Posted on 05/17/2010 9:18:11 AM PDT by markomalley
Tonight, we went to Mass at a local parish we had never been to. I’ve been wanting to go to a Mass there because I know several people who are parishioners at the parish who really like it. After tonight, I’m confused as to why. Besides the typical architectural disaster that this building was, the misplacement of the tabernacle and the lack of Catholic art (good statues, stained glass, etc.), the sense of what was about to happen was not Mass… it wasn’t sacred… it wasn’t important… it was just a thing. That’s what I got when I first walked in.
As Mass started, I was highly disappointed in what was taking place… a jazz concert masked by the appearance of a worship service. Between the really obnoxious singers (all mic’d up individually, ouch!) and the electronic drum set, I couldn’t figure out what was happening… was it about the music group? or about the Mass? In my mind, the music was winning, although it didn’t have much of a following in the congregation. As Mass continued, I realized what the problem was. It was shouting at me loud and clear…
There were virtually NO MEN in servant-leadership roles! The vast majority of the servant-leaders were women, which has almost nothing to do with the women, and everything to do with the men. When men don’t actively serve in parish life, specifically in the Mass, a parish is going to suffer. Here’s the scenario at this parish; these numbers are typical for most parishes around the country.
So, out of 32 servant-leadership positions, (31 really, when you remove the priest from the list) only 4 were filled by men! And one of those 4 was a 12 year-old boy altar server! This is despicable. Again, this has nothing to do with the women, and everything to do with the men! I’ll explain myself in more detail, in the next post… you’ve got to come back!
You need to find a TLM or Byzantine Rite parish, ASAP.
Do what I do, focus on the Man hanging on the cross and know that he endured far more than felt banners, bad music and insipid homilies for me, for my children and wife and even for the irritating woman who insists on raising her hand so we pew sitting fools know when to sing our part of the folk ditty out of the OCP hymnal.
It also helps to think about the Catholics who have to worry about bombs and bullets standing between them and the Blessed Sacrament rather than aging hippies and self loathing feminists.
Sometimes I think of fishing...
men are not at chruch because men are treated like they are not wanted and so, surprise, they leave.
church services have been diminished to meaningless so why bother?
I haven’t been there in several years, but yes I’m familiar with the Chapel. It’s actually a missionary chapel of my parish. I never made it a habit to go becasue I prefer the vernacular...I just wish there was a parish in the area that offered a more reverent Mass in the vernacular. An Anglican Use parish would be wonderful. In any case it’s probably time to look at going to St Benedict’s again...my wife actually suggested it after Mass yesterday.
I wish I had 3! I pray and ask God all the time, can we have a TLM closer, please.
We have an active Knights of Columbus group at our parish. That’s where you’ll find men.
50/50 is about the same for our SB Church too, I believe.
Get to the St. Benedict Chapel.
Just do it.
There may be a "regular" Parish down there that's not run by the limp-wrist pantywaist liberal OCP singing feminazi crowd, but I can't think of one.
Your parish sounds a heckuva lot like mine. But mine has never been traditional, and you have been a Catholic a lot longer than I have. It must be really tough to adapt.
I find myself judging every wacky thing that’s going on, and there’s a lot of it. I get jealous of Freeper’s accounts of how wonderful their parishes are. And I get really steamed at the bishops who let it get so bad in my area, to the point that whole generations of Catholics have no idea things are so wacky.
But it’s either about the Sacrament or not. And the Sacrament is either the best weapon against the Enemy or it isn’t. I find that if I concentrate on Christ in the Sacrament, even though the wackiness that steams me most is the disrespect to the Sacrament, I still get what I am suposed to be getting out of Mass, and all the wackyness sorta fades into the background.
And yes, the humming meditation thing after Communion isn’t my cup of tea either. I just pointedly read the bulletin and rustle the pages loudly when they go into that stuff.
Freegards
I’m not a Catholic either, but finding services locally that are enjoyable to me are pretty hard to find. We had a great minister and the church elders fired him and spend over 3 years looking for an acceptable replacement! When they finally found their “dream guy” he was well in to his 60’s and boring and redundant as (excuse the word)”hell”. I also get annoyed if over half of the service is singing, I know many love lots of singing, but to me when you get past 4 songs in to 8 or 10 range it is beyond annoying to me........Give me Dr. Charles Stanley out of Atlanta, or John Hagee our of San Antonio, TX if nothing else. At least they have a great delivery!
One nice thing about having two archdioceses within spittin' distance.
Excellent points.
I got to that point 35 years ago. Not Catholic but Protestant. I discovered that I got more out of sitting on a mountain top somewhere and just letting go - marvelous things happen. No church politics, no lady’s knitting and character assination club, no crappy music..... I believe God is OK with my way since he has blessed me and my family over the years. Oh and I donate my tithe etc to causes where I can feel good and see results. This year we set up an anonymous scholarship for a kid up the street to go to college. He had to apply along with several others but we awarded it to him. Why? Because he has a brilliant mind and his parents are a couple of selfish jerks. Again, I believe God is OK with that and if he isn’t I will go where ever head high.
After more than 50 years as a loyal son of the Church I find it harder and harder to even bother to go to Mass anymore. -- You need to find a TLM or Byzantine Rite parish, ASAP.I’ve been living with my parents for reasons both financial and medical, and recently they both started pressuring me to go back to church. I’d been reading sermons online and giving what could to the charities that spoke to me. I stopped going to church a while ago because of the number of lies and misleading statements the preachers made during their sermons. Whenever I tried to point these out the preacher just kind of smiled and nodded like I was an idiot, then gave me a load of BS trying to explain why it was ok for him to lie about God, using an argument remarkably similar to the muslim line about “lies that glorify Allah”. Sickening.
Then when my health went downhill several people in the church very nicely explained that it must be my fault because if I had prayed the “right way” God would give me anything I asked for, whether He wanted me to have it or not. Yes, those were the exact words used. By one of the pastors, no less. Wonder what the apostles would have said to that, given how they suffered?
So, yesterday I chucked the list of services mom gave me and checked out the Mennonite church down the street. No blatant falsehoods (yet), people were friendly without being pushy, the music was NOT an over-rehearsed media production, and the people I spoke to weren’t afraid to delve into the meaning of verses even if they said something the person didn’t like!
Didn’t do a headcount to see if it was mostly male or female, but the pastor was a woman, and the rest of the “servant-leaders” seemed split 50/50.
The truth they preached was more important to me. The Word of God is a 2-edged sword, not a feather pillow.
I’m rambling, I’d better stop.
You’re right. I’m going this Sunday.
You just channeled my thoughts.
I attend Mass to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. For that I put up with the least annoying liturgy I can find.
***What kind of message did they preach? Was it Scriptural?***
Doubtful. I’m sure it was very Roman Catholic.
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