Whose Mass Is It?: Why People Care So Much about the Catholic Liturgy

by Paul Turner

When changes happen to the Catholic Mass, opinions are strong and diverse. Everyone feels in some way that the Mass is theirs. It is. Or is it? Whose Mass is it? And what should people do to claim it?

Whether or not adult Catholics attend Mass regularly, they strongly bond with it. Within a single generation, English-speaking Catholics experienced the Second Vatican Council’s authorization for the first overhaul of the liturgy in four hundred years, and then, in 2011, they prepared for and implemented a revised vernacular translation. Each of these two events awakened strong feelings as people gradually became aware that someone else’s decision was going to affect the cornerstone of their spiritual life.

In Whose Mass Is It? Paul Turner examines the impact of the Mass, the connections it makes, and its purpose in the lives of believers.

Genres: Catholic

134 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Paul Turner is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Kansas City, Missouri. A priest of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, he holds a doctorate in sacred theology from the Athenaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome. He is the author of Glory in the Cross: Holy Week in the Third Edition of The Roman Missal, When Other Christians Become Catholic, and many other titles. He is a former President of the North American Academy of Liturgy and a team member for the North American Forum on the Catechumenate. He is a member of Societas Liturgica and the Catholic Academy of Liturgy. He serves as a facilitator for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turner deftly looks at some of the main changes to the Roman Catholic Mass after Vatican II. Then, by going through various stakeholders, he draws out useful points about the Mass. So, in Turner's reading, whose mass is it? Well, it belongs to the congregation, the priest, and various cultures where it is celebrated. It belongs to Vatican congregations or dicasteries, to conferences and committees of experts. It belongs to musicians, artists and architects. Turner's passages on various cultures of the world, "the offering" and "the collection" are particularly interesting. His final point is that really the Mass begins and ends with Christ, as that who is present and with whom we gather.

[Vincent Veich · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a find

In a rather small volume the author provides clear, concise, and understandable reflection of the various attitudes, skills and practices that make the Mass for Catholics a singularly significant spiritual event of their lives. Well written and structured for easy understanding.