Silly, meaningless, inaccurate, overused, dumbed-down, erroneous, or self-contradictory buzzwords and phrases

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I’ll take a different path.

I can’t stand the stupid over used words on there that many Catholics use. “vertical worship” “horizontal worship” “happy clappy” “Fr. Corpi says” " but, Cardinal Arinze says" as if he is the Pope.:rolleyes: “pater noster” it’s the Lords prayer people, I’m getting tired of posters throwing in Latin when you really don’t need to, it comes off as showy. It becomes more like a badge of honor instead of a beautiful language. “look at me I am more reverent and respect God more than you do because I use Latin”

I have to think about more buzz words that bug me since we are throwing whatever out there. 😛
 
I’ll take a different path.

I can’t stand the stupid over used words on there that many Catholics use. “vertical worship” “horizontal worship” “happy clappy” “Fr. Corpi says” " but, Cardinal Arinze says" as if he is the Pope.:rolleyes: “pater noster” it’s the Lords prayer people, I’m getting tired of posters throwing in Latin when you really don’t need to, it comes off as showy. It becomes more like a badge of honor instead of a beautiful language. “look at me I am more reverent and respect God more than you do because I use Latin”

I have to think about more buzz words that bug me since we are throwing whatever out there. 😛
Actually, Francis Cardinal Arinze is a legitimate Church authority, since he is the Prefect (head) of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. While some of his quotes do come from speeches and addresses that he has made as Prefect, others come from rulings that his Congregation has issued. These rulings, by the way, come with the approval (and, sometimes at the behest) of the Pope, whether the Pontiff was John Paul II or his successor, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Therefore, I wouldn’t be too dismissive regarding the good Cardinal.

Furthermore, those of us who have made a case for the use of Latin have never said that we respect God more. In fact, Pope Benedict XVI in Sacramentum Caritatis states that:
The Latin language
  1. None of the above observations should cast doubt upon the importance of such large-scale liturgies. I am thinking here particularly of celebrations at international gatherings, which nowadays are held with greater frequency. The most should be made of these occasions. In order to express more clearly the unity and universality of the Church, I wish to endorse the proposal made by the Synod of Bishops, in harmony with the directives of the Second Vatican Council, (182) that, with the exception of the readings, the homily and the prayer of the faithful, it is fitting that such liturgies be celebrated in Latin. Similarly, the better-known prayers (183) of the Church’s tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung. Speaking more generally, I*** ask that future priests, from their time in the seminary, receive the preparation needed to understand and to celebrate Mass in Latin, and also to use Latin texts and execute Gregorian chant; nor should we forget that the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin, and also to sing parts of the liturgy to Gregorian chant. (184)***
And, the vertical notion regarding the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass does, in fact, come from Pope Benedict XVI and others, including the aforementioned Cardinal Arinze.

Finally, regarding the Lord’s Prayer as opposed to the Pater Noster, both terms are correct. These are both listed in the Roman Missal.
 
I am certainly put off by some of the terms mentioned by previous posters. But one of my most unfavorite words in common usage is “fellowship”, which is used both as a verb and a noun. Also “fellowshipping”, which grates on my ears even more.

As near as I can tell, it means “socializing”, though it often seems to be closer to “being courteous while eating indifferent food in a crowd”.
I know, the word “fellowship” grates on my ears when it is used as a verb or an adjective (i.e. “fellowship hour”). At our church we use “social hour” or “coffee hour”, which is at least a little better.

My three year old just calls it, “Going downstairs for cookies.” 😃
 
A quick note: The term Roman Catholic Church is also used to define the different rites of the Catholic Church. Especially the between the Roman or Latin or Western Rites of the Catholic Church and the various Eastern Catholic Rites.(Armenian Catholic,Assyrian Chaldean Catholic, Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic, Coptic Catholic, Maronite Catholic, Melkite Greek Catholic, Russian Greek Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Ukrainian-Byzantine Catholic, Syro-Malabar Catholic)(These are communion with Rome and the Pope.)
This term also helps to indentify those with Catholic names, who are not in communion with Rome and the Pope. In the USA there is the American Catholic Church, Liberal Catholic Church-Province of the USA, Old Catholic Church and others.
I do agree it makes me cringe when I heard a Protestant use that
term. Because usually they will spout out anti-Catholic tirades.
 
I know, the word “fellowship” grates on my ears when it is used as a verb or an adjective (i.e. “fellowship hour”). At our church we use “social hour” or “coffee hour”, which is at least a little better.

My three year old just calls it, “Going downstairs for cookies.” 😃
Your three year old is the most eloquent one of all. His/her terminology works for me! Please ask him/her if I can use it too.
 
I’ll take a different path.

I can’t stand the stupid over used words on there that many Catholics use. “vertical worship” “horizontal worship” “happy clappy” “Fr. Corpi says” " but, Cardinal Arinze says" as if he is the Pope.:rolleyes: “pater noster” it’s the Lords prayer people, I’m getting tired of posters throwing in Latin when you really don’t need to, it comes off as showy.
This is beside the point, but I’ve noticed you can usually tell whether one is a convert (“Lord’s Prayer”) or a cradle Catholic (“Our Father”) by what they call this prayer. Doesn’t mean anything, I just think it’s funny how reliable it is among the Catholics I know. 🙂
 
So-called “Inclusive Language” is one that fits in the Dumbed-Down category. It makes not only our language, but our thinking processes less precise. It is so-called inclusive because the traditional practice is eminently inclusive.

