Hvordan skal man best be i messen?
Fr Ray Blake er en engelsk preste-blogger jeg leser forholdsvis regelmessig, og han hadde nylig et innlegg der han skriver om hva messen helst skal brukes til, sett fra lekfolkets perspektiv; be til Gud eller lytte til presten? Det må selvsagt være begge deler, men det ser ut til de troendes egen (aktive) bønneaktivitet i (og før og etter) messen har blitt tonet ned en hel del de sist årene. Fr Blake skriver bl.a.:
Most people don’t know how to pray the Mass, and it is possibly more difficult when Mass is in the vernacular. The problem is they don’t know whether they should listen to what the priest is saying, or pray along with him, or allow his prayers to trigger their own, or what. It is made more difficult when the priest faces people, even if he is addressing God he appears to be really speaking to them.
Rightly some have suggested the Mass or at least the Eucharist Prayer is in crisis, as the Pope did in «Spirit of the Liturgy». One of the reasons for boredom at Mass, and then lapsation, is simply that people don’t know what to do at Mass. If anything, the liturgical reforms have deadened the people’s understanding of their priestly, intercessory, role at Mass.
The ancient custom of placing the dyptichs of the living and the dead on the altar during Mass might give us clue about what we should be doing during Mass. The idea is reflected in the Roman Canon where the living; the Pope, the Bishop the faithful are prayed for before the consecration, after the consecration, which acts as hinge, the faithful departed are prayed for. …
So, an idea for November, why not prepare an extensive list list of the dead (and the living too) to intercede for during the Eucharist Prayer: include relatives, friends, enemies too, ancestors, benefactors, notorious criminals, people in the news, war dead, forgotten dead and then intercede for them when the priest prays for the dead formally after the the consecration. Before it intercede for the living, there should be lots to pray for, our hearts are supposed be huge with charity at Mass. …