In his piece, Becker poses a number of arguments against using missalettes at Mass. Let’s take a look at them:
1) The Argument from Van Morrison
Becker’s first argument compares going to Mass to going to a Van Morrison concert, which Becker indicates would be an incredibly thrilling experience for him.
I don’t know Van Morrison’s music myself, but fair enough. De gustibus non est disputandum (Latin for: “In matters of taste, there can be no disputes”).
Becker then asks whether, upon going to such a concert, he would Google the lyrics and read along with the stage performance. He says:
Noooo, of course not! I’d soak it all in – a total immersion, listening to and watching a great songwriter give voice to his own compositions, himself, in person! They’re songs I mostly know already by heart anyway, but even if I didn’t, why would I waste that exquisite privilege by reading along?
Allow me to draw your attention to some of Becker’s key words: “They’re songs I mostly know already by heart anyway.” That’s a relevant difference. Most people at Mass don’t mostly know the scripture readings by heart anyway.
And far from diminishing the experience, for many members of the congregation, reading along enhances their experience of the readings.
That’s. Why. They. Do. It.
That’s also why people, including me, sometimes Google song lyrics. I don’t know if Becker ever does that, but I do. It’s one of the ways that I help avoid mondegreens.
On the other hand, if someone prefers not to use one, that’s fine, too.
And, if I may ask, why should Becker be dismayed by looking around at other people at Mass and seeing if and what they’re reading? On his theory, shouldn’t his attention be focused the lector, to drink in every detail of his proclamation of the readings?
At a Van Morrison concert, wouldn’t he be watching the stage performance and not the other members of the audience? ….
2) Argument from College, 3) Argument from the GIRM, 4) The Alter Christus Argument, 5) the Argument from Protestant Services, 6) the Argument from the Annunciation, 7) A Role for Misselettes? 8) “In matters of taste, there can be no disputes”, 9) Implications for the Lector.
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Sorry, without the missal I would have to resort to mumbling through the prayers I don’t have memorized. Also how about the priests and lectors with accents so heavy that you only recognize every 4th word? Thank you Jimmy for all that you have and will teach to me.
Blessings,
dc
I will go out on a limb to say that the missalette is the greatest “invention.” Protestants do well by carrying their personal bibles with them but that’s not so critical for those of us who are blessed with a liturgical calender of bible readings already so thoughtfully planned out by the Church. I don’t know you but I always find it very helpful to read along (silently) with the lectors. I will also admit to becoming a bit disoriented when a cantor would substitute the responsorial psalms with some contemporary hymns (against rubrics, I think). I must be more challenged with my cognitive skills since I find it easier if I can “hear with my ears” and “see (the texts) with my eyes” at the same time. In my wounded humanity, I can focus better if I apply two or more senses in concert to help in internalizing a liturgy which can become formulaic and formal by habit. There are other side benefits. I can observe that most people who don’t use a missalette also missed the printed instructions to beat their breasts in the triplication of “mea culpa” in the Confiteor; or bowing at the words of the Incarnation in the Credo. My favorite missalette also contain inspirational prayers like “Anima Christi” and “Thanksgiving After Mass” (by St. Thomas Aquinas) which I use to meditate after Holy Communion and after Mass. Lastly, some Christian groups scorn at Catholics for lacking the gift of singing. It wasn’t always this way — We just need to pick up the missalette again, turn to the hymns in the back, and offer up our songs of praise and worship!
Then there’s the argument from Lousy Acoustics/Sound Systems which is related to the argument from Hearing Impairment.
I follow along with my missalette all the time, and I can't even begin to count how many times the lector has missed a single word that changes the entire meaning of a sentence. In addition to the accuracy of the written word, my brain is wired so that I need to see the words to understand what's being said when it comes to complicated readings (and to me the sentence structure in the bible is very complicated). The few times that I've forgotten my missalette have led to me being completely lost.
Boy that man needs some serious help in his beliefs if he can compare a musical concert to the Mass!
I go daily to Mass and I use map called imissile so that I am be able to follow all along on the readings.
When the readings are done and then grab a missile if it is available in the pew who follow along with the Eucharistic readings. I do this to keep my attention on Mass and not what is going on around me. I couldn’t even tell you who sits next to me. God is my full attention at mass or I tried to make him my full attention.
I have since a child and very distracted easily and this way is my way of coping with the most important thing that happens to me each day. This guy sounds like he just likes to nitpick. I will continue to use the imissal or word among us to follow Mass. The reason I use the Eucharistic readings out of the missile is because I do not know if they’re going to use Eucharistic readings 1 2 3 and it’s easier to find out quickly because they print all of them into the missile in a couple of pages , when I’m trying to dial down on my Asus tablet does not work as well to find which Eucharistic prayer is going to be read. I soon will be 73 years old and I’m part of the Catholics red and the missile as a child when there was Latin on one side an English on the other. I have always used a missile and I will continue and he can continue to be distracted by his own stupid thoughts in church when they should be paying attention to what is going on in front of him most important thing that’s ever done in this world is the Catholic Mass.
I always use a missal. As a disabled veteran, I have some hearing issues and so I wear hearing aids, and even have a microphone that feeds into my aids, for the lector or priest, but still don’t always understand what is being read (or said).
I wonder if he’d complain about my bringing my personal bible and reading from that—something I’ve been known to do; I just mark the readings beforehand so I can get to them easily enough.
Without the missal (or bible) I would lose so much.
My problem with the “missalettes” is that they are cheaply printed and disposable, and I doubt very much that most of them are disposed of with anything approaching the reverence that their content requires.
I am not sure why Mr. Becker, or anyone, feels he needs to censure me and my fellow Catholics in this manner. Isn’t it just a little too scrupulous on his part? Seriously, I have been a Catholic my entire life – from grade school on through the New Evangelization and I cannot recall once looking at my fellow Mass-attenders to see if they are looking at the Missalette, their phone, or the church bulletin during Mass. I really am not being flip, but I simply cannot believe this is even fodder for discussion. Really? Wow, just wow.
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