I need to tell you a story. It is not a nice story. It is a wee bit long but please see it through to the end.
On these pages I have often expressed my hope for the future of the Church. After a long time of heading in the wrong direction, I believe, I hope that we have finally begun the process of re-orientation. Tonight, however, I was reminded in no uncertain terms just how difficult this process is going to be. A majestic ship of this size headed into icy waters, upon finally recognizing the danger it is in, does not just turn on a dime.
Enough preamble, here is my story. My daughters first communion is today. Last night we had the rehearsal. Oy!
Upon arrival, a very nice lady explained to the children that the tabernacle has just been moved back to the center of the church this week and explained to the children that Jesus was present and what their proper disposition and behavior in the church should be. I was pleased. This was a short lived state.
The nice lady took the children downstairs to get them lined up and give them further instruction. She handed the microphone over to the DRE who clearly did not pay attention to the instructions about proper disposition before the tabernacle. For the fifteen minutes that the children were receiving instruction downstairs she berated the adults about what to do and not to do tomorrow. NO flash photography! NO tripods for video cameras! NO strollers in the aisles! NO talking to your children! NO waving! PIN your ribbons! NO flowers! and so on! I was struck that this is likely the first time I have heard a litany in our church and it was not what I expected. As bad as that was, it was the highlight of the evening.
After the children proceeded back into the church things took a turn for the worse. They had the children rehearse the first of the two songs that they will sing. I have already wiped the lyrics from my mind but suffice it to say that they didn’t even rise to banal. Accompanying the song was a fair amount of well rehearsed hand motions. Ugh! I sat through it thinking well if that is the worst of it, I suppose I will live. That wasn’t the worst of it.
The DRE then had them practice the Lord’s prayer. I had a bad 70’s flashback during this part of the rehearsal. I began to squirm and hold my head in my hands, inwardly pleading “please stop.” Of course they taught all the children to hold hands during the prayer and during the “for the kingdom, the power, and the glory…”, she instructed the children “Raise those hands HIGH! Get them up there! We do this this to remind ourselves that we are ONE!”
At this point I mumbled to myself, “We do this to remind ourselves how wonderful we are!” What I didn’t know is that the family sitting behind me was having a jolly ol’ time watching me squirm. Their 13 yr. old boy was sitting right behind me. After I let loose my snarky comment I heard his mother ask him what I said. He repeated it and they all giggled.
Then the children proceeded to the sanctuary right in front of the altar where they began a song that made the first little diddy seem like a Schubert composition. This song had more hand motions than a three day conference for the hearing impaired. Then they started a clappin’! Then they started a hootin’ and hollerin’ punching their fists Arsenio Hall style “Woo Woo! Jesus!” clap clap clap “Woo Woo! Jesus!”
“Oh No! Please make it stop!! Please” I pleaded inwardly while I squirmed ever more to the choir of giggles behind me. Finally, the song ended. Ah peace! Or so I thought.
Now it was time for the children to rehearse coming up for communion. The DRE had them proceed up to the front of the church, pretend to receive, and walk back to the pews. However, the children were not instructed to bow their heads as a sign of reverence before receiving holy communion. “Are you kidding me? After all the well rehearsed antics preceding this, she was not going to instruct them how to receive properly?” I couldn’t take it any more, I walked up to the front and politely addressed the DRE.
“Ma’am, excuse me, but shouldn’t the children be instructed to bow their heads before receiving communion?”
“Uh…Well…no one really does that! Hardly any of the adults tomorrow will do that.”
“Perhaps,” I said “but they are supposed to, right? Shouldn’t we teach them correctly?”
She responded “Well, if that is your family custom, you can instruct your child at home to bow his or her head!”
“Ma’am, it is not my family custom. It is in the general instruction. When receiving standing, the communicant should bow their head as a sign of reverence. Again, it is not my family custom. It is what the church directs.”
“Well, Ok. But the children have so much to remember already, this will be too much for them!”
“Ma’am. I have just watched you rehearse two songs with so many hand motions that it would take me a week to remember them. I watched you instruct the children during the Lord’s prayer to hold hands and to raise them up. Way up. None of which they are supposed to do during the liturgy. Now the one thing that they should be instructed to do, a simple head bow, is too much for them to remember? With all due respect, Ma’am, that is nonsense.”
