Arrgh! Horrible "Surprise" at Mass today

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Isidore_AK

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I go to Mass at the 7pm last chance Mass (last one in the diocese), expecting the usual lukewarm homily, Haugen & Haas, and the massive cremation. Its about the best I can expect in this diocese. Anyway, I got a wonderful surprise when Mass started, and we were informed that from now on, that this would be a “Teen Mass”, and the organist was now replaced by teens with acoustic guitars.

…I always thought that although I wasn’t really happy with the Mass at this parish, that it could be much worse. Well, today we got a load of Protestant music…my wife (ex Baptist) was very familiar with what they decided to play…since they use that exact same music at the Mega-Church down the street…

Drove me nuts! I was so angry I walked out of the Mass…:mad: :eek:
 
Isidore_AK said:
I go to Mass at the 7pm last chance Mass (last one in the diocese), expecting the usual lukewarm homily, Haugen & Haas, and the massive cremation. Its about the best I can expect in this diocese. Anyway, I got a wonderful surprise when Mass started, and we were informed that from now on, that this would be a “Teen Mass”, and the organist was now replaced by teens with acoustic guitars.

…I always thought that although I wasn’t really happy with the Mass at this parish, that it could be much worse. Well, today we got a load of Protestant music…my wife (ex Baptist) was very familiar with what they decided to play…since they use that exact same music at the Mega-Church down the street…

Drove me nuts! I was so angry I walked out of the Mass…:mad: :eek:
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I would have taken the Eucharist first and found another church later. I can’t imagine missing out on the communion, no matter how upset I was.
 
deb1 said:
I would have taken the Eucharist first and found another church later. I can’t imagine missing out on the communion, no matter how upset I was.
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:amen:

No amount of terrible music prevents Christ from being present at every valid Mass. And believe me, no matter what the musical style there will always be times where the choir or musicians are having an off day. Can’t believe you would walk out for something so trivial.
 
Isidore_AK said:
…Drove me nuts! I was so angry I walked out of the Mass…:mad: :eek:
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Seems to me anger is a sin. Not to mention walking out of Mass. I sure hope you went to Mass elsewhere, or you just added more to the mess.
Kathy
 
Katie1723 said:
Seems to me anger is a sin. Not to mention walking out of Mass. I sure hope you went to Mass elsewhere, or you just added more to the mess.
Kathy
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Anger is not necessarily a sin. There is such a thing as righteous anger. I don’t know if the original poster was right in walking out of Mass, but was he at a Mass?

I have seen many “Teen Masses” that seem to be little more than kumbaya, let’s everyone hold hands and act like protestant pseudo masses.

If a priest allows this to occur one wonders if he is really confecting the Sacrament at all. Remember, proper intent, proper matter and proper form are required…
 
the joke is I wonder if anyone talked to the teens and asked them for their (name removed by moderator)ut. Our kids simply hate the so-called contemporary Christian stuff that was popular about 15 years ago, which is what is played at their Mass once a month. Many of our teens have tried to become active in that music group, which is composed of 30 somethings who should now better, but have given up because they can’t stand what passes for music. they have an active sense of what is fitting in Mass and what belongs in a concert setting, they know the difference, and they are deeply offended at attempts to placate them by using horrible music.

they love the Latin we use during Advent and Lent, they render the Gregorian chant bettern than the adults, and Father doesn’t know it yet but they will be practicing a chant Gloria for Christmas that will blow this parish away (we almost never sing a Gloria).
 
This is a “Life Teen” mass and the first one I attended in our parish I thought I had left the Church:eek:

Our Teen youth minister was a former protestant and you could tell. The congregation clapped, had hand motions to the alleluia, the teens came up ONTO the altar during the consecration and stood behind the priest. Somehow I think people began to have problems with the “entertainment” during mass and they complained.

Well, we now have a new youth minister and things have calmed down considerably - no more clapping, hand motions and teens on the altar - they come to kneel in front of the altar. I still avoid this mass as this mass tries to “entertain” too much but the youth group is growing which is a good thing in the Catholic Church.
 
c’,mon, man.
you went to a mass and walked out because the ‘music’ wasn’t to your liking…what is that?
It’s not a good thing to be so sensitive that you’d rather miss Mass than listen to a guitar.
 
