Mass Distractions: The Less Is More Principle [Akin]

[Redd_Jackal]

“Bitter, party of one!”

Some prefer to distinguish a sacred space from a meeting place. Many parishes, like mine, spend hundred of thousands of dollars on “Parish Centers” in which to meet and exchange pleasantries.(Going into great debt doing so.) They see precious little use, unless one is renting the hall.

 

[Redd_Jackal]

I won’t tell you that the Eastern Rite greets one another with a kiss during the sign of peace. I think your pastor is within liturgical norms to do what he is doing.

“All the brethren salute you. Salute one another with a holy kiss.” 1 Corinthians 16:20

The Sign of Peace at OLCH usually occurs after The Lord’s Prayer, and at most Roman Rite parishes, if the rubrics haven’t changed since the initial post. Yet the glad-handing continues through Communion. What was described as happening at the start of Mass is just a warm-up novelty which seems to be applied especially at parishes experiencing extraordinary circumstances.

 

[WingsOfEagles]

The Sign of Peace at OLCH usually occurs after The Lord’s Prayer, and at most Roman Rite parishes, if the rubrics haven’t changed since the initial post. Yet the glad-handing continues through Communion. What was described as happening at the start of Mass is just a warm-up novelty which seems to be applied especially at parishes experiencing extraordinary circumstances.

I realize you were talking before Mass versus after the Lord’s Prayer, but the point of sharing Christ’s love with our fellow Christians remains the same. That being said, if the parishioners of OLCH never stop talking all the way through Communion, that is a bit much.

 

[1neophyte]

Some prefer to distinguish a sacred space from a meeting place. Many parishes, like mine, spend hundred of thousands of dollars on “Parish Centers” in which to meet and exchange pleasantries.(Going into great debt doing so.) They see precious little use, unless one is renting the hall.

If you want a sacred space, start by making yourself a sacred space. Saying things like “Our Lady of Chapped Hands” is worse than people talking in a church building. If you don’t like it, find another parish. Don’t just build up a self-congratulatory superiority within yourself.

 

[ToeInTheWater]

We all have our off days. Being a more public figure means you get publicly judged more for having them. If Mr. Akin consistently posted like this, that’d ve something different.

This is not Akin’s standard, I agree. He’s usually much more charitable to clergy. Indeed, if anything he gets flak for being TOO charitable and bending over backwards to defend them, especially when it comes to Pope Francis.

It does seem, though that the overall CAF culture is changing to become more like a less confrontational version of the “Vortex”. In the last 2 years, I’ve seen a lot more material on the main site that are more about critiquing “unorthodox” clergy than offering true “apologetics”.

There’s a blog post from Todd Aglioro posted yesterday called “Seven Unconvincing Arguments on Communion for the Divorced and Remarried” that makes some good points, but something bothers me about it.

It really does make me wonder if the tolerance for uncharitable posts about clergy on the forum, is something that reflects the overall direction CA is going these days.

 

[pnewton]

I am glad to read this article. I do the same thing from time to time. Something in the homily will pop out as just weird in the way it is worded. Sometimes my wife will ask me what in the heck this or that meant. I don’t blame the priest though. Such statements are part of public speaking. I will take a slip here and there over some guy that is precise because he is reading his homily. I wish those priest would save us all time and just pass it out at Mass and give everyone a couple of minutes to read it.

I guess I was just taught differently. You write out your homily, but deliver it from your notes, the less the better. Sure, some weirdness might escape, but that a good trade off for better delivery.

 

[wild_thing]

I like Jimmy Akin too, but I also find this blog post to be very uncharitable. If he had problems with specific parts of the priest’s homily, then ask the priest himself for clarification instead of writing a snarky article about it. And his withering criticism of the conduct of the other priest was also uncalled for. There are times to call out clergy on inappropriate behavior but this definitely ain’t one of them.

 

[otjm]

http://jimmyakin.com/wp-content/uploads/question-mark1-300x300.jpg

I was also grateful that he wasn’t the emotionally insecure, narcissistic priest who sometimes fills in and makes himself the center of attention by pacing up and down the aisle and into the transepts, sometimes going as far back asfourteen rows *down the main aisle, so that he’s standingbehind* most of the congregation (and directly behind many of them)*as he yells his scoldy, overwrought sermons into the wireless mic.

