Ash Wednesday - Liturgical Abuse or Poor Taste?

[Gertabelle]

I guess it comes down to your choosing what is most important to you for your child’s education. The culture of her school is no small thing – it will influence her deeply and may eventually replace your authority (when she reaches her teenage years).

Are you willing to let this schools’ teachers demonstrate disrespect for the Church – its teachings, its authority, etc. – for the sake of social justice issues? Can’t YOU teach her love and care of the poor? The power of teachers should not be brushed aside. If they teach things contrary to your family’s beliefs, they truly can undo what is closest to your heart – your faith.

Praying for you in this time of concern and confusion…

God bless you.

Gertie

 

[TimothyH]

Tim, you are missing my point. Forget the homily/sermon, I understand that. My point, as I’ve stated is my concern of the seemingly irreverant culture that appears to be forming or already present at this parish/school. It seems to be very protestant-like. I love good uplifting music and prayer services as much as the next person, but I think there’s a time and place for everything. Having a layperson preside over an Ash Wednesday prayer service, (albeit not a Mass) while an Ordained Priest stands idly by sends the wrong message to the young parishoners in my opinion. There seems to be an arrogance about the laity in charge in this position, sometimes to the point of being condescending. I understand this very well (I used to be an RCIA leader) and know how things can easily get out of hand. Not the end of the world, but I’m the type who would rather receive communion from a priest, receive a blessing from a priest, listen to reverent and appropriate music during Mass (not a disney song). I guess I’m just old fashioned.

No, I understand your point perfectly.

You would rather receive communion and blessing from a priest, prefer traditional music, believe it set a bad example for the priest to to sit while others presided and see the activities at the Ash Wednesday service as representative of a general lack of reverence at the parish which has been ongoing or getting worse over the past two years. Okay. We get that. Now what?

What do you want here? What do you hope to accomplish by posting a list of offenses and your reasons for displeasure?

Esto vir. Be a man. Et erit quasi pater filiis vestris. Be a father to your children. Introduce yourself to the priest and ask him about these things and stop complaining on the internet where nothing can be done about it. Or keep complaining - others will commiserate and you will feel better temporarily until you have to go back to that parish and the music or priest or something else will upset you again. It doesn’t matter to me either way. It’s your life. My life won’t change.

Over the past thirteen years I’ve spent over $120,000 to send my children to Catholic School and moved my family 900 miles so that they could go to a school run by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. I made the choice and did something about it. I get your point perfectly and hope you get mine.

-Tim-

 

[johnnyc176]

Well I’m usually the type that carefully chooses my battles and what to get upset about. For sure there are worse things going on in the world. Did you see the news on that Mass in Seattle on superbowl sunday? I digress again…

I do love other aspects of this school (academics, social justice, love for one another, etc.), but I stand by my concerns. Hopefully things won’t go too much further.

I would still ask for clarification on why a lay person was allowed to bless the ashes.

I think you are right to be concerned about Liturgical abuses. Cardinal Burke spelled this out very well a couple of years ago when he was interviewed about the importance of the Liturgy.

zenit.org/en/articles/bringing-the-liturgy-back-to-the-real-vatican-ii

ZENIT: Some also say that to be concerned with liturgical law is being unduly legalistic, that it’s a stifling of the spirit. How should one respond to that? Why should we be concerned about liturgical law?

Cardinal Burke: Liturgical law disciplines us so that we have the freedom to worship God, otherwise we’re captured – we’re the victims or slaves either of our own individual ideas, relative ideas of this or that, or of the community or whatever else. But the liturgical law safeguards the objectivity of sacred worship and opens up that space within us, that freedom to offer worship to God as He desires, so we can be sure we’re not worshipping ourselves or, at the same time, as Aquinas says, some kind of falsification of divine worship.

 

[27lw]

Hi,
I agree with the original post, that several things seem weird about this. I would just gently ask the priest about it, not in an accusing way, just seeking to understand. I kind of wonder, though, if this is the way that the DRE, administration, priest etc. behave when they are on show, what stuff is happening and what are the attitudes when no one is watching? It might be time to see if there are any more reverent schools in the area.
At least if you ask, you will feel better for airing it out, and the priest will know that someone is noticing if things are a little “off” there!

