How about this:
- The ladies get involved because men are not as religious; if you’ve given birth, you know how serious life is and therefore, its ultimate outcome becomes very important. A man, by contrast, can be Peter Pan into his 50’s.
- Because there are then more women involved, men tend not to want to get involved; it doesn’t seem a serious business, don’t want to listen to all that chat, seems to be going OK, no problem here, might as well stay home.
- The trend in the N.O. Mass is not to mention Sin, Death, Damnation or Hell. Funerals don’t emphasise that the deceased is likely in Purgatory. So, that it’s not a serious business is further reinforced = fewer men.
- With the Novus Ordo allowing more personal expression at Mass and more women then being involved in said Mass, the statistical probability is that any N.O. Mass is going to be more feminine; more women, unthreatening hymns, kids drawings etc.
- The priest wants a congregation. He thinks he’s giving them what they want. If he made a drastic change, might they protest or leave? Best leave things as they are. Don’t want the bishop on my back.
So men don’t get involved. There’s no apparent need. It’s all going well and just a bit … well … feminine. Have a lie in and let the Missus take care of it.
One factor re-inforces another.
Well, a couple of things are wrong with this picture. The priest should insist that the men get involved, and not just let the ladies do everything, even if it means rocking the boat.
The danger in regards to worrying about if people will leave or stay, and letting this sway your agenda is the same one protestants face, and in fact, it’s dangerous to let the members dictate policy and how things are ran, they are not the ones in charge, nor do they have authority. Most protestant churches I’ve visited, they were more concerned about filling in the pews then delivering the messages the people “needed” to hear. They want those pews filled so that they will make more money, and it results in a watered down faith that’s lacking in many areas.
We do have a priest that visits the local parish from time to time, he gives it to us straight, no candy coating, and is very traditional. He is never well received there, “outside of yours truly”, and he shares my frustration on this matter, even though he and I never even needed to speak a word about it.
I very much do think we should place more focus along the matters that count, Purgatory for example is not necessarily a bad place, it’s only a time for us to become the final work of our Lords creation, he’s finishing up his master pieces there, and if we recognize it in this life, we are better suited for him to complete more of his work in this life, within us, shortening the length of time in purgatory for us. We should also empasise this, that we do pray for all those departed, this to me would and is saying a prayer for those in purgatory by default, and those that receive our prayers that are enduring it, are so, so grateful, it’s nothing we should shy away from at all, for eventually it will be you, yourself in need of those prayers.
