What do you think about the resurgence of interest in the Tridentine mass?
I grew up with the Tridentine mass. When I was a teenager and the church started changing it, I thought it was a breath of fresh air. I liked the dialogue between the people and the priest, and I liked the mass in the vernacular so I could understand what was going on. It seemed much more like a supper than a sacrifice. The whole idea of the re-creation of the last days of Jesus’ life and the supper comes forth so much more clearly in the new mass than in the Tridentine mass, in which the priest is praying privately and you are just involved in your own little private space. The difference for me is that the new mass puts more responsibility on the parishioners to actually know what is going on and to participate. How has going to mass every day for 30 years shaped you? The mass is so familiar in all of its movements that it is almost like meditation. I can drift off and at the same time know where I am. It’s both a quiet time and a time of community. There are people in the pews whose