She then barked at me loudly enough that all eyes in the church turned to us,”Sir, I am not going argue with you here in front of JESUS!”
“Ma’am, I am not arguing with you. This is what they are supposed to do. Teach them the right way!”
“FINE! Fine. Children, children, we need to rehearse communion again.”
I turned and headed back to my pew. I spied the family that had been sitting behind me watching me squirm, standing and watching the whole scene – giggles aplenty.
I abhor having to be that guy, but I couldn’t sit by and say nothing any longer. I hope I did the right thing.
From all this I am reminded, the ship of the Church does not turn on a dime and there is still plenty of icy water to traverse.
April 13, 2008 at 3:35 am
I especially like “Well, if that is your family custom, you can instruct your child at home to bow his or her head!”
That seems to be the way “liturgists”, “worship leaders” and DREs try to avoid the proficiency required of them…. It is all just a matter of personal taste rather than any objective rule or norm. Some of you might have seen the recent post on Father Z’s site about the Poll on sacred music for Mass started by a “worship leader” who also has a radio show on the Archdiocese of Miami radio station.
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2008/04/poll-in-fl-about-sacred-music-for-mass/
There seems to be a pattern…?
April 13, 2008 at 3:47 am
Incidentally, on that Poll on sacred music, I forgot to mention that the radio show (which clearly favor “praise and worship” contemporary charismatic music) pulled the poll with 22 days left in the voting when the “tradional” vote was 502 to 30 something for charismatic music. Quite suspicious actually… don’t you think?
April 13, 2008 at 4:36 am
If you took a moment to climb down from your Throne of Sanctimony long enough, you would know that such an action was meant to be disrespectful to the DRE, to whom it would be directed. Such people are often in dire need of a serious reality check, in whatever form it is rendered.
Wow. You are so full of hostility. You have no respect for anyone but yourself. It seems *you* could do anything, including slap someone in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and it would be a righteous action rather than a show of disrespect, because you have appointed yourself a saint. Be very careful of comparing yourself to saints. It tends to make people view you as sanctimonious.
April 13, 2008 at 5:40 am
As Christine at 9:46 said…
This new tradition is distracting?
Not a new tradition, it is what the GIRM has always called for.
“t makes it all about me “
If bowing before the blessed sacrament is all about you. You have issues we cannot address here.
Right on Christine! It certainly is not a new tradition and was originally genuflecting as I usually do but was changed to bowing your head. I mean seriously people its not like your doing some overly choreographed bow that requires practice all you have to do is bow your head a LITTLE not enough that your staring at the floor just enough that you are clearly showing your respect. The only reason you should have for not doing it is if your incapable of moving your neck and head. I in all actuality can’t believe that I even should feel the need to have this rant considering that this stuff should be taught from day one of CCD or whatever way you are prepared for first communion and while I agree that it would be disrespectful to slap the DRE in church there are certain things that are not optional in communion and reverence is one of them!
April 13, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Bowing is not a natural or well-practiced action for most of us. I am accustomed to genuflecting before receiving…been genuflecting in one form or another for a zillion years. Bowing? No. Never took martial arts, always feel awkward bowing to altar in churches where Blessed Sacrament is nowhere to be found.
I haven’t figured out the right way to bow, nor the precise timing during Communion.
Bowing isn’t really all that simple for some of us.
That said, I realize that it’s not about me and my feelings. I know that the more I do it, the more comfortable I will become. People who don’t particularly like it aren’t necessarily progressives or lazy or whatever.
April 13, 2008 at 3:43 pm
First time,
Please understand that my ‘personal preference’ would not be bowing, but rather receiving on my knees at rail.
So be it.
The point I was trying to make is that this is religious education and they are teaching the children how to behave at mass. What they should teach the children is what the Church teaches. Not my preference, not their preference, the Church’s.
If people think that I was trying to impose my will upon the DRE and the children, respectfully, they are missing the boat.
Teach what the Church teaches. That is all.
April 13, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Seriously Patrick, you need to take the comment about the slapping off of your blog. Too many people are thinking that you said that and that is just not true. I don’t know who left that remark, but THAT was disrespectful. Regardless of the situation this lady is still our sister in Christ, and does not deserve to have that said about her when the commenter had nothing to do with the situation.
Respectfully,
Heather R.
