The modern Mass isn't working out for the Catholic Church.

In fact it's a
dismal failure. The church, especially in america, has tried to cater to young
people and it's backfired big time because they've watered down the faith,
and a watered down faith is even less attractive than no faith at all. I believe
the Church needs to inspire people again, and the way to do that is to go
back to its roots in its traditions. Bring back the Latin mass. Every parish
should start having optional latin classes for people who wanna participate in
the Latin Mass, and have classes teaching young people about that Mass as
well as Mass and the sacraments in general.
I believe young people long for the truth deep down, even if they don't
know it or aren't aware of that longing, they'll be aware of it once they're
presented with the truth. The difference between the modern form of the
Mass and the traditional form is that the former is passive whereas the latter
is active. The latin Mass is completely focused on worshipping God, not on
who else is at Mass, whereas the modern form is focused on the choir, priest,
fellow parishioners, and seemingly everything but God.
No wonder everyone's checking their watches just waiting for it to be over.
There's no depth. With Mass, as with most things in life, what you get out of
it is directly proportional to what you put into it. The problem is that the
modern Mass doesn't require us to put anything into it, we just have to sit
there and watch it happen, letting the priest and choir do all the work. The
latin Mass requires us to be active and put our mind, body, and spirit into
worshipping God.
Despite what progressive Catholics and liberals will tell you, I believe bringing
back our traditions will bring young people back to the faith. As it is, we have
fewer young people at Mass than ever before and fewer who actually identify
as Catholic. This is the fault of parents and the Church as much as it's their
fault. Fewer still are the number of young Catholics who actually know their
faith and practice it. It's time for a renaissance within the Catholic Church,
and it requires leadership both from the laypeople and from the Church
hierarchy.
We need to return to devotion and the sacraments the way devout Muslims
still follow their ancient traditions and are devoted to the practice and
teachings of their faith.
But we can only make these changes successfully if we reach out to
young people, and not just Catholics, but all young people in our lives, and at
least attempt to encourage them to become active in their Church and to
start partaking in the sacraments. They need guidance and good examples,
and it's time their parents, church leaders, and priests give them that.

post replyWhy the Catholic Church needs a renaissance

from trhaynes via /r/Catholic/ sent 3 hours ago

I really don't want to comment here, for fear of drawing more attention to an
issue that I think is really a non-issue. Plus, you seem to like writing long
comments, which I am unlikely to have the time to reply to... But, this is
reddit, and I cannot stop myself!!
With Mass, as with most things in life, what you get out of it is directly
proportional to what you put into it. The problem is that the modern Mass
doesn't require us to put anything into it, we just have to sit there and watch
it happen, letting the priest and choir do all the work. The latin Mass requires
us to be active and put our mind, body, and spirit into worshiping God.
What is it about latin that "requires" the congregation to be active?
I get deeply absorbed in the Novus Ordo, and experience a high degree of
reverence and awe.
Talking to older priests, they tell me that the latin mass isn't a panacea. In the
old days, there were plenty of priests who rushed their way through it, got it
done in 20 minutes, with most of the devoted people in the pews praying the
rosary during mass because they couldn't understand what was going on due
to the language barrier.
I'm all for mass in the vernacular. I doubt I would have converted if I'd had to
climb the Wall Of Latin, and I'm sure there lots of others in the same boat (I
ended up teaching RCIA for 15 years, so I have some first hand experience in
what holds people back from committing. Language barrier would be #1.)
But, you are right when you say "With Mass, as with most things in life, what
you get out of it is directly proportional to what you put into it." People are
fully capable of putting their devotion into the Novus Order, just as they are
of putting it into the Tridentine.
contextfull comments (1)reportmark unreadreply

cantenucci04[S] 1 point 21 minutes ago

I disagree that this is a non-issue obviously since I wrote about it. I think it's a
crucial issue for the Church and for the youth of this country. The Mass is the
central aspect of Catholicism, particularly the Eucharist, which is the center
of the Mass. Therefore if Catholics aren't attending it, and the few who do
aren't engaged or participating while there, that's a huge problem and
reflects a larger and more widespread loss of faith within the Catholic Church.
I go to the Latin Mass every week, after going to the regular Mass for years.
The differences are like day and night. The Latin Mass requires you to be
active in a number of ways. First, they hand out booklets before Mass so that
you can follow every step and see the translation from Latin to English since
most people don't know Latin. Once Mass starts there are many times when
you have to kneel, stand up, sit down, etc, based on what the priest does, so
you really have to be engaged and paying attention.
The only parts that are done in English are the reading of the Gospel and the
homily, so one has to follow the booklet and really participate, otherwise
there's no point in being there. That makes it very different from the regular
Mass, where you can just listen to the music and sit through the whole thing
without having to do anything.
I'm not saying we need to do away with the regular Mass or that nobody
should go to it, I'm saying we should make the Latin Mass a part of the

weekly Mass schedule again as it was before the 2nd Vatican Council. That
way people have the option of going to it if they want, and should be
encouraged by the priests to do so.
I'm not saying the Latin Mass will cure all of the problems within the Catholic
Church, but it's a start. I find that it brings me closer to God because it's
focused on God rather than singing or my fellow parishioners. The Gregorian
chant alone does that, as does the beautiful rituals, the kneeling while
receiving the Eucharist, and the overall reverence of the Mass.
Of course it helps to actually have a priest who celebrates this Mass with
reverence and awe, and fortunately we do at my parish.
Maybe a compromise we could have would be to take some of the things in
the Latin mass and transfer them to the regular Mass, while keeping the
vernacular, that way we could try to get the best of both worlds.
We could get rid of some of the modern songs and replace them with
gregorian chant, and have people kneeling at communion, which is much
more appropriate, it actually recognizes that we're receiving the body and
blood of Jesus Himself, as opposed to just waiting in line like we're at a fast
food restaurant. It brings reverence back to the Mass, which is much needed.
I agree that people are capable of putting their devotion into the regular
Mass, but they're much less likely to because it's so boring and routine to
them. There's no sense of awe or reverence. The average Catholic needs to
be uplifted and inspired at Mass, and I believe many of the elements of the
Latin Mass do that, whereas the modern Mass doesn't.
In any Case, clearly something needs to change, cause every week I'm
usually the only young person at Mass, and when I go to the regular Mass,
the vast majority of people aren't even paying attention and look like they
wanna get out asap. That's why I say the Church needs a renaissance. I
respect your opinion but I just have a different perspective on this.