Kairos Guy makes an excellent point that what many people actually don’t like about modern liturgies is not the Novus Ordo itself, but the loss of the sense of the sacred by a creeping emotionalism. I heartily agree. That was one thing I adamantly opposed (unsuccessfully) in our parish’s youth program, which was prayer services and para-liturgies designed to elicit emotion. It even got to the point where people would nod approvingly if we got the kids to cry.
But emotion lasts for a moment. It flies away in a heartbeat. Just ask the guy who was laughing with his buddies 10 seconds before being told he lost his job.
Of course, the flip side of that is the desire for entertainment. A TV generation wants to be entertained and if the priest doesn’t perform the crowd and “tickle their ears” their attention wanders and people begin to wonder what else there is to do for an hour on Sunday morning.
Helping people regain a sense of the sacred is the goal, but it’s a long battle won one person at a time.
