Recently in this blog an article appeared called “The Faithful Are NOT To Use the Orans Posture During the Our Father” . The article brought up a favorite whipping boy of the Radical, Reactionary Traditionalists, namely the positioning of hands by the laity during the “Our Father”. The subject is near the top of every angry tirade against the Novus Ordo Mass that one finds online. Amazingly enough, the response on Catholic365.com on this site and on Facebook drew nearly the same number of responses…. very unusual since on most articles the Facebook side outweighs the website by at least 100 to 1 (and usually much more). This shows that there are strong feelings on both sides of the controversy.

The “spirit of Vatican II”

As usual, in many responses all the “ills plaguing the Church today” are blamed on the Church Council that occurred in the early to mid-1960’s that generally is referred as “Vatican II”. The response cited below pretty much summarizes the standard

“When the Church was clear and people understood what they were supposed to do at Mass, regular Church attendance was over 75% of professed Catholics in the United States. It has declined to less than 20% since the so-called "spirit of Vatican II" opened up everything to change and question. They destroyed the altars, turned the priests around to face the people, introduced lay extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, altar girls, folk songs and protestant hymns, and basically tried to "modernize" and "protestantize." Questioning if people should hold up their hands may seem like a quibble, but it's like any time there are 2 opposing schools of thought on a matter, small issues become symbolic of the greater struggle.”

Not the Culprit You’re Looking For (with apologies to George Lucas)

To place blame for the statistics cited above on the reforms of Vatican II or even the additional reforms brought about in the years since then is missing the mark. It’s not that there isn’t enough impersonalizing ritual and mystery in the Church today. It’s not a matter of liturgy. It’s a matter of relationship. I know that is a dirty word in the minds of some people, but relationship with us is what God has wanted all along. Study the Scriptures and you’ll find God is always seeking that “I shall be their God and they shall be my people”. In Matthew 7, the Lord tells the religious people who thought they were making it to heaven based on their religious motions they went through “Depart from Me, you workers in iniquity, I never KNEW you.” The Greek word translated “knew” is “gino¯sko¯” and it carries with it the idea of “absolute knowledge” or “intimacy”. In short, they had no personal relationship with the Lord. To think that God wants ritual and formality in lieu of relationship goes against everything the Scriptures tell us.

It’s also a matter of catechesis… a nice theological term for “education”. People haven’t been taught why being a Catholic is important… why it isn’t just one option among many. They also haven’t been properly taught the full meaning of the Real Presence in the Eucharist. What is happening when the priest holds up the Host and the Chalice? Why is it important and why isn’t it available anywhere else? Most of all why our Faith is a biblically sound faith. What are the Scripture roots of what we believe? Although we believe in a “three-legged stool” of determining sound doctrine, it is still rooted and grounded in the Bible. The Bible is what the Protestants and even the cults are approaching people with, seeking to prove Catholicism is NOT biblical. If our people are not equipped to know what they believe and why they believe it, they are easy prey for deceivers of every stripe. We do a good job instructing converts, but not of instructing and equipping the cradle Catholics.

Rubrics Alone are Not Enough

All of the above is not meant to degrade the importance of the rubrics. Saint Paul told the Corinthians that all things should be done “decently and in order”. A couple of the objections that some raise are quite valid, such as people wandering around the Church during the Sign of Peace. There is still a need for dignity and decorum in maintaining a sense of reverence in the Mass.

But as Saint Paul also told the Corinthians, “the letter kills, but the Spirit brings life.” People who have a real relationship with God, through Christ Jesus, have an innate desire to worship and express their joy. I’m reminded of King David as he was leading the procession bringing the Ark of the Covenant back from Obed-Edom’s house to Jerusalem. He worshipped God and was so caught up in his praise that “he danced before the Lord with all his might”. His wife Michal, the daughter of Saul he had married, saw him and mocked him and degraded his joy in the Lord. 2 Samuel 6:16 tells us:

“As Yahweh’s ark came into David’s city, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out through the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before Yahweh; and she despised him in her heart.”

I’m afraid that same spirit inhabits the hearts of those seeing husbands and wives and families holding hands during the Our Father with their hands slightly raised. They see it as “imitating the priest” rather than the valid form of worship shown throughout Scripture and the history of the Church as well. We are commanded to “lift up holy hands” … a command not issued to priests only but to all of God’s people. “Joy” is not a Protestant word… it’s a biblical one.

Personally, I’d rather be a David than that Michal. This Michael worships the Lord with my family not only through reverence in the sanctity of the Mass but day in and day out outside the walls of Saint Joseph’s Church. Then we bring that “sacrifice of praise” by which we live our lives “into the house of the Lord”.