Posted on 06/03/2026 12:48:04 PM PDT by ebb tide
An Argentine priest has drawn widespread criticism after preparing a fruit salad mid-Mass on Pentecost Sunday, purportedly to illustrate the fruits of the Holy Spirit for children.
Videos of the event circulated on social media following the May 24 Mass at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in the Diocese of Río Cuarto, Argentina, and were reported by several Catholic media outlets. During the celebration, Father Carlos Costale associated particular fruits with the traditional fruits of the Holy Spirit (for example, an apple to represent love and a banana to represent joy) before distributing the finished fruit salad to those present.
Costale carried out the activity while wearing an apron with the logo of Argentinian soccer team Boca Juniors and a yellow-and-blue Minions character hat. The visual presentation formed part of an explanation intended for children attending the Mass. Supporters of the initiative said the activity was designed to “help younger participants understand the meaning of Pentecost through images and examples adapted to their age.”
On May 29, the Argentine blog El Wanderer described the scene as a payasada (“clownish performance”) and addressed a series of public questions to Adolfo Uriona, Bishop of Río Cuarto, regarding liturgical oversight in the diocese.
“Do you think that the clownish acts performed by this priest, accompanied by a few catechists, have any pastoral effect?” the blog asked in one of several questions directed to the bishop.
The same article questioned whether Uriona or other diocesan authorities had taken any measures against the priest, since this is not the first time Costale carried out similar activities during the Mass. According to the Instagram profile of the parish, Costale “performs” almost every Sunday.
The blog also recalled that Pope Leo XIV, during a May 27 general audience, reminded the faithful that liturgical norms must be observed without exception and that the Mass cannot be altered on one’s own initiative, so as to avoid creating confusion among the faithful.
Furthermore, according to Redemptionis Sacramentum, the Church’s instruction – approved by Pope John Paul II in 2004 – which regulates the celebration of the Eucharist and seeks to prevent liturgical abuses, states, “in some places, abuses committed in liturgical matters are a daily occurrence, which obviously cannot be tolerated and must cease."
Redemptionis Sacramentum adds: “The Mystery of the Eucharist is too great for anyone to treat it with personal whim, which would fail to respect its sacred character and universal dimension. Whoever acts in this way – even if a priest – following personal inclinations, harms the substantial unity of the Roman rite, which must be firmly safeguarded.”
It continues: “[Priests] must not empty their ministry of its profound meaning by deforming the liturgical celebration through arbitrary changes, reductions, or additions.” And further: “The reprehensible practice must cease whereby priests, deacons, or even the faithful alter at will here and there the texts of the sacred Liturgy that they pronounce. By doing so, they destabilize the celebration of the sacred Liturgy and often distort its authentic meaning.”
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Ping
The Bible does not record the name of the person who baked the bread used at the Last Supper.Since the meal was a traditional Jewish Passover Seder, the bread was unleavened bread (known as matzah), baked to commemorate the hasty exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.The New Testament explains that Jesus instructed his disciples to follow a man carrying a water jar, who led them to a house with a large upper room already furnished for the feast. Biblical historians and archaeologists note that the owner of the house (or unnamed women and servants in the household) would have prepared the meal and baked the bread in advance.
Not clownish.
More like one of Jesus’s parables.
Clownish or not; it’s against the rules. If you want your own little performance, you can do it before the Mass, or after. As the article states, you can’t make up your own add ons inside the Mass. simple rule. Following it is mandatory on all priests
OK. manditory for priests.
Jesus got them all riled by going outside ‘the rules’.
I forgive the Fruit Salad. But maybe no one else?
Ok. Being a priest has rules. Follow them and be a priest, or dont follow them and start a new non-Catholic church. There’s way too much not following the rules across society these days because one feels one should not be bound by rules
Narcissists.
Well at least he didn’t speak in Latin.
Object lessons are against the rules? Interesting.
Oh, come on. The Mass is the central part of Catholic worship. I’m not a huge fan of the current Mass, the Novus Ordo. But is the prescribed form of worship for all Catholics, and if one does not want to worship in that form, no one is forcing you to be a Catholic. Mass is celebrated in the neighborhood of 475,000 times every single day. It has a script for its central parts, though parts like the homily, the particular prayers of the faithful, and obviously the parish announcements, vary. So you can attend anyone of those half
Million Masses and be joined in identical worship to your fellow Catholics.
You can do other things. I went to a veterans funeral. A number of speeches were given immediately before Mass started, but not during Mass because eulogies aren’t part of the Mass. You can make your fruit salad just before, or just after. Frankly I don’t have any problem with the fruit salad metaphor. The Priest could have used it in his homily, then announced that, to celebrate the fruits of the Spirit, fruit salad would be served in the church hall right after Mass. the Mass commemorates and reenacts a meal. The menu is bread and wine, which are the only menu items referenced in the Gospel. No appetizers, salad, cheese plate, or dessert.
I understand a lot of people don’t like structured worship, and that’s ok with
me. Just don’t call it a Catholic Mass.
So where is that in Scripture?
Fruit salad? Nowhere that I’m aware of.
But I did find this in Matthew 26:26-30:
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
The operational word here, being ; fruit.
Congrats! You found one of the two ordinances given to the church.
Now tell me where there is an exclusion for teaching. Because Jesus taught in every sitting. Oh look! You can see all the object lessons when you combine the testimony of Mark, Luke, and 1 Corinthians!
Amazing!
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