I was recently at a meeting of fellow deacons and our wives and we had a small moment that made me chuckle.
We were in a small chapel getting ready for evening prayers and, tight for space, someone kicked the bell. I could see the bell was about to be kicked, I then heard the bell and then watched about six people shoot upright in response to the bell. Well trained Catholics.
There is something to be said about the familiarity of what we do in church. When familiarity is removed or rocked, we have to think and that is never a bad thing. For example, in the early days of lockdown Father Jock and I were alone in the prayer room, I was looking after the (often very ropey) livestream, with little knowledge and even less confidence. To then have to confidently be the sole voice to respond to the prayers, as well as thinking about the technology opened my eyes to the risks of responses learned by rote.
Perhaps it is fair to say teaching a child to recite the three times table off by heart before they truly understand the meaning of multiplication, before finding contexts or situations where it helps is a valid thing. I know some people disagree on that but Fr Shaiju demands I keep my posts to a max of 500 words…
How many of us have learned our Mass responses by rote and never really thought about it? I recently attended a very good course at the diocesan centre. The course “What’s happening at Mass” was a brilliant day and discussed a lot of the little elements. Each session is videoed and we can share them. https://youtu.be/FXRpQTM8y9E?si=nKc1yTwChg-ZYiD0
It was the memorial acclimations that struck me the most. When was the last time we heard the prayer

Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
said at Mass? After the priest says, “The mystery of faith.” We recite the memorial acclimation.
This prayer is used during the Eucharistic Prayer after the consecration, expressing the Church’s faith in Christ’s Passion, Resurrection, and future coming in glory.

A prayer of faith in the passion, the resurrection and the glory of his coming again to us.
However,
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Has not been used since 2011. Yet I am sure if someone started off “Christ has died…” that a huge number of the congregation would recite this prayer last used 15 years ago.
The current acclamations begin:

We proclaim your Death, O Lord,
Or
When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,
Or
Save us, Saviour of the world,
We are so good at saying the right responses in our faith, but the extra depth we get by stopping, questioning and reflecting on the words we use is something I find helps me get more out of the Mass and helps me understand my faith more.
Perhaps I am not alone?

Deacon Eddie White