“Creative liturgy… alienates us from God and draws us near to sin.”

Rorate Cœli posted an interview of Msgr. Nicola Bux where he discusses the concept of "Creative Liturgies." The title of this post is his main point, the rest of the interview is just as important:

“Creative liturgy… alienates us from God and draws us near to sin.”  

Here are the excerpts (My emphasis and comments) :

“Creative liturgy… alienates us from God and draws us near to sin.”

Then, not too surprisingly, he affirms: “The sense of sin has been weakened by the dilution of the sacrality of the liturgy. [This is a critical point. If the Liturgy is the pinnacle of our faith, then when we dilute it, we allow ourselves to rationalize other areas of our belief.] There is a close link between ethos and worship.” What do you mean? “That we today have lost values because we often do not give God a worthy worship at Mass. [This idea stems from the philosophical precept of absolute truth. If there exists, which we must believe there does, a sense of WORTHINESS which God deserves, then we must strive to find the type of worship worthy of God.] And many atheists ought also to live as if God exists.” (E molti anche atei dovrebbero vivere come se Dio esistesse) But let us return to the liturgical aspect: “People need the sense of the sacred in order to discover God. Sin is a negation of God, but if even when assisting Mass we live far from God, how is it then possible to avoid sin?” Then he specifies: “The liturgy is sacred, divine and glorious; it is vertical in the sense of tending towards the High, towards Beauty and Heaven. It is not something circular or horizontal, some kind of sports stadium, assembly or party. [We should treat it as something unique and UNLIKE anything else we do.] The idea of a fruitful and creative liturgy inevitably loses the sense of the sacred and therefore alienates us from God and draws us near to sin. [The Mass... must be SACRED... nothing else is necessary.]The people, who are much more intelligent than one gives them credit for, perceive where the sacred is. It is not something abstract but a concrete thing. [The Sacred is attainable.]And it says so in the Gospel. "The woman wished to touch the cloak of Christ. In order to defeat sin, there is a need for certain, unequivocal and firm signs, not fluctuating, unstable ones.”


Therefore creative liturgy creates damage: “Many, especially after the Council, ceded to this unhealthy notion of creativity, but it was not the fault of the Council, as the Council never abrogated or cancelled the liturgy of all times (liturgia di sempre). A sloppy, manipulated and -- even worse – violated Mass is an obstacle to the sacred and alienates the people from the Church. To celebrate creative Masses is a profanation of the sense of the sacred, because it brings us away from God. The minister of the cult must never be an actor, often a mediocre one at that and a source of scandal, but should think that his principal duty is to serve God, never his own unbridled desire to play the protagonist. [A commentator on Rorate explained by saying that creative liturgies celebrate the talents and accomplishments of MAN. A good point, and one to which we should heed. Our actions at Mass should be directed towards and CONCERNING God, not the talents of humans.]Only by recuperating or restoring a correct vertical liturgy, can we limit in part the effects of sin, thus rediscovering God.”

This interview is quite telling. Father Bux is a consultor for the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. So that means he is charged with ensuring that Masses involving the Pope are Sacred and Proper. If not him, who then should we listen to?

When we attempt to put our own influence on the Liturgy - the Mass we have incorrectly shifted the proper focus of the Mass to us instead of on God. Things like video screens, "alternative music", dance, presentations, or anything not found in the Roman Missal are "Creative." When we "distract" folks from the Mass we draw them towards the "Creative" and away from God. This means that people are being pushed away from God and towards.... well does it matter at that point?