Are any other Catholics creeped out by hand-holding during the Lord's Prayer-Vanity Post

lanceboyle | 13 June 2002 | lanceboyle

[Dick Vomer]

Well I drew the line when we were forced to sit on each others lap and whisper Hail Mary's in each others ears. Now as far as picking one's nose prior to hand holding.... well I for one think that's enough "community".

[He Rides A White Horse]

Oh and yeah I think it's kinda gay also.....

I can see why you feel that way..........really.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Isn't it nice.....an innocent gesture of Christian communal spirit takes on a new meaning..............'holding hands?'.....what do you think I am........

........It's all in context, I suppose..........

[Dick Vomer]

Joking, sorry to hit a nerve. I'm just kind of falling back on humor at this time. I think the Church has a rot in it's core. My sister, mother and all relatives are devout Catholics. They seem to be bleeding heart liberals for the most part and feel as if you are a hateful Nazi if you are a conservative. We must "love" our brother and not "judge" anybody. I don't judge but I won't close my eyes to behavior that is wrong. Holding Hands... I do it when I'm at mass... I think it would be impolite to refuse to hold someone's hand that was offered in Peace or to pray. But the allowing of Homosexuals in the clergy.... I think that's wrong.

[tiki]

I have my pew staked out in the front and I usually just have to hold hands with my husband.

[tiki]

Especially if the person next to me has just sneezed.

LOL This really happened to me. I was next to a little girl, maybe 3, she had just sneezed and had a hand full of snot, I didn't know until she reached for my hand. I was so grossed out!!! And yet it was kind of funny...a couple of weeks later.

[Havisham]

I think Russell Scott may be younger than the rest of us and, therefore, received some very luke warm catechisis. We're being too hard on him. I only received two years of Catholic schooling as a 6 to 8 year-old but it accounts for my orthodox faith today. The Novus Ordo mass properly done has much beauty and value. Unfortunately, it's hard to find a parish that offers one.

[Havisham]

I don't judge but I won't close my eyes to behavior that is wrong.

I will judge. I just won't feel superior when I do because I am acutely aware of my fallen state.

[D-fendr]

Be grateful you have hands and someone there to hold them.

May you never be someone without either.

[Sock]

Be grateful you have hands and someone there to hold them.

May you never be someone without either.

A Celtic toast? :)

[Sock]

To which I replied, "Oh, I can lay prostrate, if you prefer."

I think we may be related, sockmonkey. ;)

[Dick Vomer]

Well I only have little flippers for hands ......... and I live in a cave...... (just kidding) jeez.... It is just an odd feeling to go from putting my hands together and saying the Lord's Prayer to making like a huddle in football and putting all our hands together as we break the huddle. Sorry if I offended the hand holders but I think the discussion of whether or not to hold hands was kinda funny.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Ah, yes. We have a lot of Shirley McClaines in our church -- and it weirds me out. I'm in your camp. I don't like drinking wine after 100 other people -- especially since I have become a Eucharistic Minister and know how they DON'T wash the chalices.

[Sock]

Besides, the hand-holding is just plain gay.

	The Rev. Charles Bisgrove, left, of Sacret Heart Monastery in Franklin Wis., and Kathy Motzke of Milwaukee, right, hold hands during a "Healing Mass" for Archbishop Rembert Weakland and the Catholic Church, at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Wednesday, May 29, 2002, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Darren Hauck) - May 29 9:53 PM ET

[afraidfortherepublic]

I didn't know until she reached for my hand. I was so grossed out!!! And yet it was kind of funny...a couple of weeks later.

This happened to us last winter. I made sure that I received Communion on my tongue. My husband didn't -- using his hands for Communion after the "snotty" handshake. Our manufacturing plant is near the Church and I asked to go directly there to wash my hands thoroughly before we went out to breakfast (ordinarily I'm not a fanatic about that, but that morning was different). I escaped the illness, but my poor husband was sick within 24 hours and was sick for 2 weeks afterwaard.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Re: your comment at #60 -- see #75.

[Gerish]

I'm laughing because I'm thinking the same thing. I will watch as these little old ladies outstretch their arms like they have some special powers or something. It really is funny, not to mention that they look ridiculous.

God Bless my father, an old school German Catholic. He refuses to do the sign of peace, can't stand "all that singing," but he has the faith of a child. We attend mass at a Polish church where all the hype and show is left at the door.

[RobbyS]

My personal complaint about liturgical reforms is that most of them are just so phoney. One abandons a long established practice for novelties that are often just plain silly. In the case of the Catholic Church we abandoned a liturgy that took three hundred years to develop, including adaptions to local preference, and adopted new forms that lack either religious or aesthetic merit. Guitar masses came about simply because folk music was trendy at the time of the reforms and most of the tunes were far belong the level of commercial tunes because their composers were nontalents.

[Conservababe]

Really. They could have leprosy.

Oh, I hardly think so. The last of the leprosy colony hospitals was located in Carville, Louisiana. My mother was a public health nurse who worked there frequently.

[perform_to_strangers]

"I have seen people refuse to hold others' hands during the Lord's prayer, and to me, I really think it is more charitable to my pew neighbor to just go ahead and hold hands."

LOL. In general, I agree with you, especially if you don't feel terribly strongly against it. But your comment reminded me of a time when I offered my hand to a stranger, and she accepted it, but held her hand perfectly stiff against mine all through the Our Father. It was like holding hands with a brick. I wasn't offended, but it was terribly distracting. I kept wondering whether she'd be more comfortable if I did the same, and the idea gave me the giggles. I'm sure everyone around us would have gotten more from the prayer if she'd simply folded her hands when I held out my hand, and my feelings wouldn't have been at all hurt.