April 13, 2008 at 6:52 pm
You did the right thing, respectfully and with grace. God bless you and your family & especially your daughter on her First Communion Day!
If you’re ever in the Dayton, Ohio area, Our Lady of the Rosary has an extraordinary form Mass at 8:45am every Sunday, noon weekdays except Friday, which is 7pm and Saturday at 9am. The FSSP priest is wonderful and there are lots of friendly folks of all ages.
April 13, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I say hooray to you for standing up for what is right. I have seen some here accuse you of a sanctimonious attitude and ask why couldn’t you just shut up. Let me answer in part for you:
A) Mass is a show event, it is the worship of God. Even when there are occasions within the Mass such as 1st Commnuion, the emphasis does not move from God to the cute little 2nd graders. The kids are not there to conduct a grade school musical…they are there to receive the Body and Blood of Christ for the 1st time. The lirurgy should always reflect the DIGNITY of what is being celebrated. If the DRE were my employee she would’ve been fired for this nonsense. To spend so much on silly frivilous nonsense that took away from the holiness of this event while at the same time not even bothering to do what the Church asked in the reception of Communion is a derilection of duty.
B)It can be a memorable event with out all the sideshow antics. WE had our 1st Communion here a few weeks back. The kids came in and left with me. They were expected to receive correctly. We gave each of them a little icon after the prayer ater the Closing Collect. My retina are still healing from the 9 zillion pictures taken after Mass. It was respectful and taught the kids what would happen every Sunday. Then again these kids are exposed to the Eucharistic Adoration once a month as well and have a firm idea of the connection between communion and confession. And by golly, they are happy well adjusted kids to boot.
C) If what is being done is wrong then it needs to be called out. Liturgical bullies abound who make it up as they go along and mold the Mass into a fiasco. They come at liturgical celebrations as if cutesy is great and following the ritual is boring. For them, Mass is primarily a entertainment event meant to illicit an emotion…that God gets thanks and praise is completely incidental.
D) WE need to quit lowballing what we think our kids need and are capable of. they are capable of taking things seriously on an age-appropriate level. They are capable of or being quiet, reverential, yet fully participatory. I know this because the kids at our school are. They are able to be prayerful for 30 minutes+ in front of the Blessed Sacrament for Adoration, they are fearful or resentful of Confession, they are reverential at Mass. WE raise the bar here. I read someone talk about how they Panis Angelicum when they did their 1st Communion. WE sang it here for a communion hymn last Thursday at the weekday Mass. Every Mass I have here during the school year is a school Mass (all of them). I can assure you, my kids would’ve been horrified to been asked to do what the DRE was demanding. Just because it is Barney-esque doesn’t mean it isn’t age appropriate.
So kudos to you! More people should stand up for what is right and quit allowing our liturgies to be turned into 3 ring circuses in the name of making them ‘meaningful’. If receiving the Body and Blood of Christ isn’t meaningful enough…then are some serious problems that can’t be erased by hand-holding happy clappy shenanigans.
But that’s just my opinion…no wait…it isn’t! It is the teaching of the Church!
April 13, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I really to edit my comments:
Mass is not a show
My kids are not fearful of confession
the closing prayer and collect are the same thing
and no…every Sunday Mass does not include the 1st Communicants.
But yes…my students (both catholic grade school and public) are capable of giving the due praise and dignity due the Eucharist.
April 13, 2008 at 10:45 pm
“Jolly old St Nick cold-cocked a heretic!”
I did not know that. Love it!
April 13, 2008 at 11:25 pm
“Be very careful of comparing yourself to saints. It tends to make people view you as sanctimonious.”
Whereas you, on the other hand, are so humble in pointing out my shortcomings. At least I’m not afraid to put my name behind my comments. I may be a foul-mouthed curmudgeon, but I take responsibility for it that way.
Whereas you, on the other hand…
April 14, 2008 at 9:18 pm
If what is being done is wrong then it needs to be called out. Liturgical bullies abound who make it up as they go along and mold the Mass into a fiasco. They come at liturgical celebrations as if cutesy is great and following the ritual is boring. For them, Mass is primarily a entertainment event meant to illicit an emotion…that God gets thanks and praise is completely incidental.