 

[Brendan]

Since it was a Liturgy of the Word, not a Mass, and it seemed to follow the rubrics defined for a Liturgy of the Word, it would not, technically be a Liturgical Abuse

To the second question, being a matter of Poor Taste, that would depend on the reason the priest was in attendance, yet not presiding.

If the priest was monitoring the conduct of the Liturgy of the Word, then it would be both acceptable, and even encouraged, especially of the presider was being trained to conduct one, and this was his\her first attempt.

It would be a matter of charity for the priest to witness the event, as support, and to offer constructive criticism to the person after the event.

If the priest chose not to out of laziness, then it would be in bad taste.

But I am not too sure how anyone, outside of the priest himself, could make that determination.

 

[Daddyof4]

No, I understand your point perfectly.

You would rather receive communion and blessing from a priest, prefer traditional music, believe it set a bad example for the priest to to sit while others presided and see the activities at the Ash Wednesday service as representative of a general lack of reverence at the parish which has been ongoing or getting worse over the past two years. Okay. We get that. Now what?

What do you want here? What do you hope to accomplish by posting a list of offenses and your reasons for displeasure?

Esto vir. Be a man. Et erit quasi pater filiis vestris. Be a father to your children. Introduce yourself to the priest and ask him about these things and stop complaining on the internet where nothing can be done about it. Or keep complaining - others will commiserate and you will feel better temporarily until you have to go back to that parish and the music or priest or something else will upset you again. It doesn’t matter to me either way. It’s your life. My life won’t change.

Over the past thirteen years I’ve spent over $120,000 to send my children to Catholic School and moved my family 900 miles so that they could go to a school run by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. I made the choice and did something about it. I get your point perfectly and hope you get mine.

-Tim-

Tim, thanks for the lesson in latin. I’ve been a little rusty lately since my high school latin course. I can assure you I am a man, and I am a father to my children. As I stated to another person on here (it was removed for some reason), isn’t this the whole point of the forums? To ask questions, generate discussion on a particular topic? I have my opinions but sometimes I’ve been known to go a little overboard. Bottom line for this school:

Pros
Good Christian education
Good Social Justice
Excellent academics
Safe environment
Good support system of parents and teachers

Cons
Dwindling reverance in the liturgy
Arrogance of certain laity (condescending in certain issues)
Prayer time in the classroom is irreverant (constant disruptions by parents, teachers not enforcing enough silence for prayer time)

At this point in time, I’m not willing to relocate 900 miles away yet.

 

[felsguy]

… Bottom line for this school:

Pros
Good Christian education
Good Social Justice
Excellent academics
Safe environment
Good support system of parents and teachers

Cons
Dwindling reverance in the liturgy
Arrogance of certain laity (condescending in certain issues)
Prayer time in the classroom is irreverant (constant disruptions by parents, teachers not enforcing enough silence for prayer time)…

My goodness, I should think that a lot of parents would consider relocating (although perhaps not 900 miles) just so their children COULD attend a school such as this.

.

 

[janeway529]

I’d like to know if anyone can shed some light on this. Today I went to the Ash Wednesday service at my child’s catholic school/church. It was NOT a Mass, only an Ash Wednesday prayer service.

Nonetheless I was a bit perturbed because it had the readings that were read by lectors, including the Gospel. The Gospel was read by the religious education director, who was leading this service. After he read the Gospel, he proceeded to deliver his “homily” to the students and parishoners. After that, he “blessed” the ashes with Holy Water and directed the various eucharistic ministers to distribute the ashes. All this was done with the parish/school priest in attendence. The only thing the priest did was help to distribute ashes.

The service was accompanied with the typical “feel good” music you may encounter at a non denominational/protestant service. Maybe it’s just me, but I hold sacred our Catholic traditons and Liturgy, and this just seemed wrong to me, even if it’s not illicit or contrary to canon law (I don’t know the answer to this). It almost seemed as if this person was relishing “playing priest”.

By the way, would this be considered a liturgical abuse? This is the second year my daughter has been at the school and I’ve been noticing more and more things like this. We normally attend a different parish on Sundays, but its become more apparent as she has been preparing for her Holy Communion this year (we’ve had to participate more in the parish liturgies).

Seems like a Children’s Liturgy of the Word, which does have some room for adaptations.