That guy drives me nuts.

More than one psychologist has pointed out that what we find most irritating in others is often that which secretly we abhor in ourselves.

Just sayin’…

 

[Redd_Jackal]

We have had priests who pace the aisles while preaching homilies. Those in the pews feel compelled to turn about in their seats to follow him, no doubt in need of chiropractors later.

Our local pastor–until recently–would leave the sanctuary to stand on a square of carpet below the altar. Then he would oscillate to and fro like a lawn sprinkler. He was also difficult to see at that time, being of small stature.

 

[1neophyte]

We have had priests who pace the aisles while preaching homilies. Those in the pews feel compelled to turn about in their seats to follow him, no doubt in need of chiropractors later.

Our local pastor–until recently–would leave the sanctuary to stand on a square of carpet below the altar. Then he would oscillate to and fro like a lawn sprinkler. He was also difficult to see at that time, being of small stature.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[otjm]

We have had priests who pace the aisles while preaching homilies. Those in the pews feel compelled to turn about in their seats to follow him, no doubt in need of chiropractors later.

Our local pastor–until recently–would leave the sanctuary to stand on a square of carpet below the altar. Then he would oscillate to and fro like a lawn sprinkler. He was also difficult to see at that time, being of small stature.

Well, given that the highest rate of attendance at Mass is those over 50, that is a possibility. On the other hand, if it enbgages more people in listenting to the homily, as opposed to thinking about what they are preparing for dinner that night, or what is due on Monday at work, or any of the other myriad thoughts which can distract, maybe that is not all bad.

My recollection (which I am not going to bother looking up) is that the homily generally is supposed to be given from the ambo. On the other hand, I doubt if any bishop is going to find this to be something in need of correction. They usually have bigger fish to fry.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

This week at St. Anonymous the Ambiguous, there was a priest I hadn’t seen before

He was a younger priest who struck me as sincere, earnest, and orthodox, so I was favorably disposed to him

I was also grateful that he wasn’t the emotionally insecure, narcissistic priest who sometimes fills in and makes himself the center of attention by pacing up and down the aisle and into the transepts, sometimes going as far back asfourteen rows *down the main aisle, so that he’s standingbehind* most of the congregation (and directly behind many of them)*as he yells his scoldy, overwrought sermons into the wireless mic

That guy drives me nuts

At the end of Mass, during the announcements, the priest said that we’re coming up on Candlemas, “which is the end of the Christmas season,” that it “comes back for a day” and then goes away

This is false. According to the Universal Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar:

Christmas Time runs from First Vespers (Evening Prayer I) of the Nativity of the Lord up to and including the Sunday after Epiphany or after 6 January

That means the Christmas season ends no later than January 13, which is weeks before Candlemas occurs on February 2

It isn’t clear to me whether the priest thought that the Christmas season**literally* ends on Candlemas or whether he thought it “kinda-sorta” ends on Candlemas, since that day commemorates events in the Infancy Narratives

If the former, he was simply wrong and does not know the details of the liturgical calendar

If the latter, he knowingly misled the congregation, who is not familiar enough with the details of the liturgical calendar to be able to detect the “kinda-sorta” aspect of what he was saying/…/

As a priest and professor of theology, I can only express contempt for this author, Mr Akin. I find this article nothing short of abysmal; it does say a lot about the author…and none of it positive

I can find nothing in what is available to me for North America that indicates

• the author’s existence of an academic pedigree as a theologian
• who was his doktorvater
• any active presence or contribution in the academy/theological community
• meaningful academic research in the fields of theology or liturgy
• membership in any of the reputable societies of Catholic scholars
• contributions in the theological journals of standing

If he has not, in fact, completed the three cycles of academic studies in the field of theology, I would not consider his thoughts to be worth my time to read; they are then the musings of a highly dubious autodidact

