerpts from:
“Why Mass is cheapened when human elements like socializing are emphasized”
by Peter Kwasniewski
March 29, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – “The liturgy of the Church has for its primary aim to honor and glorify God, and … to sanctify our souls, leading us to an ever deeper intimacy with Jesus Christ …”
“It is good and fitting for us to pray to God as a people and to be conscious of our neighbors as fellow citizens of the household of God. ”
“…we must make sure that our grasp of the meaning of community is sufficiently in tune with the real nature of the Church.”
“… Reverence, solemnity, and majesty belong to worship precisely because it is no mere human gathering, but a momentary opening up of our world to the life and grace of the heavenly Jerusalem …. It is not just “our” worship, the action of this particular local community; it always has a cosmic, universal, transtemporal dimension to it.”
“The liturgy in itself is not—and will only be cheapened if it becomes—a gathering for waving to your neighbor, exchanging news, shaking hands, “dialoguing” with an improvisatory priest, or the like. This sort of thing may have its rightful place before and after Mass and outside of the place of worship, but it is certainly not of the essence of the thing, and more often than not it is a serious impediment to participating in the mysteries of the liturgy….”
“The experience of community proper to the liturgy is an experience of common adoration, all faces, all hearts turned towards the sanctuary, … when we most forget ourselves and our neighbors in our intense concentration on the Mass….”
“The words one speaks should be a response to something one has had opportunity to hear in the silence of the soul; the songs one sings should enrich and instruct rather than fill up gaps in time or give one ‘something to do.’”
“… there should be much space for silence, for meditative reflection… it would be an easy and vast improvement if we could have a quiet church before Mass, a holy stillness during the Canon, and an atmosphere of peace after Mass for those who wish to linger in their thanksgiving (with the celebrant setting the example). Sitting still for five minutes with one’s mind on God requires and fosters more spiritual maturity than singing for an hour.”
I have to keep reminding myself that when I interrupt someone at prayer, either by the noise I make or by speaking to the person praying, that I am also — at the very same time — interrupting the Person with Whom the pray-er is engaged.