It really feels like that right now. Not only at school, but I struggle at my own church to find orthodoxy.
Today was the "Family Mass." It was also the Mass before Confirmation on Monday... so I saw lots of people who I don't see there on a regular basis. Sistra and I were on the lector schedule for today. Grace got dragged into being in the choir, and Princess sat on the other end of the pew in front of Sistra and myself. Princess also got convinced to be up front with the other little children during the opening song "Awesome God" (a song which I have not heard in a Catholic church, EVER--it's a Protestant thing), doing what I have deemed "hand jives." They call it "liturgical hand motions," but I figure that they might as well be performing "Born to Hand Jive" from Grease because it's equally as distracting.
The "Spirit Alive" song is still despicable. Our parody is coming along nicely, however, and should be finished soon (at least, I hope so--the verses are being a pain to rewrite). I see no reason to say any more on this topic.
I'm going to skip to the end because I am trying to forget this as quickly as possible. The recessional hymn was "Celebrating Youth," which is some horrible "we/us" song. Oh wait, I forgot. They had hand jives to "Open My Eyes, Lord" during the Presentation of the Gifts. *twitch*
Anyway, I spent much of my Mass reciting Hail Marys to try to stay focused. I think I'll have to really work on that next time.
What saddens me the most about this? People actually think it's okay. They don't understand just how wrong it is. It seems that they are so desperate to break from the "old and outdated" tradition (and Tradition, by the looks of it) that they will do anything to get people in the pews, no matter how irreverent--and all in the name of "modernization," of course. It makes me sad to see young children up at the front and participating in the hand jives, thinking them totally okay. I mean, they were on the altar. Education and catechism is needed, desperately. (I also don't understand how the altar servers can understand that you don't cross in front of the priest but not bow to the Tabernacle when they cross in front of it.)
12 comments:
If you and Sistra didn't have to do your AQ-required community service tomorrow, I'd suggest we go to St. Stan's to make up for what we endured this evening. Suffering draws us closer to Christ. Offer it up.
Mom
Keep fighting the good fight, Ink. As John Senior wrote, never does the Church more resemble her Lord than when she is betrayed from within.
"I mean, they were on the altar."
I sure hope that nobody was on top of the altar! lol. That spot is reserved for the Lord Jesus.
What do these hand jives look like? Is it people making circles in the air with their index fingers sticking up? I saw this at Assumption in Fairport. Allegedly this is sign language for "Alleluia."
~Dr. K
Dr. K,
Better index than middle!
Ink's mom
Oh, and they weren't ON the altar - just in front of the altar. And the hand motions were, uh, kind of hard to distinguish. The people behind us (who talked LOUDLY throughout the WHOLE Mass) exclaimed, "Oh, look! Sign language!" Yeah. Sure. Whatever.
"Better index than middle!"
Well said. :-)
~Dr. K
Never seen so many kids at Mass in my life as at OLV last Sunday morning...just PACKED with young people
I'll be at St Michael in the 7th ward this afternoon...wish me luck!
We went to Saint Michael on All Saint's Day for Sunday evening Mass (Halloween took a lot out of us). It would have made its way into a blog post if I hadn't had homework to do and sleep to catch up on that evening. The church is awe-inspiring in its beauty (and the pews/kneelers are all just my size: a little on the small side), but the priest was a bit irreverent for my taste. Nonetheless, simply walking into the church was a more reverent, religious experience than most Masses in the area. I only wish it wasn't in such a bad section of town...
Well, here's my thoughts:
WOW. Breathtakingly beautiful...and the organ...mmmm, oh man
The music was pretty good, one of the best places around I suppose.
The deacon was...I thought...well, I thought he was welcoming, very alive and passionate, though I thought the homily was lacking...though I prefer hard-hitting homilies.
The people seemed exceptionally pleasant, though they all played ring around the Pater Noster...
The sign of peace took a good 5 minutes...for a congregation of...50 maybe?
The priest...well, twas a visiting priest...namely my boyhood pastor, and the one who baptized me years ago...Msgr. Gerard Krieg...and I do absolutely love that guy...got a chance to chat with him for a while after Mass...
Overall, quite a pleasant experience.
The normal priest at St. Michael fractions to host at the wrong time. At least he did when I went. I hope that he's following the rubrics now.
The church is beautiful, absolutely stunning.
And yes, OLV has a LOT of young people. There are very few gray hairs in the congregation. The church is usually packed on Sundays, and respectably attended on Saturday evenings.
Moral of the story: orthodoxy and tradition is bringing in the young people.
I forgot to mention that about our day at St. Michael's--we were the only young people in the entire place. It was a bit disconcerting.
Yeah, I think Ink's Dad and I were the next youngest!
Ink's Mom
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