I hadn’t had a chance to mention this last week. Only catching up now. In last week’s Word from Rome by John Allen, he describes the Pope’s trip to Rome, and specifically the youth rally and Mass. He described a pop soundtrack to Mass, but said it was a bit “unliturgical” after the presentation of gifts and before the Eucharist prayers and that there was a “jazz swing” number during the Communion meditation. Does that make you as uneasy as it makes me?
So are we finally jolted bad enough that we can see what’s been going on all the time?
We whine and carry on about mass abuses at home and then tune in to EWTN to see some weird stuff from Rome, and so far there’s been a complete disconnect about that.
I hate mass abuses. I hate the ones we have at home. I hate the ones that go on at WYD—jazz at Holy Communion, indeed. And it torques me to see weird dancing and people in their “native condition” in mass no matter where it’s held.
When will the people who plan these things realize that if you try to compete with the culture by mimicking the culture—you get rid of the distinctive difference between yourself and the culture—thereby making yourself completely SUPERFLUOUS to the viewer! Most people will say there is no point in going out of your way to go to church if you’re going to see & do exactly the same thing there as if you didn’t put the effort in to go. Yes, I know we receive HOly Communion but this jazz number seems to want to apologize for that, making it apparently as ordinary as possible—a good time is had by all, I guess…. Why does’nt this dawn on anyone???
RE the “native condition,” otherwise known as “bare-breasted” or “darned near buck naked”:
It’s my suspicion that these glorified natives (ala Gaugin) wear western clothes and smoke Lucky Strikes at home. Do you know how far out in the sticks you have to get before people dump western pants and t-shirts? People who don’t know about underwear wear western khaki shorts and t-shirts, I hate to tell you.So there’s no darned reason for them not to show up covered.
It’s our JOB to teach them some modesty and morals. So……..Mass is a good place to start.
The problem, in my opinion, is not that the Church is trying to “mimic” pop culture. That is the symptom. The real issue is that the Church has spent decades teaching sacramental ministry while ignoring daily ministry. Babtism, First Communion, Reconciliation, Confirmation and we’ll see you in about 10 years if you get married (or die or join a holy order).
Confirmation is a perfect example. The only reason that the age of confirmation has fluctuated was to be used as a carrot on a stick. “If we push confirmation to 15, we’ll keep the kids coming to CCD for a while longer.” For the vast majority of churches, there are no programs for teens or young adults. So when the teens who are proactive about their faith reach out to the Church (and God bless’em for that) , they, like any culture, try to incorporate the Church into what they know instead of vice versa.
I absolutely believe that the Sacraments are the most powerful gifts we have in the Church. But when we just focus on Sacramental Ministry, we end up with exactly what we have, ignorant Catholics. While the Protestants have kept few of the Sacraments (and watered them down), they are light years ahead of us in ministering. Many Protestants realize that even though they’ve received a Sacrament, they still need to learn about their religion and have the opportunity to do so. Sadly, it leaves us with a lot of Protestants who are more conversant about the Catholic church than the average Catholic.