Good article, but right now Father Pope, we have this litle thing called a major summetime heat wave.
Post number 2 has a little bit of early morning dry humor. :)
As a Jew living in Israel I would say that there are many “minhagim” or customs that evolved over the last 5,000 years or so and many were dependent on the Temples in Jerusalem. Since the destruction of both Temples and the dispersion (Diaspora) of the Jews around the world, many customs were no longer practiced while new ones evolved.
The Kippa (Yarmulka) on the head is a sign of reverence as is always facing the Torah scrolls in a synagogue, that is, not turning your back to the Ark where the Torah scrolls are contained. Same holds true for the Western Wall (Kotel) i Jerusalem.
The Church has lost followers via the modernization process and the scorn heaped upon Western religious belief, post WWII. The Church is SO defamed now that it must look from within in order to find the right formula to attract people back. It will be a serious uphill battle though due to fashion and tastes in our sad era.
I used to discuss, while porch sitting, with a friend of mine the question, “Why do Christians go to church?” He eventually wrote a book on it called “And No Religion Too: Thoughts on the Spectator Church”
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/and-no-religion-too-edward-goble/1018273372?ean=9781438262543
Some time After he wrote the book, I asked him how he chose a church. He said by the quality of their pot-luck. He was only slightly kidding. His take was basically this, and one I not only agree with but applied when we chose a church in Kentucky:
Christianity is about two things: our relationship with our creator and our relationship with our fellow man. And they are intertwined. Christians do not need to go to church to worship God. They go to church to fellowship with other Christians. A church body exists not for Him, but for us. We help each other. We are a “Cord of Three strands”. We worship and fellowship together.
The potluck analogy was about how close the fellowship is between the believers at a particular church. And it makes total sense. I go to the church I go to because I can learn from and be helped by them, and they can learn from and be helped by me. And it all happens within the context that we are the body of believers. We are mindful of that. It matters.
BTW, the guy that wrote the book moved from Seattle to Kentucky in 2008. We visited a few times and now live about five minutes away from him. Gorgeous area! And we don’t go to the same church!
One of the differences between Christianity and all other religions is that we have no holy places on earth. A church building is just a building. We are the dwelling place of Christ, not any building.
It means we take care of our church buildings in the name of stewardship, but they are, ultimately, just a place to keep us out of the weather and give us some privacy as we worship and celebrate grace together.
You can’t offend Christians, spiritually, by destroying their buildings, though you can cost them money.
Church is not for God. It is for us. And we can worship anywhere. In fact, in my family, we take communion at home after some meals. The bible is very clear about communion.
Major hypocrisy. This lack of reverence is 100% due to the “hope and change” brought about by Vatican II which “substantially transformed” the Catholic Church. And this priest, like all the members of the clergy who acquiesce by their silence, are guilty.
I was one of those who fought the changes, not for nostalgia, but for keeping the worship of God in the Mass. I was told by the bishop that there is no place in the Church for people like me. That prohibition continues today with the present church.
So don’t bemoan the lack of reverence. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. Galatians 6, 8
And for the NSA trolls, FU.
I think it's a symptom of the hyper-individualism of our culture. Community standards of appropriateness, showing respect for an occasion or the people around you, simply don't exist. It's all about Me and "what makes me feel comfortable."
I'm not too concerned, really. The cycle will turn on this, as on everything else.
Yes. No.
How can we recover it? We will not see it in our lifetimes.
It’s not what goes into the mouth but what comes out of it.
Easy solution. Mandate that all WalMarts be closed on Sundays. That way people couldn’t dress in same clothes for church as they plan on wearing when they stop at walmart on the way home. :)
Well said, except for one small point. Why does he refer to the death cult of mohammedanism as if it is a legitimate religion?
I have belonged to my current parish for about 8 years, and I have always been appalled at the din that occurs before Mass. People greet one another and chat away as if they are at a ball game. Our pastor — the only priest we have — came up with a brilliant solution about 2 years ago. About 5 minutes before Mass begins, someone makes an announcement that invites all to enter into the “sacred silence”. It works. But I sure wish people would get the message and enter the church with reverence.
I am also puzzled by the way some of them use the occasion of returning from receiving the Eucharist as a time to greet people in the pews. What’s up with that?
These offenders, BTW, are largely Boomers — like me.
I go to a non-denominational Bible church that is largely free of symbolic acts other than those taught in the new testament such as Communion, Baptism, etc.
A conscious decision was made to make our church less “scary” to non-believers so that we could reach them with the gospel. We are still very strong in our doctrine but the worship service is now about 60% music and 35% sermon.
In our lobby, we offer coffee, lemonade, water and donut holes. So it is not uncommon for adults to wander into the auditorium in casual clothes after the live musicians are already performing, clutching their coffee in one hand and their cell phone in the other and acting as if the worship service is no different than attending a movie.
I wish people showed more reverence that they are in a place of worship and that the purpose is to focus on their relationship with the Lord and not as a social gathering. The church is not the building. But the building should be revered as a place where respect for worship is shown.
Churches of all sorts have given in to the seeker sensitive mode. “Don't expect people to dress up. That is a pain and is not seeker sensitive!”
BTTT!
I always dressed up for church as a child, the oldest of seven.
And I still do as an adult.
Put on you’re Sunday best. I still do. No shorts, tshirts, or flipflops. Also no cracks (men) or cleavage (women). There’s plenty to see outside of church.
I know I would treat Catholic priests much more seriously if they didn’t channel their inner stand up comedian at mass homilies.
Yes the church has lost reverence. The chatting before mass reminds me of a movie theater in most of the Novus Ordo masses in my diocese. The children are allowed to scream, misbehave, and eat random snacks as if they were at a play group, or at the movies.
Reverence will only return when people are properly formed again - proper formation being taught the intellectual underpinnings of redemption (Faith and Reason). The complete breakdown aftermath of Vatican II replacing the sacrifice of the mass with a people’s meal has rendered it almost meaningless and the people “get” it and respond accordingly with horrendous behavior. It is the blind leading the blind, the teachers are oblivious to proper doctrine and are passing along the errors. The faith is watered down each generation, other than the very few who realize that they need to read pre vatican saints to understand their Faith.
The poor formation extended to the seminaries so we are getting bad formation and bad behavior enabled right from the teachers.
Don’t even start me on the ditties and extremely poor quaility of what passes for liturgical music. If you listen to the melody without the lyrics, one could be at a campfire or worse - including the Agnus Dei which is normally trivialized to the point of banality.
The smoke of satan HAS entered the church, and the door was opened for the secular world to get worse because the church is the spiritual gate to keep satan out.
Ping!