The Mass and Modernity : Walking to Heaven Backward

Notes: Author is a former "Anglican and a founding priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Toronto". "The book is a re-examination of Catholicism's dialogue with modernity and a profound critique of the phenomena grouped under the heading `Postmodernism'. "Many of the early reforms from the 1960s to the present sought to speak to the modern world by changing the liturgy of the Church. Robinson maintains that, in many ways, this was a misapplication of the documents. In attempting to adapt to what we are told are the aspirations of modernity and the promptings of post-modernity, the Church has lost touch, in large measure, with its greatest gift: Revelation. The Church's mission, the author insists, is pre-eminently to bring something to the world, not to accommodate the Church's message to a confused world which, in its post-modern form, allows that all views are relative and of equal validity. In light of this situation, there is a pressing need, he argues, for the Liturgy to return us to reflecting a God-centred approach -- worship and awe in a world where people are soul-weary of looking at themselves".

Subjects: Modernism (Christian theology) - Catholic Church - Book reviews; Liturgical movement - Catholic Church - Book reviews; Liturgical renewal - Catholic Church - Book reviews; Postmodernism - Religious aspects - Catholic Church - Book reviews; Mass - Book reviews; Lord's Supper (Liturgy) - Book reviews