The hardest thing about my last 20 years as a priest

[blackforest]

What has this priest been doing for the last 20 years if his congregation behaves this way? Has he not been teaching and setting the example he desires?

A very good point. I read the article, and it’s written as though clergy play no role in this issue. Rather than complaining about laity, it’s a good time to educate them. I’ve seen bulletin blurbs about How to Receive 101. Our own priest will frequently do a series of “teaching homilies” about the history, symbols, and tenets of our faith. He also offers a series of adult ed lectures - standing room only if you’re so much as five minutes late!

The OF vs EF nitpicking misses the bigger picture of the difficulty younger generations of our time have in marrying the material world to the spiritual world. The priority should be to increase Mass attendance before we all start duking it out over whether to receive on the tongue or in the hand.

 

[on_the_hill]

I think we need to fully restore the Holy Mass and Holy Communion.

Oh-oh . . . . “fully restore?” Restore from what? Is the Mass not holy? Is Communion not holy?

 

[on_the_hill]

CilladeRoma:

all that is required is a bow of the head

Correct.

Bit hard to not see when I usually sit a few pews from the front - therefore I do see those before me who either bow or not bow. They just ‘step up’, hold their cupped hands out, some say Amen - most don’t, then return to their pews. There are two lines up the centre isle at my parish.

I wouldn’t notice these things because my head is bowed in prayer after receiving the Lord, body, soul, and divinity.

That is, of course, unless I’m engaged in liturgical dance.

 

[porthos11]

My favourite part of the article was in the introduction, where he quoted from the old Protestant billboards:

“If it were illegal to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

I find this a tired platitude. It’s another way of just saying “be nice”.

I am not a nice guy. I am a sinner. A big one.

But will there be evidence to convict me of being a Christian? Yes absolutely. I go to Mass, receive Communion and go to confession. I read the scriptures and pray the Breviary, and I try to live a virtuous life, even if I sometimes fail.

Just the fact that I go to Mass every Sunday is “evidence” enough. If Christianity were illegal, that’s enough to send me to the scaffold. That is the “evidence” that sent the martyrs of Abitene and the English martyrs under Elizabeth I to their deaths. They died because of the Mass, not because they were “nice.”

 

[Crusader13]

What has this priest been doing for the last 20 years if his congregation behaves this way? Has he not been teaching and setting the example he desires?

Why throw him under the bus??? He’s speaking from personal experience and he’s not slamming anything or anyone that prefers the NO.

Rather than focus on the irreverent behavior that he sees, you find the fault in him, because you think he’s not setting the example!

Goes perfect with my other post regarding the Patrick Coffin video and “shooting the messenger”. You don’t see the fault in the people for their lack of reverence, you find the fault in the priest for calling it out.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

This article reflects my thoughts exactly.

 

[CilladeRoma]

I am not throwing him under the bus, I am asking a very relevant question.

I am very active in my diocese, which as been accused for many years, of being a “hotbed of heterodoxy”. I will see an occasional example of outright irreverence, usually by someone pushing some sort of agenda, but I have never, ever seen that things that I have heard about on this forum.

And, ultimately, it is the responsibility of pastors to make sure the educate their flock.
So sorry, if I will not join in in the collective hand-wringing.

 

[vsedriver]

I do admit that with the OF, at least at this stage of the game, one must make a conscious effort to ensure reverence. And some pastors have done that.

this is true. With the OF you do have to make a conscious effort. It was far easier to snooze and go through the motions with the EF. Reverence is in the heart. Engaging in acts that are considered ‘reverent’ doesn’t mean the person is really reverent.

In fact, I think that if you are busy watching the actions of those around you than, no matter which form you are attending – OF or EF, you are not reverent in your heart.

 

[vsedriver]

That is, of course, unless I’m engaged in liturgical dance

 

[JHFamily]

Lex orandi, lex credendi. Remember that old-fashioned phrase? It has been proved to be true in the last 50 years.

The reverence due to the Blessed Sacrament has largely been cut out of the Mass. No longer do women veil, no longer do communicants kneel, and no longer is the priests’ consecrated hands the only ones allowed to touch the Blessed Sacrament (Lex orandi). (Yes, I know there is a small minority that claims this has helped them, but overall, the statistics do not support the argument.) In many places, the tabernacles were moved from the thrones and shoved to the side or even out the door. (Thankfully, many realize this error, and the trend is a rethroning of our Lord.)

