Putting Catholic Men on Ritalin
SIT DOWN & SHUT UP
The lady cantor, in her polite intercom voice, intoned the dread phrase as she announced the final “song” of the Mass: “Please turn to song number 117 in your Breaking Bread hymnal. We will be using the alternate lyrics.”
Ah, yes: “Joy to the World.” Instead of “Let men their songs employ,” we have “Let us our songs employ.” The cantor had done the same with “Let There Be Peace on Earth”: from “Brothers all are we” to “We are a family.” I had to keep from laughing out loud as the voice of Barney singing those alternate lyrics resonated in my head.
This episode, and it was hardly the first, got me thinking: What exactly does the American Catholic mindset offer to its laymen?
To be blunt, it offers this: the opportunity to sit down and shut up.
Think about it. Unless your parish is unusual, the ratio skews female on Sundays and other holy days of obligation. Why is that?
You May Also Enjoy
A recently installed pastor's decision to allow only boys to serve at the altar has made headlines throughout the San Francisco area and across the nation. Salvatore Cordileone is his archbishop.
For men the atmosphere at Mass is reminiscent of being dragged out by the wife to see a musical or concert we really don't want to see.
Good liturgy involves good taste, and, as Burke said, taste depends on rational judgment, emotional maturity, and education — that is to say, the virtues.