MUScoop
MUScoop => The Superbar => Topic started by: Warrior1996 on June 01, 2007, 09:27:05 AM
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I try to go to church regularly. Anyhow, what do you people think of the mass where you live? The reason I ask is that the mass at my church is so goofy it's seems to be more about the choir and all of the many ministers rather than the holy sacrifice. The music is like that of a cocktail lounge and the rubrics have been almost abandoned. I'm not saying the sacraments are invalid; it just seems irreverent and un-pious. Maybe the problem is me.
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That sentiment reminds me of something .. a few years back, I went to my neice-in-law's baptism at a Lutheran church. It was a "children's mass" and the priest came in, said hello, announced the mass was going to be done by kids, and sat down in the pews to watch.
The next hour was done by kids, where they read a few items, but mostly, it was a series of acts and skits. Then a puppet show.
"A puppet show!?? This is NOT right." is what went through this recovering Catholic's mind. -- But then I thought about it again. Maybe more masses should have puppet shows. Maybe every mass should have a puppet show. It would sure make things more interesting.
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Many people consider church as a place of learning. One of my favorite adages in the teaching world is:
Tell me and I'll forget.
Show me and I'll remember.
Involve me and I'll understand.
Allowing the kids to run a mass or any part of a church ceremony once every very great while sounds like a great idea to me.
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My parish just had the worst priest I have ever encountered retire. He was here for 10 years and phoned the whole decade in. He never got involved with the laity, except to veto reasonable ideas brought forth to stabilize the parish's finances. 10 years of schoolchildren from my school think that priests don't like kids (don't even think of making a joke here). Our new pastor is everything the old one was not, and the parish is rebounding nicely.
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The church I go to is very old school. It's great! It's the way mass is meant to be....well thought out sermons based on the readings, no handshake of peace (you can shake hands before or after mass), none of that typical midwest standing up during the consecration. I love it. To some extent it reminds me a little of mass at St. Josaphats in Milwaukee (but more conservative) which I miss dearly. I can't wait until the mass goes back to Latin...should happen relatively soon.
And I'm sorry but children should never say mass. I'm all for children having a role in the mass as alter servers or ushers, etc. I would walk out of mass and not ever go back to that particular parish if they had kids doing puppet shows and running the mass.
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Children saying mass? I don't think that's even possible. Only ordained priests can say mass. But I agree. The holy sacrifice is not the place for children’s theatre.(I'm not commenting on other denominations services. They should do what ever they feel comfortable with.) I have a problem with dumbing-down the liturgy to an extent that it becomes entertainment for children. It seems like the lazy thing to do. Rather than teaching and training the children it seems much easier to entertain them. Obviously children can only grasp so much. But how can children learn to appreciate to the beauty of a proper mass if they’re never exposed to it.
As far as adults are concerned, the dumbing-down of the liturgy has happened there too. The church tries to be secular theatre, with cocktail music during communion and all. When ever the liturgists try competing with secular entertainment, they fail.
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The 'children-saying-mass' thing happened at a Lutheran service. Having been married in a Lutheran church as well as attending one for a few years, I can assure you that they take their religion seriously but aren't quite as committed to the ritual. I have no trouble picturing children leading a Lutheran service once every year or so.
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as long as it doesnt ever happen in the Catholic church i dont care.
i agree the liturgy is a mess. i hate the music during communion and the handshake of peace does not belong in a Catholic mass either. its just one of the many ways the Catholic mass has been ruined to try to draw prots to the catholic church.
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jutaw----I agree with a lot of what you say----IMO the mass should never have been changed from Latin-----it gave the Catholic Church a mystique of its origin and perpetuity----services are too much like the other faiths now. I also think sermons shouldn't be more than 5-10 minutes----anymore than that people wander off mentally unless the talk is exceptionally stimulating.
Another thing I agree on is the sign of peace-----shake hands before and after mass if you wish.
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I definately agree on the lenght of the homily. One of our priests in Madison gives a 5 minute--10 max--homily every week and, you know what, I pay attention. He's direct, too the point, prepared and usually has a closing line that has the entire church quiet and thinking. He's also an interesting guy, in that he was married and his wife passed and he joined the priesthood.
We tease my in-laws, we go to 5:15 on Saturday and they go to 5 pm at their church and we usually beat them out.
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i agree about the homily. the church i grew up in has a priest who wouldnt be so bad if he could learn to cut back on the message. sometimes overdoing the homily takes alot away from the point you're trying to drive.
on another note, my sisters and i are convinced that when my mom dies (assuming she passes first), my dad will probably join the priesthood like ziggy's priest in madtown.
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I live down in Atlanta and if I were a baptist I'd be livin on easy street as there is a Baptist church on every other corner (And they're GIGANTIC, talking about small stadium sizes) so the few catholic churches that are available are normally packed for each service which can make it tricky to attend. We have 3 priests at our church: 1 is spanish speaking, 1 is the older one who is definitely more engaging and interesting, and the younger priest is a very direct no-nonsense kind of preacher which is fine but his homilies have fewer interesting stories so your mind can wander from time to time. All in all I'd have to say that I enjoy attending mass at our church and the church my in-laws attend which is about 50 miles away. Both are still fairly conservative yet they both have introduced a bit more modern music as well as more programs geared towards teenagers. I know there's some old school folks on this board who aren't necessarily for this but I think if it encourages kids to take an interest in God at an earlier age there can't be too much wrong with it. There are far worse things in the world to draw children's interest than an acoustic guitar at mass.