I understand the frustration that usually lies behind it. It can mean a variety of things though. It can mean I am not being told THE truth. I can mean I am not being entertained. It can mean I am being challenged and I don't like it. It can mean I am being spiritually malnourished. It can mean I am getting real food when I want junk food and candy.
This post has a narrow intended audience. I t is written for Catholics. One might be able to extrapolate parts for one's own church, but I am aiming at Catholics.
You are being fed...maybe
I want to start with a very basic premise. If you are a Catholic in a state of grace, you are being fed every time you do go to Mass. The primary feeding does not come in the form of well-executed liturgy, nor truth filled preaching, nor in great music necessarily. These are the work of man. The primary feeding comes from what Jesus Christ offers in the giving of His Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist. In John 6:55, Jesus proclaims, "For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." If one is in a state of grace, one does not leave the Catholic Church without being fed what is the real food we need...maybe.
Maybe? Yes. Maybe. Every sacrament has what is called form and matter. The form are the words used and the matter are the things used. To change the form or matter invalidates the sacrament. For example, the priest changes the words of the Institution Narrative of the Eucharistic Prayer changes the form of the Mass and can invalidate the sacrament. In other words, you do not receive the Body of Christ; you receive bread. The true feeding you need is not done. If something other than unleavened wheat bread (in the Roman Rite) is used, it invalidates the sacrament. The addition of honey, other grains, and leaven are prohibited in the Latin Rite. Such abuses should be reported immediately to the Diocesan Bishop as Catholics who are free to receive the Eucharist to have a right to the Eucharist. Clerics do not possess the authority to change either the form or matter of any sacrament. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal makes this clear in section 24, " However, the Priest will remember that he is the servant of the Sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass."
If the form and matter is properly done, even if the priest is not a holy man, then one is fed at Mass. One is fed even of the homily is horrible. One is fed even if the music is wretched. One is fed even if the priest goes 100 MPH. In the end, the Sacraments is the work of Christ and His Church. The real food needed comes from Christ. Believe me, though, I am not letting those, clergy and laity, off the hook for poor execution of their roles within the Mass. The Mass is the worship of God. When Mass becomes the worship of man, we are going to have the problems expressed by 'I am not being fed."
Right Recipe...Right Ingredients
I like to cook. I know you can have all the right ingredients and still have an inedible meal. You have to follow the recipe. The type of ingredients matter. Say a recipe calls for strawberries and you use rotten strawberries, you have used what the recipe called for, but have managed to ruin the dish all the same. The same goes for how we worship. I can have correct form and matter; that guarantees the Eucharist to be sure. But our worship of God should be a like quality. How we worship should be as best a reflection of the reality of the Real Presence.
After correct form and matter, we should have correct orientation. The Mass is all about the worship of God. We come first and foremost to give thanks to God. The presence of God at Mass is not incidental: it is primary. I wonder how many times I hear, "I am not being fed" is actually a belief that I am not coming into the presence of God. It can be a bemoaning of a loss of transcendence. Though, the transcendent God IS present in many ways at Mass (The Word, the Eucharistic Species, The People of God), it can be obscured by a misfocus or lack of focus. The presence can be obscured by too much a focus on the people. The focus can be obscured by a lackadaisical mannerism or a 'going-through-the-motions' mentality where I am merely putting in my time...and as little time as I can get away with giving.
While the apex of the Mass is and always will be the Eucharist, the other ingredients are to be of a quality that befits the Eucharist. The Church should connote an entrance into the presence of God. It should be more than just a gathering space akin to an auditorium where we are only silent once the play has begun.
In entering into a Catholic Church, because of our belief in what the Blessed Sacrament is, there should be an acknowledgement and etiquette about how we respond and act. When the building focuses too much on the people, it loses that sense of transcendence and becomes mundane and commonplace. The sanctuary of the Church should be seen as the center of the throne room and not the stage for the play.
