While following a news story regarding upcoming changes to the missal of the Roman Catholic Church, I found myself wandering around the Archdiocese of Milwaukee website. The image above caught my eye. Of course I clicked on the pretty picture and was taken to this site.
Wow! Why can't our synodical district websites look like this? Furthermore, looking at the Living Our Faith initiative, there is more substance there than "the-program-that-cannot-be-spoken-unless-you-want-to-get-sued-by-the-LCMS". The message is so simple, "See You At Mass." It looks like they're a sacramental church body.
Here's the question - Why is the LCMS afraid to be sacramental?
Look at your district's website. Is there a something there to let the average person know that the LCMS puts the sacraments as a central part of its beliefs? On a congregational level, it may be a different case. Right now, I am focusing on the district level and higher.
Look at the Lutheran Confessions, specifically the Apology to the Augsburg Confession XXIV - The Mass. The section is titled, The Mass! The first paragraph states, "At the outset we must again make the preliminary statement that we do not abolish the Mass, but religiously maintain and defend it. For among us masses are celebrated every Lord's Day and on the other festivals, in which the Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it, after they have been examined and absolved. And the usual public ceremonies are observed, the series of lessons, of prayers, vestments, and other like things." (Italics mine.)
Why do some in Lutheranism prefer an a la carte approach when it comes to the Lutheran Confessions and Lutheran doctrine that are believed, promoted, and taught?
I'm not at the banks of the River Tiber. I'm not looking to cross over, nor am I promoting such things. I am just asking a question that needs a serious answer.
Why are Lutherans ashamed to publicly proclaim the centrality of the Mass?
My own sentiment resonates greatly with the point you raise. The lack of a true eucharistic spirituality and failure to see and treat the Eucharist as the center of the Church's sojourn in this world, these speak volumes about the health of modern American Lutheranism as a whole. Yet, here and there, precious burning embers can be found under the ashes.
ReplyDeleteGood Deacon,I do not know if the embers will be enough. One needs to also add some sort of fuel to those embers to make that fire grow.
ReplyDeleteI do not see that happening, yet.
I would be very happy if there was a return to a focus on the Eucharist in Lutheranism. It would be great if the LCMS would actually make that a major focus as a whole. What would help would be to get over the anti-Catholicism that grips most of American Lutherans so that terms like "mass" can be used freely.