T
Topher
Guest
Life Teen Heresy? Common. Give me a break. I am very strict when it comes to orthodox and liturgical accuracy, but calling Life Teen a Heresy is just simply absurd.
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K
kelso
Guest
Great thread topic.
As a catechist in the post-Vatican II Church, I’ve noticed an awful lot of Catholics using the big tent analolgy when it comes to liturgy.
Spend any time in most parishes around the United States, and I’ll think you’ll find a VERY lop-sided big tent, liturgically speaking.
Sure, they’ll experiment with liturgical clowns, rapping priests, and horribly over-weight liturgical dancers slapping around the sanctuary.
Ask, I dare you, to hold a Mass of the Saints, the most beautiful thing this side of heaven, the Tridentine Mass (Latin Mass), and watch them chafe!
No, no, no. We want to go forward, not backward, they’ll snark.
No, no, no. We want more inclusive celebrations, not rigid sacrifices.
You’ll even hear this chesnut, I’ll bet: What? You want to go back to pay, pray, and obey?
They’d rather we stick with molest, deny, and protest.
Plus, Billy the Wafer Clown will be upset, and so will howling Barb the Cantor/Soloist, that we’re not including them any longer.
Ask for ONE traditional Mass. Just one. Here’s what you’ll get back in response: Big tent = full, Big tent = no longer sacrificial, Big tent = too small for YOU.
Ugh.
If you’re in the San Diego area and a little hungry for solemnity, please allow me to suggest the following:
GREGORIAN CHANT MASS
Saturday, September 3rd, 2005
11am
Blessed Sacrament Church
4540 El Cerrito Drive (at El Cajon Blvd)
San Diego, California 92115
Parish office: 619-582-5722
It’ll be New Rite, but it’ll retain much of the Traditional flavor so many Catholics are DYING for.
Email me if you have any questions (mrkelso@hotmail.com)
As a catechist in the post-Vatican II Church, I’ve noticed an awful lot of Catholics using the big tent analolgy when it comes to liturgy.
Spend any time in most parishes around the United States, and I’ll think you’ll find a VERY lop-sided big tent, liturgically speaking.
Sure, they’ll experiment with liturgical clowns, rapping priests, and horribly over-weight liturgical dancers slapping around the sanctuary.
Ask, I dare you, to hold a Mass of the Saints, the most beautiful thing this side of heaven, the Tridentine Mass (Latin Mass), and watch them chafe!
No, no, no. We want to go forward, not backward, they’ll snark.
No, no, no. We want more inclusive celebrations, not rigid sacrifices.
You’ll even hear this chesnut, I’ll bet: What? You want to go back to pay, pray, and obey?
They’d rather we stick with molest, deny, and protest.
Plus, Billy the Wafer Clown will be upset, and so will howling Barb the Cantor/Soloist, that we’re not including them any longer.
Ask for ONE traditional Mass. Just one. Here’s what you’ll get back in response: Big tent = full, Big tent = no longer sacrificial, Big tent = too small for YOU.
Ugh.
If you’re in the San Diego area and a little hungry for solemnity, please allow me to suggest the following:
GREGORIAN CHANT MASS
Saturday, September 3rd, 2005
11am
Blessed Sacrament Church
4540 El Cerrito Drive (at El Cajon Blvd)
San Diego, California 92115
Parish office: 619-582-5722
It’ll be New Rite, but it’ll retain much of the Traditional flavor so many Catholics are DYING for.
Email me if you have any questions (mrkelso@hotmail.com)
K
Kristina_P
Guest
That’s right. If the Protestants do it, it has to be wrong. Wait a second, the Protestants say that Jesus is God’s Son. That has to be wrong, too. I don’t mean to sound uncharitable, and I hope my sarcasm doesn’t offend you, but you may need to think about your attitude here.
P
PAX777
Guest
PAX
I love the Life Teen Mass!
I was a very stong influnce in bringing me back to going to church.
Mat 7-20 …Thus you will know them by their fruits…
Please look at the fruits of the Churches that have a Life teen Ministry.
What I have seen is the Ministries are growing, the youth Love the Church, Life, Respect for Life, thier Faith, are on Fire for the Jesus as part of the Roman Catholic Church!
