INSCITIA:
Canon 904 says "priests are to celebrate [the Mass] frequently; indeed daily celebration is strongly recommended, since even if the faithful cannot be present, it is the act of Christ and the Church in which priests fulfill their principal function."
Yet, two canons later, we read: "A priest may not celebrate without participation of at least some member of the faithful, except for a just and reasonable cause."
So, uh, which is it? Frequent Mass celebration even without anyone else visibly present, or only celebrating in the presence of even a few of the faithful?
COGITATIO:
I think canon 905, which sets the context of regular worship in a normally populated faith community, offers the explanation. Canon 904 stipulates regular worship for priests under any circumstances. Canon 906 then rejects priests worshipping solo under conditions where the faithful could and should participate. Canon 905 provides the contextual hinge. I think priests are allowed to worship by themselves even without any faithful present because the Mass is an earthly-heavenly reality, so it never involves only those present to our eyes. Insisting the liturgy is only for the Church militant completely warps its transcendent dimension as heaven-on-earth. A solo priest, or a solo Christian for that matter, is an oxymoron. If however a priest chose to worship at the exclusion of the visible participation of others, he would be warping the earthly dimensions of worship, preferring an anemic disincarnated, airy gnostic spiritualism.
RESPONSUM:
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