The esteemed George Weigel is steamed.

In his latest column, the writer and pundit takes aim at a moment in the mass that belongs, properly, to the deacon — and which, in Weigel’s view, often leaves much to be desired.

It’s the Prayers of the Faithful.

A snip:

This past Dec. 28, I was jolted out of my morning fog at 8 a.m. Mass when the deacon offered this petition:

“For those who are considering abortion: may our prayers and the intercession of the Holy Innocents whom we honor today help them choose life as the best option, let us pray to the Lord.”

I can’t remember whether I blurted “What?” loud enough to be noticed by my faithful companions at daily Mass–many of whom wear hearing aids–but I know I certainly didn’t answer with the prescribed “Lord, hear our prayer.”

The best option? Oh, so the decision whether to carry a child to term is a pragmatic calculation, and we’re to pray that those concerned get the calculation, er, right? How did this morally degrading nonsense get written? How did it get past an editor with any theological grain of sense?

It happened because the parish I was attending, like many others, uses canned general intercessions for weekday Masses, bought from a “liturgical aids” service: the daily intercessions come with a tacky binder in a tear-’em-out-after-you-use-’em format, they fit neatly inside the ambo–so why not? Well, Dec. 28 illustrated why not: because more often than we’d like to admit, these intercessions are thoughtlessly written, reflecting the ambient cultural smog rather than the truth of Catholic faith. Moreover, they’re typically organized to suggest that the world of politics is, somehow, the real world: after a brief intercessory nod to the pope, the bishops, or both, we’re immediately invited to pray for sundry social and political causes, never identified as such but wrapped in the gauziness of Feel Good Prayer.

And what gets omitted is often as instructive, and depressing, as what gets addressed. How often last year did you hear a general intercession petition for Christian unity? For the relief of persecuted Christians? For the conversion of non-believers? For victory in the war against terrorism? (Eight years and four months after 9/11, I’m still waiting for that one.) But I’ll bet you heard a dozen or more exhorting you to environmental responsibility.

There’s much more at the link, including Weigel’s own humble suggestions (and good ones, at that) for improving this moment in the mass.