The Eucharist is the central part of the Mass, at a Life Teen Mass or at 7am no music Triditional Mass. It will always be that way!
Has my focus on the central part of the Mass increased or decreased. ***INCREASED ***
Has the music increased or decreased my prayer life as a Catholic Christain. ***INCREASED ***
Has Life Teen Increased or Decreased the Respect for Life.
***INCREASED ***
Has Life teen Increase or Decreased the youth & their familys call to the needs of the Community, Service to the Poor, Hungry, Lonely, Needy… ***INCREASED ***
This list can go on & on… Can any other Mass at any other Roman Catholic Church do the same? YES
So let us Quit throwing stones in our own House.
I love the Life Teen Mass!
I was a very stong influnce in bringing me back to going to church.
Mat 7-20 …Thus you will know them by their fruits…
Please look at the fruits of the Churches that have a Life teen Ministry.
What I have seen is the Ministries are growing, the youth Love the Church, Life, Respect for Life, thier Faith, are on Fire for the Jesus as part of the Roman Catholic Church!
The Eucharist is the central part of the Mass, at a Life Teen Mass or at 7am no music Triditional Mass. It will always be that way!
Has my focus on the central part of the Mass increased or decreased. ***INCREASED ***
Has the music increased or decreased my prayer life as a Catholic Christain. ***INCREASED ***
Has Life Teen Increased or Decreased the Respect for Life.
***INCREASED ***
Has Life teen Increase or Decreased the youth & their familys call to the needs of the Community, Service to the Poor, Hungry, Lonely, Needy… ***INCREASED ***
This list can go on & on… Can any other Mass at any other Roman Catholic Church do the same? YES
So let us Quit throwing stones in our own House.
T
Topher
Guest
Good post. I would have to agree with you on every point. God used the Life Teen program to bring me to Christ and love of his holy Church. Life Teen is absolutely centered around Christ in the Eucharist. I would make one complaint about life teen though. Although emotions are good and created by God, sometimes Life Teen can get a bit too emotional teens might forget about things like reason and sacrifice. However, the program overall is accomplishing its goal: bringing teens closer to Christ.
M
mosher
Guest
Adding to what Topher said I would agree to a point and say that Life Teen is a good start but if ones faith does not mature past the “Life Teen” quasi-community - liturgy and all then their faith will not be based in anything other than a cultural fad.
T
Topher
Guest
Absolutely, one cannot continue to consume Life Teen Spiritual milk for their whole life. They need to proceed to solid food eventually. That’s what happened in my life. I came to Christ through Life Teen but my Spirituality now has nothing to do with Life Teen. I think that’s the way it should work. We start some where and then we grow and mature.
S
Skevin
Guest
LifeTeen is offensive.
I have twice attended LifeTeen Mass with my family. We usually go to the morning Mass, but when we are unable to make it, we go to evening Mass. Having just moved to a new city, we decided to do this, unaware that at our new church, the evening Mass was LifeTeen.
Here are some of the fundamental problems that I have with LifeTeen:
-MUSIC
From beginning to end, the music was borderline sacreligious. It featured a synthesizer, several guitars, drums, and STROBE lights. There were also long intro/outro segments that appeared to serve no purpose other than to allow the musicians to show off. Ultimately, my problem with the music was the same as my problem with LifeTeen in general: it places too much emphasis on the individuals who are up there performing it and too little on the religious content.
The concert style presentation was tasteless and excluded anyone in the congregation who wasn’t already familiar with the songs, which were basically Christian rock songs. There was not one traditional hymn. The songs were all about the actual music and musicians rather than the content. At one point, they actually introduced everyone who was playing the instruments so that they could get a round of applause.
-ORDER OF THE MASS
The Order of the Mass was significantly altered, to the point where it was impossible to follow what was going on. This, to me, defeats the purpose of the Catholic church. I’ve been to Mass that was conducted in a foreign language and had a better idea of what was going on than I did in this mockery of a Church service. The final straw for me was when they changed the words to the Our Father and to the Creed so that they could fit into the cutesy lyrics and rhythm of the song. It was inexcusable.
-DANCING/HAND MOTIONS
I couldn’t contain myself from laughing out loud when people in the congregation started dancing and doing cheerleader style hand motions along with the music. I wasn’t aware that we are supposed to celebrate Mass in the form of a pep rally. I prefer to celebrate the Mass in a dignified manner, not screaming and dancing like a Protestant at a Christian rock concert.
