For current or fallen Catholics

[dooley_womack1]

And I was an altar boy through eighth grade.

How much did you get in the settlement?

 

[bumpy mcgee]

As someone who went to St. Anne, I'm stunned neither knew the name of Mary's mother

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Concluded my three-year stint on my parish's council last night. Felt more like a six-year term. I'm hoping that'll count as my stint in purgatory.

There are changes in the mass coming later this year, starting in Advent. Most notably, the Nicean Creed goes from We to I and instead of replying "And also with you" when the Priest says "The Lord be with you," we're now supposed to say "And with your spirit."

Why don't they make real change .. Like allow priests to marry.
We get up to make 8:30 mass, so we don't spend 1:20 in noon mass.

Another rant ...
No. 1 just made his first communion. We had to do Sunday school and a couple of all-day retreats. Bit the bullet and did it with about a dozen other kids and their parents. Night of confirmation practice, 36 kids and their parents show up! I had never seen half of them ... NEVER! Not at church, not at CCD and sure as hell not at those boring-ass retreats! But sure as **** there they are with the banners, decked out in lilly-white dresses and gloves and suits with ties ready to make their first communion.

 

[holy bull]

And I was an altar boy through eighth grade.

How much did you get in the settlement?

Confidentiality clause, my friend. Everything stays under the, um, cassock.

 

[I Should Coco]

I go to church regularly (as in I may miss 5-6 weeks a year, sometimes more, sometimes less), but I don't think going to Mass makes me a good Catholic or good Christian.

To me, it's more important to live your life as Jesus instructed. Love God and Love one another as we have been loved. I think it's that simple. Going to church should reinforce that message.

Thanks, Freelance Hack. That is the ideal we should strive for, rather than spending years tweaking phrases.

Of course, in reality going to church tends to be about:

1. Doing something out of guilt/habit
2. Annoying pre-teen and teen-age children
3. Making snide remarks about slutty outfits, bad singing, body odor, etc.

and, last but not least,

4. Dropping a li'l something into the collection basket.

Because I'm guilty of all of these, I'm counting on God having a good sense of humor as he watches us try to "worship" him.

 

[slappy4428]

I go to church regularly (as in I may miss 5-6 weeks a year, sometimes more, sometimes less), but I don't think going to Mass makes me a good Catholic or good Christian.

To me, it's more important to live your life as Jesus instructed. Love God and Love one another as we have been loved. I think it's that simple. Going to church should reinforce that message.

Thanks, Freelance Hack. That is the ideal we should strive for, rather than spending years tweaking phrases.

Of course, in reality going to church tends to be about:

1. Doing something out of guilt/habit
2. Annoying pre-teen and teen-age children
3. Making snide remarks about slutty outfits, bad singing, body odor, etc.

So that was you sitting behind me on Sunday.

 

[HC]

I was raised Catholic and most of my family still practices (some daily, some rarely) but I can't go back. The stance on homosexuality is a real deal breaker for me. Knowing that a lot of my friends are not welcome makes me feel unwelcome too.

I have been singing in the United Church of Canada for the past 18 years and it feels like home to me.

And I don't miss guitar/folk mass at all. :D

 

[Freelance Hack]

Freelance, any actual rationale behind the change, or was it just more of an arbitrary thing?

From what I've been told, the changes are coming from the Vatican and reflect, apparently, a truer translation from the original Latin mass.

To me, it seems like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

 

[bigbadeagle]

Since the old man was in the Army, we had Mass over in 45 minutes every Sunday. Imagine my shock when the old man retired and we started going to civilian Mass and that lasted an hour and change.
Somewhere through the years, when I don't know, they started doing the hand-holding crap during the Our Father. The first time I saw that, I nearly audibly said, "What the ****?"
I think the last three times I went to Mass in the last five years was for a funeral. My brother - he is, or was, a priest - said the Mass at two of them. One for the old man, one for mom. The third was for my godmother's mother.
Do I miss Mass? Yeah, the ones I remembered as a kid, even the ones in the summer in Boston or on PEI (the priest was a doddering old guy but the church was just postcard beautiful). There's just stuff I don't miss either.
For what it's worth, my brother was a helluva priest. Good homilies and understood just about everything any of his parishoners was going through because he had been there and done that before he took his vows.