I wish to ask a question for all of you to answer:

How many of your churches (that have guitars,drums,tamborines, keyboards,bongos,etc.) have these musicians placed somewhere in the very front where they are often a focal point when they belt out a rhapsody during the mass ???

and, what is your opinion with them being in the front part of the church ??? Is this necessary ??
 
I used to attend a NO parish where they had a 7:00 Mass that included modern instruments (electric guitars, electric drum set, etc…). They were placed at the front of the church just to the right of the altar. I went to this Mass once and people actually applauded them at the conclusion of Mass.

It saddened me so much. I didn’t know that I was at a concert.
 
lukefan said:
This is a “Life Teen” mass and the first one I attended in our parish I thought I had left the Church:eek:

Our Teen youth minister was a former protestant and you could tell. The congregation clapped, had hand motions to the alleluia, the teens came up ONTO the altar during the consecration and stood behind the priest. Somehow I think people began to have problems with the “entertainment” during mass and they complained.

Well, we now have a new youth minister and things have calmed down considerably - no more clapping, hand motions and teens on the altar - they come to kneel in front of the altar. I still avoid this mass as this mass tries to “entertain” too much but the youth group is growing which is a good thing in the Catholic Church.
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I have had experience with LifeTeen and must say as much as I find certain parish programs disagreeable sometimes, the LifeTeen is simply going to be a reflection of the parish–it is what you make it. If you have a very traditional parish, you can have a very traditional LifeTeen. If you have a fluffy parish, you will get a fluffy LifeTeen. The lifeteen site itself is fully orthodox. Recently I saw a video of a girl giving a sound defense of male-only priesthood. There was a controversy when in one Lifeteen there was holding hands around the altar and giving the dreadful “The mass never ends blah, blah, blah.” The bishop simply mentioned the problem (didn’t bark on order that is) and the parish stopped. I think with good oversite, Lifeteen can work without the stoopid stuff.

Scott
 
This “Teen Mass” seems to be quite popular. I get very annoyed when they have to *display the kids’ talents *and everyone gets a place in the band (trumpets, flutes, guitars, chimes, xylaphone, etc…). I am very offended when adults feel that they have to dumb everything down for us teenagers. Why should the music that has been used for nearly 2000 years be changed to accomodate the new generation?!! Shouldn’t the youth challenge themselves to try to accomodate the traditions that make the Catholic Church so special? It’s all just a “me-me” mentality: “This music makes me feel holy and pleasing to God, so let’s use it in Mass.”

Those are just the thoughts of a frustrated teenager. 😉
 
Isidore_AK said:
I go to Mass at the 7pm last chance Mass (last one in the diocese), expecting the usual lukewarm homily, Haugen & Haas, and the massive cremation. Its about the best I can expect in this diocese. Anyway, I got a wonderful surprise when Mass started, and we were informed that from now on, that this would be a “Teen Mass”, and the organist was now replaced by teens with acoustic guitars.

…I always thought that although I wasn’t really happy with the Mass at this parish, that it could be much worse. Well, today we got a load of Protestant music…my wife (ex Baptist) was very familiar with what they decided to play…since they use that exact same music at the Mega-Church down the street…

Drove me nuts! I was so angry I walked out of the Mass…:mad: :eek:
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It hard to believe that this was done without any kind of announcements during the prior weeks.
 
You are alls so very very fortunate to have the opportunitiy to attend mass every Sunday. I would love to have mass with poor music. At least we would have mass. Here we cannot even be guaranteed that there will be a priest available for Sunday mass. Daily mass is not even a possiblitlity. So please next time you go to a mass that isn’t everything you want it to be - say an extra prayer for those of us Catholics who may not even have an opportunity for mass that Sunday.
 
For me, my contention is why does the “band” for lack of a better word need to be up in the very front of church ???