I have some questions about this statement. If the dreaded hand motions to the song were eliminated would the group of people that rallies around the writer of this blog be able to sit and participate fully in a Mass that included this “70s music” song? Would you all be able to keep your focus on thanking and praising God along with the children rather than seething about how much you hate the song? I have to agree with you that Mass is not entertainment. Indeed, the focus is not supposed to be on how “cute” the children are, nor is it supposed to be on the eye rolling and sneering of a person who hates this particular song or this type of music. Although you have put all kinds of ulterior motives onto the DRE, who are you to judge her motives? Perhaps singing this particular song is not how YOU would choose to show your thanks and praise to God, but did it ever occur to you that showing thanks and praise to God was the intent of the person who chose this song for this particular FHC Mass? It seems to me that the people who read this blog are not able to fully and completely participate in Mass without anger and hatred toward your fellow Catholics IF the Mass includes music that YOU DON’T LIKE. Hearing a bunch of children singing in Latin may send a warm tingly feeling down your spine and “illicit emotion” from you. But, as pointed out above, that is not the point. I was taught in Catholic school (gasp, in the ’70s, no less) by non-habit wearing, guitar playing nuns (I’m sure you all would have hated them on sight) that “Mass is not held to entertain you.” When you demand Latin hymns, are not you, in fact, contradicting yourself? Aren’t you saying that somehow the Mass is less special and less meaningful TO YOU? Whether your children sing “Panis Angelicum” or “I’ve Got that Joy, Joy, Joy, Down in My Heart” isn’t the same thing taking place? Are they not still receiving the most special gift of the Holy Eucharist? Should that not be enough, no matter what the music is like? Or does this sentiment only apply when you don’t like the music?
April 14, 2008 at 9:39 pm
what would our Holy Father say ? i would like him to address this…again.
April 14, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Anon,
First, that is a awfully long comment by someone anonymous.
Second. I ascribed no motives to the DRE. I described her actions and statements only.
Third. I did not complain to the DRE that I did not like the music. I respectfully asked that the children be taught how to receive communion properly.
Fourth. The question of proper liturgical music is too large to be addressed here. However the Church does teach that certain musical forms should have pride of place. Tingles or no tingles. Look it up.
April 15, 2008 at 12:24 am
It’s tragic that anyone would defend Shine Jesus Shine and Down in My Heart for use in the Mass. Such an obvious lack of taste ought to be reprimanded on the spot. Its just plain ugly and has no place in worship.
The ends here don’t justify the means. And, no, Shine Jesus Shine isn’t the same as Panis Angelicus. Nice try. Beauty and truth is what is called for in worship, not banality.
BTW, the Council didn’t call for active participation at all. That silliness has been the excuse for all sorts of goofiness. Full, conscience and actual (actuosa rather than activa) participation is what the Council call for (SC 14).
And yes, some forms of music do have “pride of place” in our worship. To replace them with such gems as Down in My Heart is to rob the faithful of a treasure that rightly belongs to them (not to mention actively defying the Council).
April 15, 2008 at 1:35 am
Shine Jesus Shine isn’t the same as Panis Angelicus. Nice try. Beauty and truth is what is called for in worship, not banality.
I did not say they are the same. I said the same thing happens in the Mass no matter what the songs are.
April 15, 2008 at 3:29 am
I don’t have any problems with “Shine, Jesus, Shine” in and of itself. Our high school praise band has played it at Mass more than once and, when done well, it’s a wonderful, uplifting song of praise. Had the children been allowed to sing that song, or another, without the ridiculous hand motions and “woo-woos”, perhaps it would have offered a joyful coda to a rich and grace-filled day. I would be hard pressed to say the same about “I’ve Got That Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart” at Mass, though I’ve enjoyed singing that song while washing the dishes or doing other household chores!
Pride of place means exactly that, pride of place, not exclusive place. It’s possible to incorporate a variety of styles of music in the liturgy, again if done in a respectful way. Music in liturgy is intended to facilitate worship, not distract from it. That’s where the DRE lost her focus here: she turned the song into a show.
Bob Hunt
April 15, 2008 at 4:44 am
“”I’ve Got That Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart” …though I’ve enjoyed singing that song while washing the dishes“
Remind me never to go to dinner at Bob Hunt’s house! 😉
April 15, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Anonymous,
But you haven’t lived until you’ve tried my pork rind fried chicken. I’ll sing Panis Angelicum, if you prefer. 🙂
Bob Hunt