This is why the Vatican should not allow comments or video responses. Sure some people will think that the Church is being oppressive, but these people already think this about the Church.

you know, some of us non-caths do appreciate liturgy. i actually never brought this up, but since you did, i'll address it. i appreciate it and love it just as much as you do. some of us are not as ignorant as you may believe (but some of us are, just like on your side too).

thanks!

"There is a word that, when a Catholic hears it, kindles all his feeling of love and bliss; that stirs all the depths of his religious sensibilities, from dread and awe of the Last Judgment to the sweetness of God's presence; and that certainly awakens in him the feeling of home; the feeling that only a child has in relation to its mother, made up of gratitude, reverence, and devoted love; the feeling that overcomes one when, after a long absence, one returns to one's home, the home of one's childhood.

And there is a word that to Protestants has the sound of something infinitely commonplace, more or less indifferent and superfluous, that does not make their heart beat faster; something with which a sense of boredom is so often associated, or which at any rate does not lend wings to our religious feelings – and yet our fate is sealed, if we are unable again to attach a new, or perhaps a very old, meaning to it. Woe to us if that word does not become important to us soon again, does not become important in our lives.

Yes, the word to which I am referring is 'Church,' the meaning of which we propose to look at today."

-from a sermon by a young Dietrich Bonhoeffer, July 1928

I think people tend to see the Catholic Church as "old fashion" or say that she needs to "get with the times." These same people don't understand, let alone respect liturgy. These same people want to live their lives according to the world's standards and the only way to rationalize it is to try and change the Church.

John Paul II spoke often of a “New Evangelization.” Should Christians use the tools of today to spread the Gospel message? Of course! Should the Church replace the liturgy with videos, skits, and the latest style of music? Most certainly NOT! This would be a cheapening of the mass. I would not expect non-liturgical Christians to understand this, nor am I blaming them for their ignorance.

G.K. Chesterton wrote that "the New Religions are suited to the new world; and this is their most damning defect." He writes, "The Catholic Church is the only thing which saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age… The New Religions are in many ways suited to the new conditions; but they are only suited to the new conditions… If the [Catholic] Faith has all the freshness of a new religion, it has all the richness of an old religion." Now even though Chesterton was a writer of the early 20th century — prior to the internet age — his words are quite relevant today. God Bless †