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Contrast two ways to begin Mass:
1. Priest, partially vested, walks to the front of the pews with a hand-held mic and introduces himself: “Welcome to St. Joe’s. I’m Fr. Marty. I’m so happy to see you all! Who are the visitors here today?” eager hands go up and he walks to congregants as they sit in the pews, a la Phil Donohue, “Where are you from, sweetheart?” And an elderly lady responds, “I’m visiting here from Ohio. My grandson was just born.” And the Father bellows into the hand-held mic, “That’s wonderful! How much did he weigh? Was he a big boy?” etc etc etc etc until Mass beings at 10 past the hour.
2. A bell. The simple ringing of a bell after a few minutes of collected silence in the church. “Ding, Ding!” All rise. Music starts.
What’s more reverent? What’s more “Vatican II?” What makes a congregation think they are in presence of God? What makes a congregation think that that entertainment is about to start at a Spaghetti Dinner?

Interesting post over at Sursum Corda.

The Priest has an article by Father William Sheridan about how some Catholics tend to view celebrations of the sacraments—particularly matrimony—as a private event that they should shape to meet their personal preferences. Rather than merely condemning this trend, Sheridan wisely counsels pastors to seize the “teachable moment” of preparation for a sacrament to convey its fundamentally ecclesial nature. With regard to matrimony, he notes that “marital preparation is a good opportunity to challenge the effects of the wedding ‘industry’ and overly personal, consumerist approaches to the sacrament.”

Here’s my impression of 80% of Catholic wedding formation. Their thoughts in italics.
Priest: “How long have you known each other?”
Woman: “We met 2 years ago in May” don’t ask us if we live together…
Man: This is so boring
Priest: “Are you planning on having children?”
Man: oh, let’s not go there padre.
Woman: Well, we are thinking about having kids eventually. I mean, I’m finishing law school in the fall and need to pass the bar and will have to put in 10 years+ in order to become a partner. crap… I shouldn’t have said that partner part.
Priest: “What do you think about kids, Bobby?”
Man: busted!!! Think fast, Jackson! Well Father, I like kids. I mean, kids are great. So we’ll probably have kids eventually. cool. That should do it. yeah. That was smart.
Priest: “Well, we have some options for the liturgy. You can celebrate the sacrament of matrimony within the Mass, or by itself with the Liturgy of the Word. What are you thoughts on that?”
Woman: My mom wants to have the song “Born Free” when she comes in.
Man: crap.
and it goes on…

My cats are wondering why I just had a conniption. I read this piece of opinion about what makes the priesthood attractive to gay men. More about it later. I’m out for a while now – got Diocesan Chior rehearsal tonight.

There is Haugen hysteria over at Care and Feeding. Please don’t click on this link if you’re name is “Marty Haugen.”

Lots of blogging out there about congregational participation in the liturgy. Something lost on many liturgists is that participation at Mass cannot be measured in decibels: rather it manifests itself in holiness and reverence. There should be no pat on the back after a big, loud Mass. When we get to heaven we can have a big group hug and experience firsthand the results of “participation.”