-GATHERING OF PEOPLE IN FRONT OF THE ALTAR
Like many elements of LifeTeen Mass, the portion where the teens all gather in front of the altar for Eucharist is exclusionary and adds an element of chaos and excessive casualness to the sacrament of Holy Communion. A Mass that consists of people of all ages is not the appropriate time or place for activities that are only open to specific people. Rituals that exclude other Catholics during Mass are uncalled for and actually go against the very nature of Catholicism, which by definition means “universal,” or inclusion of everyone. It was extremely disruptive and, in true LifeTeen tradition, too heavily focused on drawing attention to certain individuals rather than putting the focus on God.
If these kids really need something like LifeTeen to get into the Church, they’re missing the point.
However, if they really feel the need to do this type of “worship,” (and I use the term loosely), I would prefer that they do it on their own time, as a youth group or extra-curricular activity, rather than actually devoting a Mass to it in the presence of other people, who are excluded from their activities regardless of their presence at the Mass,
I have twice attended LifeTeen Mass with my family. We usually go to the morning Mass, but when we are unable to make it, we go to evening Mass. Having just moved to a new city, we decided to do this, unaware that at our new church, the evening Mass was LifeTeen.
Here are some of the fundamental problems that I have with LifeTeen:
-MUSIC
From beginning to end, the music was borderline sacreligious. It featured a synthesizer, several guitars, drums, and STROBE lights. There were also long intro/outro segments that appeared to serve no purpose other than to allow the musicians to show off. Ultimately, my problem with the music was the same as my problem with LifeTeen in general: it places too much emphasis on the individuals who are up there performing it and too little on the religious content.
The concert style presentation was tasteless and excluded anyone in the congregation who wasn’t already familiar with the songs, which were basically Christian rock songs. There was not one traditional hymn. The songs were all about the actual music and musicians rather than the content. At one point, they actually introduced everyone who was playing the instruments so that they could get a round of applause.
-ORDER OF THE MASS
The Order of the Mass was significantly altered, to the point where it was impossible to follow what was going on. This, to me, defeats the purpose of the Catholic church. I’ve been to Mass that was conducted in a foreign language and had a better idea of what was going on than I did in this mockery of a Church service. The final straw for me was when they changed the words to the Our Father and to the Creed so that they could fit into the cutesy lyrics and rhythm of the song. It was inexcusable.
-DANCING/HAND MOTIONS
I couldn’t contain myself from laughing out loud when people in the congregation started dancing and doing cheerleader style hand motions along with the music. I wasn’t aware that we are supposed to celebrate Mass in the form of a pep rally. I prefer to celebrate the Mass in a dignified manner, not screaming and dancing like a Protestant at a Christian rock concert.
-GATHERING OF PEOPLE IN FRONT OF THE ALTAR
Like many elements of LifeTeen Mass, the portion where the teens all gather in front of the altar for Eucharist is exclusionary and adds an element of chaos and excessive casualness to the sacrament of Holy Communion. A Mass that consists of people of all ages is not the appropriate time or place for activities that are only open to specific people. Rituals that exclude other Catholics during Mass are uncalled for and actually go against the very nature of Catholicism, which by definition means “universal,” or inclusion of everyone. It was extremely disruptive and, in true LifeTeen tradition, too heavily focused on drawing attention to certain individuals rather than putting the focus on God.
If these kids really need something like LifeTeen to get into the Church, they’re missing the point.
However, if they really feel the need to do this type of “worship,” (and I use the term loosely), I would prefer that they do it on their own time, as a youth group or extra-curricular activity, rather than actually devoting a Mass to it in the presence of other people, who are excluded from their activities regardless of their presence at the Mass,
C
Cat
Guest
This isn’t at all what our Life Teen Mass is like. You have had the misfortune to attend a real bad Mass. Don’t judge all of Life Teen by this clunker, or make sweeping condemnations of all Life Teen Masses.
What are the other Masses at this parish like? Does the priest celebrate reverent, correct Masses (either OF or EF or both), and then allow the Life Teen Mass to wallow in the kind of abuse that you describe? This seems a tad strange.
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