Triden-TEEN Mass?

Parish after parish strives to get kids involved in the Faith. Brian recently posted on the fact that children are the future of our Faith. We also want our children to love and grow in love of God, His Church, and His Faith. But how do we best accomplish that?

I know that many parishes struggle with Mass attendance and so they employ the LIFE TEEN Mass. [I don't think this is the time of place to discuss Life Teen specifically.] Does that make sense? Should we ALTER what we do... in our Faith, so that teens will be "interested"? How do we best make Mass RELEVANT? Do we "modernize" it, do we "spice it up"? What does this then say ABOUT our faith?

The Curt Jester posted on his Twitter page a VERY interesting blog post from another blog about another idea... one that I particularly could work - if done correctly of course. Maybe the key is to go BACK to the traditional and implement the "Triden-TEEN Mass."

Here is the article from "The Divine Life":

Last week I took my teenage daughter to a special Mass which I hoped she would find especially appealing. It included inspiring worship music, elaborate visual stimulation and inspired preaching. And afterward, when I asked her what she thought, she enthusiastically told me that she liked it. Here is a description of this “teen-friendly” Mass from the parish’s website:
A Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the Feast of the Purification (Candlemas) with a blessing of the Candles and Procession with polyphonic propers composed by William Byrd, and the Ordinary from his Mass for Four Voices, sung by Chantry.
Now I admit that I am not an “Old Mass-only” Catholic. Nor do I think the Mass needs to be in Latin; I prefer the vernacular, truth be told. However, I can’t help but marvel at the fact that we have spent countless hours and enormous amounts of energy over the past 40 years trying to create a Mass that is “relevant” and engaging to our teens, when perhaps it was collecting mothballs in the closet the whole time?

Maybe the MASS is already RELEVANT and we have been making it IRRELEVANT? 

-Posted by: Joe