I remember attending funeral Masses when I was little. I was always in awe of the somber, black vestments and the dignity of the Mass. It felt appropriate for the event. These days, white is the new black and funeral Masses are celebrated with white vestments to show the new life the decedent is facing with the onset of his/her eternity. I suppose that is a way to look at it but I always felt that black was a reminder to the people attending a funeral that life here on earth was temporary. Perhaps that is why people are often peeved when you say you are praying their loved one gets to Heaven as soon as possible. White takes the edge off our sinful mortality and might cause people to forget how important prayer is for our dearly departed.
Now, the new purple for Good Friday is red. It was off putting to me to see all the priests and altar boys attired in their red vestments. Even the crucifix was covered in red cloth. I'm sure there is a liturgical reason for this but, again, it takes away the somberness and reminders of the day.
Our parish also used a plain cross for the veneration. Why not a crucifix with a corpus? Isn't it more of a reminder of Good Friday to reverence a crucifix with the replica of the Body of Christ on it? For me, this took away a lot of the meaning of the action. Wouldn't a 'bare' cross be more in line with a resurrected Christ?
The Good Friday service did have a wonderful benefit - not many people showed up and there were only two people for the choir. Fortunately, it was two of our most talented young people. They often are dismayed by the hymn choices made by the choir director. Yesterday, however, they were on their own and chose two, beautiful hymns that their voices lent themselves to quite beautifully. Their singing pulled the gift of Good Friday back into place for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment