I'm Getting Aaaaaaaangryyyyyy!!!!!
Posted by: tony on 12/16/2008 04:55 PM
Updated by: tony on 12/16/2008 05:00 PM
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Expires: 01/16/2009 12:00 AM
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Which seems to be the default setting of the new Fr. Hulk blog. Since the good Father (who remains anonymous and could be a priest or not) does not allow comments on his blog, I guess I'm going to have to comment here.
"Fr. Hulk" writes:
I arrive at Mass as early as possible because I am going to be flooded with questions. Not from parishioners who are confused about particular aspects of the faith or how to apply the tenets of our religion to daily life or even by someone who wants to confess their sins. No, I will be flooded by questions about how Mass is to proceed, from the cadre (well over a dozen) of volunteers who are here to "assist" me at Mass and make it so much easier for me and more convenient for all the other parishioners. Many of these folks have been volunteering for years and years, and yet seem incapable of remembering anything from week to week. It isn't like things change in the Roman Catholic Mass from week to week. Yet they are incapable of setting anything up correctly, and almost every week I stand in awe and wonder as a confused volunteer starts directing people to do things they have never done before. Then of course I have to play clean-up after Mass and listen to the litany of complaints from parishioners who are told different things every single week.
The deacons who are as useful as flower pots are supposed to check over things to spot problems can't even figure out which shoulder their own stole should rest on. They are too busy chatting up the choir members or telling me about their past week at the Masonic Lodge (OK, I exaggerate but not my much) to take notice of the fact that there are no hosts set out for Mass. The well-meaning but hopeless EMHC's and Lectors can't find the Book of the Gospels or Lectionary, or enough folks to "cover" all the stations at Mass. Don't get me started on the gum-chewing flip-flop wearing (in ice and snow!) piercing bejeweled altar servers. This zoo happens before each and every Mass.
This is help? This is assistance? Some would say that I am failing to properly train them. Well this could be, but since I inherited three employees that do nothing but supposedly train them, I thought it wasn't necessary. I thought the spending of countless thousands of dollars per year guaranteed that all this would be done with great skill. I would wish for reverence, but we won't even start that discussion. These folks can't find the tabernacle, much less genuflect. A "head fake" bow toward the vicinity of the Altar is about all they can muster.
Complain, complain, complain... "Fr. Hulk" claims that "this isn't his first rodeo". He must know that since the "spirit" of Vatican II haunts many churches, and the folks there are only doing what they have been trained to do (since now "active participation" is mandated, but people have no clue what active participation actually means), he should cut them a little slack.
I have a new and novel idea. Since this isn't my first Mass, how about I let all of you go be seated to worship with your families? How about I save the parish tens of thousands of dollars each year and release the liturgist and staff from work? How about I quit envying my brother priest and start imitating him?
Fr. Hulk has an idea there. Go all big, green and nasty on the unassuming parishioners. That would be the pastoral thing to do. Oh, that's right, "pastoral" is a dirty word in the radical traditionalist world that some of these priests live in.
Of course the screams and howls and nasty phone calls and nasty notes and letters will flood the parish and flood the chancery. Of course the lovely retired sisters will lead and foment the revolt against this sign of male hierarchial dominance. Of course I will then get calls from the chancery bureaucrats full of concern (since folks have promised to stop giving the almighty DOLLAR). Of course I will be the subject of calumny and detraction (look them up). I might even get a letter from the Vicar for Clergy (never a call or visit from the Bishop) about the awful way that Catholics are being denied their ability to 'help' at the Sunday Mass.
Of course all that will happen, but taking the path of anger that "Fr. Hulk" seems to be advocating will guarantee that much of his congregation will go elsewhere. This may not be a problem with the "smaller and more faithful Church" advocates, but it wastes an opportunity to change hearts and minds, touch his parishioners with the gentle hand of Jesus (as he acts alter Christus) and actually be a pastor of souls, instead of a fascist of rubrics.
I guess I'm just supposed to close my eyes and like it. This is the way things are done.
No, "Fr. Hulk" doesn't need to close his eyes and like it. "Fr. Bruce Banner" needs to come to the fore, take a look at the abuses he sees, catalog them, prioritize them and start addressing them as gently and as pastorally as possible.
He should set up a sacristan at every Mass. Provide them with a checklist available in the sacristy for all of the things that need to be taken care of. Provide a map of your church layout for them to coordinate the EMHCs and readers (they're not lectors). Stick with the current number of them right now. The key is small gradual changes. Oh heck, there'll be screaming but only from those people who hate any kind of change, and in many cases don't recognize their pastor's authority in their parish. If he works slowly with charity he'll get the majority of parishioners on his side. Boil the frog slowly.
He should start with the Canon Law violations, move to the liturgical abuses, then concern yourself with the mode of dress of the volunteers.
He should start weaving explanation of the rubrics into his weekly homilies. Explain why things are done the way they're supposed to be. He should place his focus on the Blessed Sacrament as the source and summit of our faith. He should behave as if he really believes Jesus is present in the Eucharist (and I'm sure he does). His demeanor will be infectious.
He should make the training of his EMHCs a top priority. He should teach them how to handle mishaps with the Body and Blood of Jesus, and there will be mishaps. There are people involved, after all.
This would be my suggested order...
1. Eucharistic issues.
2. Liturgical issues (including music).
3. "Pot luck" issues.
I don't want "Fr. Hulk" to do to these folks what was done to me after Vatican II. We had a heavy handed priest who passive-aggressively instituted every suggested change as if it was a mandate without any catechesis at all. I understand the pain that causes. My eight year old faith was damaged almost beyond repair. As much as I'm a fan of traditional changes to the Mass and "reforming the reform", I am very cognizant that there are souls involved. If "Fr. Hulk" likes the Latin mass, how about instituting a chanted Agnus Dei during his Novus Ordo. Institute a few more changes like that, a little at a time, and I think the majority of parishioners will like what he's doing.
I'm going to pray for "Fr. Hulk" and his parish. I don't know who he is, but God does.
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