The relaxation of reverence has resulted in a relaxing of belief (lex credendi) in the Real Presence. At least 35% of Catholics that attend Mass every Sunday do not even believe in the Real Presence according to a poll by Georgetown University! As a result, reverence would not be so important to them. Hence, there is a greater loss of reverence, and it replays itself in a vicious cycle over and over again. Catechism alone is simply not enough.

 

[Crusader13]

I see this article as nothing more than a slam on the OF and everything post-VII, I call it the “If only… syndrome” “If only we still had altar rails…”

Your question seems to imply that he wasn’t doing enough to set a proper example, which in turn you support by stating that you see his article as nothing more than an attack on the OF.

So the assumption is that he didn’t do enough to correct the behavior, but you can’t say for certain what steps he took.

For all you know he could’ve written similar articles in church bulletins highlighting many of these same concerns, but was met with similar rebuttals such as yours

In the US all that is required is a bow of the head.

So his hopes of getting people to see the beauty and reverence of kneeling, could’ve been met with arguments that they are only “required” to bow the head.

Which in the secular world sounds very similar to “just do the minimum and you’ll be fine…”.

 

[blackforest]

I took a second look at the article, and this stood out:

This is not nostalgia. It is a pastor’s reaction to seeing the terrifying collapse of faith in the West.

Um, isn’t that BOLDED part the hardest thing about being a priest???

Rather than liturgical nitpicking, shouldn’t he see the bigger picture here? Irreverence in the communion line is just a symptom of a much, much greater problem.

 

[Crusader13]

I think throughout history, with a few exceptions, kneeling has been shown to be the more reverent of the two postures. It carries with it a deeper and more profound meaning.

There may have been some within the hierarchy that allowed for standing, but that’s not to say that the Church, as a whole, has ever encouraged or sought to teach that standing was more reverent or even equal to the gesture of kneeling. It was merely allowed!

So I still don’t understand why, we as a laity are fighting so hard to defend standing. I don’t believe anyone would encourage a person to simply bow their head if they were to meet Jesus Christ in person upon their death. So why do it at the Mass?

 

[CilladeRoma]

At least 35% of Catholics that attend Mass every Sunday do not even believe in the Real Presence according to a poll by Georgetown University!

This quoted statistic is often taken out of context. In one of my classes in theology, our professor talked extensively about the Georgetown report and some of the problems with the wording of questions and the fact that it is a “self-reporting” survey. Meaning, someone can claim to be Catholic because they were Baptised CAtholic, but they might not necessarily be a “practicing” Catholic, so that makes the numbers not as shocking as they might be.

We need to be very careful when using statistics to prove our point, as often times they do the exact opposite.

 

[TheMortenBay]

Reverence is in the heart. Engaging in acts that are considered ‘reverent’ doesn’t mean the person is really reverent.

I disagree. Acting reverent is being reverent, just as acting obedient is obedience. I came to the Catholic Church thinking I could act like everyone else and fein the virtue they claimed to have. What do you know? Today I’m actually a believer.

 

[AlNg]

The hardest thing about my last 20 years as a priest

His complaints seem to be similar to those of the SSPX. I thought that they were excommunicated in the past and that it was said to be illicit to receive some of their Sacraments?

 

[John10]

Yes, it is. However, we must acknowledge it by acting accordingly.

 

[CRV]

My comment was primarily in regard to those ahead of me in the line for Communion.
Once back in my pew I do keep my head down in thanksgiving and prayer with my Lord.

I hope your comment was not an inference that I was otherwise?

There are occasions where I do happen to look up when I change to a seating position as I am unable to kneel any longer, so in charity I’ll assume your reply to me was not meant in any other vein e.g. sarcasm.

 

[JHFamily]

His complaints seem to be similar to those of the SSPX.

We need to be careful here in equating this priest with the SSPX. The Church has always had its fair share of scandals and problems. Those crying, “Foul!” usually formed two groups – the schismatics who would turn into heretics and the saints who stayed the course, identified the problems in the Church, and fasted, prayed and worked to overcome them.

 

[PatK63]

Gandhi said if he believed what we say we believe; he would only approach the alter on his knees!