How the priest does the Mass and preaches matters. If it did not, seminary training would be much lesser. Because he must avoid being the center of attention (which is difficult) and seeing himself as a showman trying to sell the performance, he must remember he sets the tone for worship. If he goes through the motions or rushes through it, he tells the people what he thinks is or is not going on. The Church is specific in its rubrics (ways of doing things) and prayers in telling the priest what is expected and what the people who have come to the Eucharist have a right to.
The homily does matter. For better or worse, it is the principle point where the lay faithful are given an explication of the truths of the faith and reason to worship. The homily cannot be divorced from Catholic teaching. For better or worse, the homily exposes the spirituality and faith of the priest. It can do grave damage if it becomes a place where he departs from the teachings of the Church. If it shows depth and faith, it encourages the faithful to seek the same. No cleric who has been given charge of this task can believe it a throw-away task; it was through His proclamation of the Gospel that Christ first made known the will of the Father. We clerics must take the same seriousness and depth in preaching and teaching that Our Lord did. We are obligated to the truth. We can poison the meal with deceit.
In as far as music goes, it does matter for two reasons. First, music should facilitate our worship of God. Too often, the lyrics point not to God but to just how special we think we are. Sometimes the music can be so like the secular music that there is no difference between that and what is heard on the radio. Recall, what is on the radio is meant to entertain. Second, the purpose of sacred music isn't to entertain..it is to offer worship to God. I am not at Mass to have things speak to me primarily...no, I am there at Mass to speak to God. If the focus is off, then one will leave empty. It is like the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. The Pharisee came to tell God how great he was, the publican came to rely on how great God is. Only one walked out justified. (Luke 18:9-14)
All this said, it is still possible for a person to feel like they are not fed even though all the other ingredients are there. What about them? Let's just say you can't walk into a 4 star restaurant and want a Big Mac.
Focus, Focus, Focus
Throughout all of history, there has always been those who want to be entertained. The focus is on them. Mass must speak to their desires and proclivities. It becomes style over substance. My disposition in coming in can be like bringing a vial of poison into the meal with me; taking that poison as a aperitif before the meal. It is especially loathsome when a priest does this. Remember, we priests are to be the servants of the Liturgy, not its master.
When the focus is primarily what I get out of Mass, then prepare to starve. The focus is not where it needs to be. The focus is to be on God. The focus is God as He is, not as I want Him to be. It is not the job of the Church to change itself to worship the God I want; it is the job of the Church to call us into worship of the God who is. Were the congregation and the clergy to focus on this reality, were all aspects of the Mass to point to this reality, then I believe people would leave knowing they have been 'fed'. For the Mass is always about the glorification of God and the sanctification of His people. We get what we get as God's part in this exchange. It is an exchange. If we leave our part out, then we will leave Mass incomplete. That, my friends, accounts much of the time for 'not being fed.'
The focus matters. The focus matters for the priest. The focus matters for the musicians and cantors. The focus matters for the lectors, servers, and other persons assisting in Mass. The focus matters for every single of the lay faithful. We should be assisting each other in maintaining that focus so the worship and glorification of God DOES take place and the glorification of HIs people DOES take place. There will be times where the focus is bit harder, especially when toddlers are out of sorts (I am a big believer that they stay as the only way to train appropriate behavior is to follow through...and every parent has been there). There will be times when the music is off or the preaching is off. Nobody bats 1.000. Nonetheless each of us is to use the grace of God to maintain that focus.
Some find this easier to do in the Ordinary Form and some in the Extraordinary Form. I am not going to get in the weeds on this one, but only to say that both are recognized by the Church as legitimate. Since it was the Apostles, specifically Peter and his successors, that were given the Keys to the Kingdom, I should very careful in attempting to commandeer that authority to suit my own proclivities. Both have rubrics and prayers that are not to be adjusted by the priest. Both rituals should be adhered to with all due diligence. Focus matters. Obedience matters.
The only time I would recommend fleeing a Church is if the priest is changing form and matter in such a way as to invalidate the Mass and prohibit the faithful in a state of grace from reception of the Blessed Sacrament. If that is happening, then indeed, the person is not being fed. For the true food and drink Christ offers isn't splendid music, superb preaching, or such..it is and always will be His Body and Blood.
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