We attended a first communion today at a parish in the diocese of Covington and I have to say, I have never seen(and I have seen much) so many abuses, disrespect and offense shown to our Lord in all my life. During the homily, the priest actually had a huge cardboard heart cut out that he popped out and the packed house broke out in laughter. Multiple times people applauded for ignorant things that were meaningless. It was standing room only and we spent the Mass in the vestibule, unfortunately. There were windows so we could see the entire side show from where we stood. The Mass started with the boy first communicants lined up next to us and a little boy with down syndrome was being made fun of and eventually had enough, and a fight broke out. The boy at the end of the line was making fart armpit noises and dumping hand sanitizer all over the floor and sliding on it. Yeah, it was very reverent. I suppose it can go straight to the top as the priest had a huge performance in the sanctuary for the entire Mass. I would say 70% of the Mass was ad-libbed. My mother was inside the body of the church and I know it had to be harder for her, she could see and hear everything. She said that was by far the worse Mass ever and she has been present with dancing nuns(so that says a lot).
I apologize for this post. One thing to come out of this...I love my church, the gift of the traditional Mass and am so incredibly thankful to have such a reverent liturgy. No one that has this available should take it for granted, period. I am also convinced that every last parish in Covington has fallen into this muck we experienced today(to varying degrees but it has become the norm). When the new missal arrives, I hope the bishop takes this as an opportunity to whip this diocese back into shape. I was appalled. I was shocked and sad that the diocese I grew up in and that gave me my first sacraments has fallen into a malaise of disrespect and hatred toward our Lord. Did I say it was awful?
My kids did their best to stay quiet and solemn but it was the loudest and most raucous thing I have ever been through(okay, maybe the AC/DC concert of my youth was a bit louder). My dad, who was a strict baptist growing up said they had more reverence in his tiny baptist church than was found in that parish today. That is saying something.
If you have a reverent, respectful church with proper music and a sound liturgy, treasure it and thank God for such a blessing. You don't realize how awesome and blessed you are to have this available. May the day come, in our lifetime, that the Lord is revered, adored and loved with the utmost care on every altar. Until then, pray that we have the courage and fortitude to change the abuses and sacrilege that occurs against our dearest Lord everyday throughout the world. I love you dear Jesus and I am so sorry.
Reverence for the Eucharist is never dispensable, even in a child, even in danger of death.(From A PASTORAL LETTER ON REVERENCE FOR THE EUCHARIST
A sense of the sacred, a sense of reverence, is due not only to the Eucharist, but to other persons too, and to places and things. I am always struck by a renewed sense of the sacred during the rite of dedicating a new church by which it becomes sacred, a sacred place, set aside exclusively and perpetually for the worship of God. It makes me conscious again of "the reverence due to the house of God" (CCL 562) and the reverential silence we keep in church in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
Bishop John R. Keating, 1988)
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4 comments:
This is appalling!!! I think you should somehow send this to the bishop of Covington. Reading it should open his eyes (assuming he doesn't go for this kind of circus??). Disgraceful!!!!
Oh wow. Disgusting.
I am feeling much better about the "display" made at my parish (we, too had 1st Communion tonight) after reading about your experience.
We sat in the back behind all the parents/families that had never set foot in church since THEIR 1st communion, and will not go again until the next one... we were one of the only "regulars" there, and no one knew when to sit/stand/kneel. (Plus they were all in the front so couldn't rely on the regulars giving them the cues!)
Then, the priest must have said over and over again that this was a day for and about the kids (ummm... isn't it just a bit about Jesus, too??) and that when it was their time to receive with their families, please stay in your seats and do not take pictures. (They had a professional photographer for everyone.)
Well, one woman wearing a lovely black band t-shirt and jeans blatantly ignored this and walked right up about 6 ft from the kid and the immediate family, about to take a picture, when the priest had to wave her back to her seat. Can you imagine??
Finally, during the recessional, people were in such a rush to get to their communion parties, I can only imagine, that they all bombarded their way into the aisle as soon as the song began, blocking the priest (not to mention all the kids) from coming down!!
Despicable.
But yours, I must say, was 10 xs worse.
What is coming to this world?? Why is reverence not being taught anymore, and why is it being ignored by adults who should know much better??
We normally attend a traditional Mass in Cincinnati. But even for an english N.O. Mass, this was shocking. Yes, the bishop should be involved as this is a huge parish. The priest was running a stand-up comedy routine and the homily had huge props and uhg, it was unreal. Yes, the people were totally unaware that this was the Lord's sacrifice on the altar but the priest did NOTHING to make the Mass sacred. The big Barney the dinosaur props were an abomination. I felt so sorry for my neice, this is her parish. I had to fully explain to my kids what "an occasion of sin" meant. The priest and bishop are totally responsible for this drunken debauchery they called a first communion. And on a Saturday??? That alone is a headscratcher. A sacrament as this deserves a sabbath. It was at 2 pm on a Saturday and Derby Day, at that.
Wow, Sorry you had to go threw that. It's disgusting how many churches are following down that same destructive path. We were going to a church, wich is actually one of the largest in our city, and the priest was so disrespectful to Our Lord, and the things that went on in this church made me sick. They let the children of the parish put on plays and skits during Mass, and allowed them to put their props on the Alter! My poor DH was still thinking about coming into the church at that time, and finally after one horrible mass I said this is it! and we found a new church. It is a little farther than we want to drive, but it is soo worth it. We love where we are now, I thank God all the time that we have such an amazing parish. I still pray for that other parish.
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