 

[Ace]

I go to church regularly (as in I may miss 5-6 weeks a year, sometimes more, sometimes less), but I don't think going to Mass makes me a good Catholic or good Christian.

To me, it's more important to live your life as Jesus instructed. Love God and Love one another as we have been loved. I think it's that simple. Going to church should reinforce that message.

Thanks, Freelance Hack. That is the ideal we should strive for, rather than spending years tweaking phrases.

Of course, in reality going to church tends to be about:

1. Doing something out of guilt/habit
2. Annoying pre-teen and teen-age children
3. Making snide remarks about slutty outfits, bad singing, body odor, etc.

and, last but not least,

4. Dropping a li'l something into the collection basket.

Because I'm guilty of all of these, I'm counting on God having a good sense of humor as he watches us try to "worship" him.

Annoying pre-teen and teenage children is my only joy some weeks.

 

[Dyno]

Try being Jewish - 1 hour or so service on Friday night, 3+ hour service on Saturday morning. ;D

 

[MileHigh]

Raised Catholic. Dad grew up in a strict Catholic upbringing. We went to Mass every Sunday. Catholic school until the school went downhill, so off to CCD when we went to public schools. Altar boy until sixth grade. But when it came time for Confirmation (11th grade), my parents left it up to us kids. Only myself and the youngest (of five) did it.

I used to go every Sunday as an adult, but the cover-up of the pedophiles and abuse of the kids just totally turned me off, and it did the same to my parents, who were strict, go to 8 a.m. Mass every Sunday attendees who now haven't been in years.

Like mentioned above, some things I miss, others I don't.

 

[amraeder]

If mass goes longer than an hour -- even a minute over -- it's a crime against humanity. Get frustrated going to my parents' church because they sing way too much there. I'm sorry, but I don't go to church to hear you sing. We really don't need every darn verse of every song.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

If mass goes longer than an hour -- even a minute over -- it's a crime against humanity. Get frustrated going to my parents' church because they sing way too much there. I'm sorry, but I don't go to church to hear you sing. We really don't need every darn verse of every song.

Especially white people singing Gregorian chants.... Black Baptists? I'lll take in the show just for the signing. White bread Catholics? No. Thanks.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

My parents' priest - a retired, divorced truck driver (I swear) used the pulpit to rant about the evils of abortion and a phantom legislative law that was going crush the pro-life cause.
I got up and walked out.

Our first several priests were fresh-off-the-boat Irishmen who said half the mass in Latin.

 

[YGBFKM]

Catholic school until the school went downhill, so off to CCD when we went to public schools.

Catholic schools blow. I went from fourth grade through high school. If there's one thing I could go back in a DeLorean to change, it'd be that. And that's not even taking into account the documented malfeasance on the part of the faculty. My younger brothers went to public school and are infinitely better off for it.

Depends where you're at. In certain big cities, a good percentage, if not the majority, of students, are non-Catholic because the public schools are useless.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Try being Jewish - 1 hour or so service on Friday night, 3+ hour service on Saturday morning. ;D

At least you won't be hung over for the Saturday service

 

[HC]

I disagree with many on the music question. Western music grew out of the Gregorian tradition. The Catholic church was the source of most Western music but have abandoned that in favourite of pop/folk bull****.

 

[YGBFKM]

I always kinda liked the music. Made the five-day-a-week trip to morning services bearable during my tenure in Catholic school. Few things better than a great rendition of Ave Maria.

Hated when they started to work guitars and crap into the songs.

 

[slappy4428]

I like the dirge of Catholic music; hate the pop/folk crap. I have walked out of guitar Masses before.
Can't remember the dirge, but a couple of months ago they played one of the traditional hymns at Mass -- of course making it politically correct, something like people instead of men. Coupled with the tool who was leading the singing, it was enough to take it off my favorite list.