To the editor:
I’ve seen many articles on Pope Francis since his election speculating that he’ll change Catholic doctrine.
Are there changes I’d like to see? Return tabernacles, candles and the crucifix to the altar and turn it around so the priest is leading us to the Lord, who is the real focal point of the Mass; require Eucharistic Ministers to come up from the congregation to receive communion and not stand around the priest; say the Confiteor before Mass and the "Lord Have Mercy" secondary; bring back altar rails and communion on the tongue so we can kneel to receive Our Lord — in the hand was first conceived by 17th century Calvinists; peoples’ responses in Latin as seen in Mass on EWTN; require religious to return to the habit to be a visible public witness to their vocation.
I once heard that the Mass should be a "seamless worship of God." That sounds like the Latin Mass or the Eternal Mass as it’s been said. It should pertain to the Novus Ordo also which would do away with the diversions that we experience. I’m not a cradle Catholic who longs for the good old days. I’m a convert who longs for a greater sense of the sacred. The late Father Richard John Neuhaus, who had been a Lutheran pastor once said, "I didn’t become a Catholic to still worship like a Protestant." Amen, Father, Amen.
Gail Bryant
Rochester
