Many traditionally minded Catholics assume that the “Reform of the Reform” is effectively dead. As a result, most proposals for reform focus on highly visible changes to make it similar to the TLM: ad orientem, chant, the suppression of Communion in the hand, the elimination of extraordinary ministers of holy communion, or only using the Roman Canon, etc.
These proposals all concentrate on what the congregation sees and hears: posture, music, language, and distribution. Implemented top-down, they would almost certainly provoke resistance from both clergy and laity. The present generation has little living memory of the pre-Vatican II rite, and abrupt external changes risks accusations that Rome is attempting to reverse the Council.
There is an easier path, and one more likely to bear fruit over time. It focuses on the priest and deacon first, not the people. It accepts the structure of the current Roman Missal while quietly re-forming the sacred ministers’ understanding of who they are and what they are doing.
Most of what follows does not alter lay participation. Little of it requires catechesis. These are internal, clerical changes that would slowly reshape how the Mass is understood and celebrated from the altar outward.
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