A theologian and a liturgist would know exactly to what the priest was referring…the autodidact more often than not would not and also would go to the wrong sources, as here, since autodidacts lack the intense formation in theological methodology for loci that would mark a student who emerges from academia

Perhaps this author should be informed by the article of his boss, the president of Catholic Answers, who correctly speaks to the point Mr. Akin is unable to comprehend and utterly confuses. Mr. Check, at least, justly relies on the illustrious and academically prestigious Abbot of Solesmes, Dom Prosper Guéranger

catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/catholics-keep-your-trees-up
After Epiphany, the revelry continues until the Baptism of the Lord, the first Sunday after January 6 (usually). This year, Catholics may very well wish to keep their decorations up through January 11. And if you want to be really traditional, you can celebrate what the faithful called “Christmastide” before the liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council. **In the old rite, or what we today call the Extraordinary Form, Christmastide lasted for 40 days to correspond with the 40 days of Lent, and the 40 days from Easter to Ascension Thursday

/…/

Christmastide ended on February 2, the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called Candlemas Day**. On this day, the faithful take candles that they will use throughout the year in their homes to Mass to have them blessed

Here is how the brilliant Benedictine Abbot Dom Prosper Guéranger helps us understand the totality of the mystery of Christmastide:

We apply the name of Christmas to the 40 days, which begin with the Nativity of Our Lord, December 25, and end with the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, February 2. It is a period, which forms a distinct portion of the Liturgical Year, as distinct, by its own special spirit, from every other, as are Advent, Lent, Easter or Pentecost. One same Mystery is celebrated and kept in view the whole 40 days. Neither the Feasts of the Saints, which so abound during this Season; nor the time of Septuagesima, with its mournful Purple, which often begins before Christmastide is over, seem able to distract our Holy Mother the Church from the immense joy with which She received the glad tidings from the Angels (Luke 2:10) on that glorious Night for which the world had been longing for 4000 years. The custom of celebrating the Solemnity of Our Savior’s Nativity by a Feast of 40 days’ duration is founded on the Holy Gospel itself; for it tells us that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after spending 40 days in the contemplation of the Divine Fruit of Her glorious Maternity, went to the Temple, there to fulfill, in most perfect humility, the ceremonies which the Law demanded of the daughters of Israel when they became mothers. The Feast of Mary’s Purification is, therefore, part of that of Jesus’ Birth; and the custom of keeping this holy and glorious period of 40 days as one continued Festival has every appearance of being a very ancient one, at least in the Roman Church.
The Abbot of Solesmes is a far worthier source to consult than the layman, Mr. Akin.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

My recollection (which I am not going to bother looking up) is that the homily generally is supposed to be given from the ambo. On the other hand, I doubt if any bishop is going to find this to be something in need of correction.

To be perfectly clear, the Bishop would have nothing whatsoever to correct. As we read in the GIRM:
136. The Priest, standing at the chair or at the ambo itself or, if appropriate, in another worthy place, gives the Homily. When the Homily is over, a period of silence may be observed.
The matter is also treated in the Ceremonial for Bishops.

Thus I have preached at the ambo, at the chair, at the altar, in front of the altar, in the nave, and in the old elevated pulpits that one still encounters here in Europe and that I also encountered in Quebec. I have also used a chair placed in front of the altar for children to come forward and gather around for Masses celebrated with a focus on the parish’s youngest members and their families…and as master of ceremonies for my bishop, the same is true for him…he used all of the above options, too.

The decision as to what constitutes a worthy place rests with the discretion of the homilist.

Aesthetically, an individual in the congregation may wish that a homilist made a different choice…but several of the critiques one reads in this thread – and in the original article – are wholly out of place for the laity to make; they are actually deserving of rebuke.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

It really does make me wonder if the tolerance for uncharitable posts about clergy on the forum, is something that reflects the overall direction CA is going these days.

Actually, I find the want of complete submission and docility to the hierarchy tha is more and more in evidence in posts and in the attitudes of Catholics posting, the lack of due deference to the community of theologians who are at the service of the Magisterium and of the Deposit of the Faith, all combined with the complete breakdown of intensive moderation and enforcement of the forum’s rules to be reasons to spend very very little time here anymore.