False dichotomy

Much as I respect Peter Jeffery's work on the inconsistencies of Liturgiam authenticam, I find his August 17 article, "Widening Our Hearts," to be flawed by false dichotomies. He is clearly trying to avoid caricaturing either version of the Roman Mass. Yet I believe that our choice is not between sacrament or word, contemplative or communal, transcendence or relevance, the Burning Bush or the Sermon on the Mount.

Both versions contain word and sacrament, but in the Tridentine Mass, to whom is the word addressed if it is read sotto voce by the priest? And reducing the power of the sacrament to a viewing of the host and the chalice after transubstantiation is not a very effective encounter with either.

Of course, in the post-Vatican II rite, bad reading can hide the challenge of the vernacular word. And a priest whose proclamation of the Eucharistic prayer is not filled with "wonder, love, and praise" can diminish the awesome experience of uniting us with Christ's self-offering.

Yet there are places in this country where the synthesis of old-rite elements within the celebration of the post-Vatican II Mass has been very successful. Sunday Mass at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago and at St. James Cathedral in Seattle are services filled with incense, bells, chant, and a real reverence for the sacrament. The word is proclaimed with power by excellent readers, and the community participates dynamically in word, song, and gesture.

The real dichotomy at work here is between "presbyturgy" and "liturgy." Is the Eucharist in the Roman rite going to be the "work of the priest" or the "work of the people"?

MICHAEL H. MARCHAL

Cincinnati, Ohio

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