The clear-thinking Dr. Peter Kreeft (as usual) explains this cogently and concisely. He explains in a footnote on page 55 in his wonderful book “Catholic Christianity” as to why he doesn’t use inclusive language:

“‘Man’ does not mean ‘males’, or ‘males more than females’. Despite this fact, many publishers today strictly censor the traditionally inclusive use of ‘man’ or ‘he’–a use we find until the 1960s in all English translations of the Bible, all the documents of the Church, and all the great secular books in the history of Western civilization.

"This censorship is usually insisted on out of respect for the strong feelings of a small minority of influential feminists, and perhaps in guilt and reparation for the many real injustices done in the past by men to women.

"Traditional language is maintained in this book, not out of any desire to exclude women or to deny the full equality between men and women (full equality is a biblical principle, by the way), but because of the conviction that past injustices against women are not atoned for by future injustices against language.

"In the English language, the word ‘man’ does double duty: it means two things, ‘humans’ and ‘male humans’. For English has only one word (‘man’) where many other languages have two. In Latin, for instance, ‘homo’ means ‘human being’ and ‘vir’ means ‘male human being’. In Greek, ‘anthropos’ and ‘aner’ make the same distinction. When English writers said ‘God and man’ they did not mean ‘God and males’.

"Why not say “God and humanity’ then? Because ‘God and man’ not only sounds better than ‘God and humanity’, but it means something different. ‘Man’ is a concrete term, like ‘God’; but ‘humanity’ is an abstract term, like ‘divinity’.”
 
Two more:

“Pastoral”: the original meaning is corrupted when it is used to mean clergy-approved laissez-faire, especially on matters of faith and morals in order to concede to the desires of a sinner.

“Same-Sex Marriage”: there simply is no such thing. The proper word is “Sodomy”.
 
Here in the Florida Panhandle it seems that everything we do is really just warmed over protestantism. For instance people insist on calling a church building a “sanctuary.” And this silly blunder has caused people to start using the ridiculous term “on the altar” when they want to refer to the real sanctuary. So, you will hear things like “When standing on the altar…” The mental image one gets when hearing that is really disturbing.

Patrick
I grew up in the 50’s and my parents and their friends used ‘on the altar’ even then. And I always wanted to correct them to say ‘in the sanctuary’ but of course I didn’t because the sisters taught us to be respectful to adults. And now when people talk about having girls on the altar (either pro or con) the mental image is even worse.:rolleyes:

And I’m not a lector, I’m a reader.
 
Eucharistic Minister
I am considered a eucharistic minister although I am not a minister. As Bill Clinton would say, It depends on how you define minister. If minister means to give aid, then you could say I was aiing in the distribution of the Holy Eucharist. Hence ministering. Ministors ministor or give aid. It doesn’t mean I’ve been ordained
 
Eucharistic Minister
I am considered a eucharistic minister although I am not a minister. As Bill Clinton would say, It depends on how you define minister. If minister means to give aid, then you could say I was aiing in the distribution of the Holy Eucharist. Hence ministering. Ministors ministor or give aid. It doesn’t mean I’ve been ordained
No, but these titles are not for us to give out to anyone and everyone. The Church, in her wisdom, differentiates who is what. We must use the titles the Church gives. You and I are not ordained. We cannot confect the Eucharist. Only the priest and the bishop can. That is why they are the ordinary ministers of the Church.

A deacon is an ordinary minister of Holy Communion. Because you and I are not ordained, we are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (and, yes, I am such a creature).

But, I cannot stress how very important it is to use the correct titles. For the past 40 years, the lines have been blurred, sometimes to a point beyond recognition.
 
Communion Distributor sounds like an Amway Distributor. What’s next are parishes going to be called, Little Round Wafer Distribution Centers.
 
And now when people talk about having girls on the altar (either pro or con)
Claire, thnak you for bringing this up. **I want to repeat that this not a pro or con of girls in the sanctuary on the altar, either. **But I have been dying to put this somewhere that has to do with terminology.

And of this sounds more like a rant, PLEASE forgive me. My point is underlined at the end. once again, it is NOT about having young lady “Altar Servers.”

My school was literally attached to my church, and only the boys could go for weekly Altarby practice. When I went back to Mass a number of years ago, I saw the younger female students from the lower grades all dolled up in these monastic costumes. (I have to admit I was a just a teeny jealous to have missed that reform BUT that’s another topic, hah).

All of the altar servers came in wearing albs that had pointed hoods that went down to their cinctures. No kidding. Rope cinctures.

Anyway, after Mass I asked one of the young gentleman and ladies, “Why do you wear that, uh…”

“Alb?” one young lady replied. "Because the was Christs’ apostles wore when they served Him, too. "

Oh. My bad. You poorly catechised child.

First off, Christ’s aspostles didn’t dress like medieval monks, okay? This isn’t a renaissance faire. You’re only missing the lace-up sandals to complete the look. Stop calling it an alb and call it a costume.

(Putting an alb on child makes me think of the little youngsters turned into the monasteries to be educated or to become, well, monks.)

Desert Fathers wore albs, maybe. I don’t know, I wasn’t there. And if you’re going to go that far to dress up ALL of the altar servers, bring back the cotta and surplice!

Okay, I’m done. I hope this fit in well with this thread. If not, I’ll ask a mod to remove it.
 
Communion Distributor sounds like an Amway Distributor. What’s next are parishes going to be called, Little Round Wafer Distribution Centers.
Round as in the building or round as in the wafer? 😉

Just checking.
 
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