Posted on 04/05/2007 12:54:38 PM PDT by Pyro7480
AMEN!
Catholic ping!
Reminds of a joke.
A man was stranded on a desert island. After a long time, he was finally rescued. As he sat in the boat with his rescueres sailing away from the island, one of them looked back and asked about the three buildings the man had built on the beach.
"The first one is my house", the man said. "The second one is my church".
"What is the third one?", the rescuer asked.
"Oh", replied the man, "that is the church I used to go to."
Make demands of your congregants. Give them reason to come, with sermons that dont insult their intelligence and music that wont make them groan. Pay musicians and singers if you must. A meaningful worship experience requires mystery and awe and beauty, all of which are conspicuously absent in too many churches today.
No where in this article does the author mention ever addressing her complaints to the pastor. If this means so much to her, it would be encouraging to let the new priest know that he has supporters in the pews.
I agree with the need and the reasons, and I for one am not going to my geographical parish because the pastor allows liturgical dance. But this article almost made me think of something.
The author felt uninvolved and disliked what she was experiencing.
If you are not feeling part of the parish, one way to be a part of it is to get involved. And don’t wait for them to ask you to, or acknowledge you. Get to know the church secretary. Invite the priest over for dinner. Meet the CCE director. Add your imput and most of all pray.
I will be one of the first to admit I have gone to confession because I harbored angry and uncharitable thoughts about the music service and music director. But I’m also guilty of not going and saying, “Wow, I really like that piece of music and how you did it” when he actually did do something better.
WE need to contribute as well as take. Part of why it all happened is that the people who wanted it to be the bad mediocre way it is today pushed for it. We need to push back, encourage the good, and praise God and be thankful when we find it.
I love the old music. I belong to a group who has a small choir that is allowed to perform at Advent and on Palm Sunday Vigil. Only. But each time they perform, they plant little seeds of what sacred music and and ought to sound like. I went out of my way to tell the people who allow them their devotion how wonderful it was. Every bit helps. We plant the seeds, and let God bring the increase.
But especially, we need to pray hard for our priests and bishops. And not only pounce on them when they do wrong but show our gratitude when they do right.
And bring on the old, beautiful stuff to lift our souls to heaven. And Lord, forgive us for our glorification of the mediocre thinking that it would somehow be pleasing to you.
LOL! Good one!
Quite true. That's part of the reason why she mentioned "new missal language" subsequently.
No where in this article does the author mention ever addressing her complaints to the pastor. If this means so much to her, it would be encouraging to let the new priest know that he has supporters in the pews.
It could be just an omission on her part.
The church experience has really changed since the old days.
Very few people dress up for church anymore. Yes, it’s good to see people attend. And better to attend than not attend. But my goodness, torn jeans, thong underwear showing, butt cracks showing, dirty t-shirts, tennis outfits, shorts, sandals, dirty hair.
Yes it’s good that people are in church and better to be there than not attend. But I think people’s appearance and demeanor in church reflects some of the other negative changes in society as a whole.
That's a seriously good joke!
And these same older people leave while the last hymn is being sung! Often my husband and I are standing and singing while surrounded by nearly empty pews.
I will say one other thing: at the Spanish mass at our church the Mexicans dress up! The women have on dresses and the guys, if not in coat and tie, are at least in a tucked-in dress shirt with a belt!
I think this is an American phenomenon, and it was started by the loss of the dress codes in the schools. I have seen blue jeans and flip-flops at expensive restaurants, high school graduations, weddings, and even funerals!!
Americans need to understand again the theory of appropriate dress
LOL!
Church is more than dressing up. God calls people his church. He was in dirty sandals....would you have judged him?? It should be your relationship with him that matters. The first church was not a fancy building. God wants your love ....even if you are naked!!
I’m wondering what is the tactful way of saying something about the awful contemporary music at our church. I’m not sure who is responsibile - the music director, or the pastor who seems to like that music - and he is an excellent pastor.
The recessional hymn for every single Sunday Mass this Lent has been “Jesus Remember Me.” I kept trying to escape but my family wouldn’tlet me out of the pew. :)
I don’t think I’ve ever wanted Lent to be over so bad.
Mrs VS
I’m sorry. What are you talking about?
Neat article, but I found THIS line, “Pay musicians and singers if you must. “ to be inexplicable. As a church singer, volunteer, I firmly believe that every parish has wonderful talent that can make the sacred music. Hire leaders, yes, but paying professional ringers is CHEATING. And it robs the volunteers of opportunity.
Poor dear the moment she finds the perfect parish it will become imperfect the day she joins.
I guess I am too awed by the Eucharist to let things such as other’s attire become a reason for not attending Mass. Yes gameboy is disrespectful and mom should give the good old church hiss and pinch to children who are disruptive. Crayons a child’s Bible and life savers used to be enough to keep the fidgets at bay.
I have to miss Mass because of my illness quite a bit. And think it is sad that any able bodied, faithful Catholic becomes so hypercritical that they miss it because it does not measure up to their standards.
I of course am not speaking about liturgical abuses or other outright scandals to the faith. If after loving expressions of concern such practices do not end, then I would say yes find a new parish. But pick your battles. The Eucharist is too glorious a gift to shun because of personal likes or dislikes.
I agree completely, but I will say this. The first Catholic service I ever went to was in the cathedral in St. Louis for a midnight mass, when I was just a kid. There was a barefoot street person there, I remember distinctly, and I was very impressed that the Catholic Church let you come even if you weren’t dressed to the nines. I was in Episcopal church at the time. It still doesn’t excuse laziness and slobbery among the people. One of my favorite quotes is from St. John Vianney... “Nothing we can do is ever good enough for God.”
Is the core issue a lack of formality or a lack of true conversions?
I’d say lack of formality.
As a singer this infuriates me. Hey, by the recessional I'm tired, I don't always feel like singing it. The least these people can do is stick around till it's done. If I'm not mistaken, the Missa, Ita Est doesn't come until after the hymn. Or maybe it's before, at any rate, it's direspectful. At the liberal parish I started at, there was a lot of this. At the Anglican Use parish I'm at now, nobody budges.
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