Sure, there isn’t always room in the back but, the music is to help elevate our worship…HEARING the music IMHO is the most important part…well, to me it is…

Now, considering that most all the music now days is broadcast over speakers, I think for the most part, we can hear quite well (even without speakers) if they are in the back of church…

The point I am making in my statement is about the deflection and distraction of our focus at the mass…We can enjoy the music just as much by taking in the sounds our ears are hearing without our eyes letting us get distracted from all that is taking place at the mass…

We had choir lofts before (some still do, I know) and we didn’t have to watch them with our eyes to enjoy the sweet music they were belting out, did we ???

You might need a cantor up front who directs the congregation but that is another matter…

One more analogy…When you go to a large play or production, have you ever noticed the orchestra is in a pit, out of view so the view of them does not distort your focus on the production at hand…Why can’t we keep this perspective when it comes to our mass and our focus on Christ ???

As someone mentioned earlier, for many (not all) it comes down to the issue of “Look at me” instead of keeping the focus on Christ and the mass…
 
amills said:
You are alls so very very fortunate to have the opportunitiy to attend mass every Sunday. I would love to have mass with poor music. At least we would have mass. Here we cannot even be guaranteed that there will be a priest available for Sunday mass. Daily mass is not even a possiblitlity. So please next time you go to a mass that isn’t everything you want it to be - say an extra prayer for those of us Catholics who may not even have an opportunity for mass that Sunday.
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Amills,

Sorry to hear of your situation (guarantee) with regards to mass…Yes, I honestly think may of us would choose horrible instruments verus not having the mass at all…

With that said, as long as there are options we should continue to strive or in some of our cases, desire, to be provided a worship service where our focus is on Christ and not on a sideshow…
 
I have walked out of Masses before, several times. One was a “polka” Mass; another was a loud, obnoxious rock-concert Mass. And I came real close to walking out of another when I couldn’t see the altar because of the hordes of sixteen year-old pixies in bathing suits prancing around doing “liturgical dance”. :rolleyes:
 
Wow! Guess I’m in the signifcant minority when I say that I like the “contemporary” Mass. I love that kind of music. In fact, I sing and play guitar for my parish’s contemporary group.

I wonder why people take such a strong stance on having “traditional” music. What makes that music any better than contemporary? Have you even looked at the authors of these traditional hymns? Half of them are Protestant, yet we sing them all the time. What makes those hymns ok but not newer ones? And what if the newer ones were done by Catholic artists? Would that make it ok?

If it wasn’t for “contemporary” music I wouldn’t even BE in The Church. It was because of the words of a contemporary song at my parish that I started coming back to Church and it is still through the words of contemporary songs (traditional as well) that I find my greatest connection, my greatest communication, with God. 1 Corinthians 9:22b-23 - “I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.”
 
for the people that walk out of the mass… so am i to understand the liturgy doesn’t exist for the glory of God, regardless of it being a polka mass or having dancers before mass, it exists for the viewer’s pleasure in light of their traditional preferences., evidently.
 
Isidore_AK said:
I go to Mass at the 7pm last chance Mass (last one in the diocese), expecting the usual lukewarm homily, Haugen & Haas, and the massive cremation. Its about the best I can expect in this diocese. Anyway, I got a wonderful surprise when Mass started, and we were informed that from now on, that this would be a “Teen Mass”, and the organist was now replaced by teens with acoustic guitars.

…I always thought that although I wasn’t really happy with the Mass at this parish, that it could be much worse. Well, today we got a load of Protestant music…my wife (ex Baptist) was very familiar with what they decided to play…since they use that exact same music at the Mega-Church down the street…

Drove me nuts! I was so angry I walked out of the Mass…:mad: :eek:
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I attend a charismatic(sp?) church. There is a band with protestant music along with many catholic music. I can tell you that I was pretty doubtful at first. I soon learned that the people at this Church were so Catholic even more so than people I have meet at other traditional churches. I am not talking about a couple of handfuls of people but I would say that almost the whole congregation if not the whole congregation. The priest will get up almost every Sunday and preach of the evils of abortion. There are also many class that are offered to teach about the church, which are always full.

I think that saying that just because there is a band or because some of the congregation extend out there hands in an “alleluia” manner is questionable is being a little self righteous (sorry if this sounds presumptuous :o ). You need to look beyond your own comfort and see if the church is in line with Rome.

Just my two cents.
 
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