A visiting priest at my suburban parish completed the Preparation of the Gifts and made this comment to the congregation:
I just confused the server.
When I was washing my hands back there a minute ago, I asked her if she had any soap. I mean, she was bringing the water and a towel, so I asked where the soap was.
She looked at me; and she said, “We don’t use soap here.”
“I’m just kidding.”
Yeah, it’s a big joke: “Lord, wash away my iniquity; cleanse me of my sin.” Har har.
Father has no clue. Where’s his attention? It should be on the task at hand, of course.
Now, it’s perfectly understandable that a funny little thought like “where’s the soap?” might cross a priest’s mind when he’s doing the Lava me, and it might interrupt his prayerful celebration of the rite of Mass. Thoughts do come and go, and if you have a sense of humor, they’re sometimes funny thoughts. They distract you.
The server’s attention should be on the rite too. Just doing the rite reverently and with attention, laying aside one’s worldly cares and personal concerns, is a prayer, and the server probably was doing that until Father decided to share his little would-be joke. By doing that, he took away the server’s opportunity to pray that moment.
Sad.
Then he decided to turn it into a little bit of his stand-up act and give the audience some yuks.
Father, please shut up. Mass is a ritual, so let it be one. Let Him increase and you decrease. If you break the ritual, and if you step out of character, it tells us that you don’t believe in the role you’re playing. And God forbid, if you make a joke out of it, you’re adopting an ironic stance toward the Most Holiest thing that happens on earth. Reflect.
The university chaplain who received me into the Church was always doing things like that. He would make jokes about how everyone was conditioned to sit and stand at certain times, or he would insert editorial comments at inappropriate places. For the Richmond diocese, he was faithful, which is to say he was not obviously heterodox. But he just couldn’t see that these small things diminished people’s transcendent wonder at what was happening before their eyes. That, and the folk “musicians” would immediately start jamming away once Mass ended, as if to say, “hey, the boring part is over — now let’s be ourselves!”
Mass as a supernatural experience has no parallel, but Mass as secular entertainment is third-rate at best.
You should have a contest. I know a Jesuit I could nominate for most lame-brained liturgy…
I guess you’ll be at Holy Trinity this Sunday for sure. :)
This little article gave me an opportunity for serious reflection “…if you step out of character…you don’t believe in the role.” This is very sobering & very true. However, in order to let “Him increase and me decrease” I think it’s important, after nearly 20 years of being a main celebrant, to accept GENUINELY humorous incidents as gifts of God, to remind us that all of us, priests & people, are human. But the author is right, it is very evident when these incidents ARE genuine or not.
The server’s attention should be on the rite, too.
If I’m not singing (e.g., weekday Mass) during this rite, my attention is on it, too. And I try to pray those words in my heart along with the priest.
Father Taylor
That God has to remind you that you are human is disturbing to me. Being a priest should be the most humbling of all things. It is our beloved Jesus Christ who confects and offers this everliving sacrifice through the ministry of the priest. How a man lives through this experience is beyond me, much less how one could crack a joke in the moments just before our participation in Immanuel’s eternal dialogue.
James, I’m sure you mean to do good with your comment, but please don’t lecture priests here unless you have a really good reason, such as if he were knowingly distorting the Faith. It shouldn’t be “disturbing” that a man, even one whose hands confect the Eucharist, has weaknesses.
“I know a Jesuit I could nominate for most lame-brained liturgy…”
Well, you know the old saying – “As bewildered as a Jesuit in Rome during Holy Week.”
Man, you have to lighten up a bit. I doubt God himself is as offended as you are at this little paltry bit of priestly humour. God bless him!
Congratulations on getting a link from CWN.
There’s a time and a place to be funny. And if you are looking for a target, Father, choose yourself — it’s called self-deprecating humor — don’t choose a ritual of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Lower yourself, if you must — but don’t lower the need to wash away iniquities in preparation for offering the sacrifice of Our Lord.
Strictly in terms of self-interest, I would tell such a priest if I could approach him as friend, that he is giving a terrible witness to himself and to the priesthood in general. People have long memories when it comes to incidents like this. Even if this were not blogged, people who saw this will remember this and will attach his name to a lack of holiness during the Mass for a long time. A bad first impression.
As I read about Father’s performance, I
couldn’t help wondering if he has a medical
condition, or, was possibly drunk at the time.
There’s no question in a normal frame of mind
or body, he would have been humbled at the
preparation he was making.