Larry Slattery responds to a letter to the editor in a St. Louis newspaper that accuses Archbishop-elect Burke of being a “cafeteria” bishop.
The letter writer is a member of Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church, one of the most liberal, heterodox lobbying groups out there. How ironic that a representative of that group would accuse Bishop Burke of being a cafeteria bishop. How ironic that he would say that Bishop Burke ignored politicians who dissent from Church teaching on “birth control, opposition to war, the death penalty, divorce, neglect of the less fortunate,” since ARCC dissents from Church teach on many substantive areas of dogma, including abortion, birth control, divorce, (and I’d say, the death penality, at least in how they phrase their stance.)
You guys, come ON!!!
Where the heck are “fellowship” and—my all time namby-mamby-pamby (hiya, Sock!) term:
MINISTRY.
As in “the music ministry will now lead us in our gathering song…” Ugh. “Gathering song” is another one. What’s up with that? Haven’t we already “gathered” by the time we sing the opening (or entrance or processional) hymn? ‘Course, some songs really don’t deserve the name “hymn,” but I digress…
(And we don’t just “go in peace” after the Mass is finished anymore—no, we “go forth!”)
Everybody and his sister is a “minister” these days.
A choir is now a “music ministry.” The folks who pass the basket at the offertory are really “greeting ministers.” (Why not “ministers of finance?” One wonders.)
The ladies who make sure there’s coffee and donuts after Mass? They’re the “Hospitality Ministry.” (Whose “ministry” it is to promote “fellowship.”)
Join the American Catholic Church! It’s not just a job…it’s a MINISTRY!
The Choir Ministry (after the obligatory “Peace, all!) asks to substitute “Blowin’ in the Wind” for “Here I am, Lord.”
This is because, as the presider of the worship space will appreciate, the word “lord” is simply not inclusive, excluding as it does, womyn.
In other news:
the language ministry wishes to protest the use of capital letters.
(More on this story as it Progressively Develops, if that in fact happens.)