Parody Of A Modern Church Service

[rhetoricfemme]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RJBd8zE48A&sns=fb[/media]

I laughed. I hope you do, too.

[Catholictothecore]

It is very funny. But it is also very sad. No Eucharist makes it very hard to have Jesus. No Jesus, and "Sunday Morning" might as well be any of a hundred other positive emotional experiences that release endorphines through the blood system. And if it's not positive, simply change churches, as those people obviously don't know what being Christian "is all about." Thank God for being Catholic. At least our worship is, you know...worship.

Sorry, having a bad day, and am just sick of this topic cropping up from every protestant I know and love. They all bounce between churches, complaining of not being filled, yet the will not, can not, absolutely, positively IGNORE Christ who comes TO fill us with his Body and Blood.

[BG45]

That was pretty much the last non-denom service I went to.

Edit: Posting it to FB, because it is funny. I sent it to a Protestant friend and he was laughing too!

Edited February 4, 2011 by BG45

[Selah]

"Young hip guy welcoming all with a graphic tee and cool glasses! I welcome everyone with arms wide open, revealing my tattoo, so you know I have a past!"


LOL this entire video is so accurate it's painful

Edited February 4, 2011 by Selah

[southern california guy]

[quote name='rhetoricfemme' timestamp='1296852711' post='2208800']
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RJBd8zE48A&sns=fb[/media]

I laughed. I hope you do, too.
[/quote]

I loved it! I've been to so many services like that. The only thing missing is a cute girl onstage with a microphone lip syncing to the music.

[Hinter dem Horizont]

[quote name='Selah' timestamp='1296859999' post='2208850']
"Young hip guy welcoming all with a graphic tee and cool glasses! I welcome everyone with arms wide open, revealing my tattoo, so you know I have a past!"


LOL this entire video is so accurate it's painful
[/quote]

Yup...COMPLETELY accurate

I'll stick to my gregorian chant [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/priest.gif[/img]

[tinytherese]

[quote name='Catholictothecore' timestamp='1296853635' post='2208807']
Sorry, having a bad day, and am just sick of this topic cropping up from every protestant I know and love. They all bounce between churches, complaining of not being filled, yet the will not, can not, absolutely, positively IGNORE Christ who comes TO fill us with his Body and Blood.
[/quote]

Jeff Cavins talks about this in a book of his called "I'm Not Being Fed." He talks about how ironic the statement "I'm not being fed" as a reason for leaving the Catholic Church, when in reality in Catholicism we are able to receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Lord in the Eucharist. He calls it the most common Catholic eating disorder. It's one of the best apologetics books I've ever read.

[Archaeology cat]

I could name at least a couple of congregations I've attended that fit this video.

[quote name='tinytherese' timestamp='1296887157' post='2208973']
Jeff Cavins talks about this in a book of his called "I'm Not Being Fed." He talks about how ironic the statement "I'm not being fed" as a reason for leaving the Catholic Church, when in reality in Catholicism we are able to receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Lord in the Eucharist. He calls it the most common Catholic eating disorder. It's one of the best apologetics books I've ever read.
[/quote]
I'll have to remember that.

[Papist]

Funny, but sadly very true. There are a bunch of them down here. And a TV network.

[Selah]

Family guy made fun of them as well.

"Hey, he's sitting informally like us! Let's listen!"

[southern california guy]

The video makes me want to check out a local mega-church tomorrow. Maybe I will..

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

I thought this type of "service" was more of a Protestant aberration. To me, for Protestants, this kind of service is a natural outgrowth of having worship services without a liturgy. I'm sad to hear it has oozed its way into the Catholic Church. I have heard of these services, but have never been to one (although I saw a video of part of one).

I have always been a great lover of the liturgy, even if, in my case, it's "that other one" (Anglican). "The other" liturgy is still beautiful (although apparently most of the Chicago Anglican community prefers the more contemporary language to the older language.) <sigh> I fit in nowhere. (As usual.)

I still know so little about all the changes made by Vatican II, and the reasoning behind them, that I'm not qualified to comment on most of the changes. But, as an "outside observer" attending NO Masses, I felt as if in the process of making changes, the Catholic Church threw out some of the greatest parts of its heritage--particularly its music. I have nothing against the NO from a theological perspective. I grew up with services in English, so I can understand why a need was felt for services in the vernacular, and why many people prefer them. I'm not wild about some of the contemporary language, but that's mostly because I was a writer for so many years that I am picky about some things. But, the words, however written, are still expressing the same faith in the Church, and in Christ.

As for music, I keep thinking there HAS to be a "middle ground" somewhere. Again, I can understand that some people are not fans of older religious music (and not all older music was beautiful), but more contemporary music doesn't have to be banal (or badly performed). I love guitar music--both classical and contemporary. I came of age during an era of when some rock music guitar virtuosos were at their prime. So, it's not the guitar, per se, it's the fact it was so badly performed--and so many modern Catholic hymns are banal. My Catholic ex-husband and I would often deliberately attend Spanish language Masses, although he was far less fluent in Spanish than I was. Since the guitar is an integral part of Mexican culture (we were in LA at the time), the guitar seemed to "fit" better the culture of the worshippers (not to mention that the guitarists were highly skilled).

A Mass is not designed for "entertainment" and it does not require beautiful (or relevant) music or other "extras."

And, worship is not the same as going to a nightclub or a rock concert. Yes, sometimes a great rock concert can bring out a "high" feeling (even without the use of illegal substances), but Mass and a rock concert are two different things. A Mass or other worship service does not have to make us feel emotionally closer to God in order to serve its purpose--although, I confess, I like it much better when it does.

All that said, I see no reason why people who enjoy Christian rock music, for example, can't enjoy Christian concerts. But, that is not Mass. Certainly, I'd prefer a worship service that is not deadly dull (although, because I love the liturgy, by definition, it can't be totally dull to me). But there is a line that needs to be drawn somewhere, or what we see in the video is the result. Unfortunately, although the video didn't seem particularly "Catholic" to me, it parodied something that unfortunately already exists, even in the Catholic Church.

BTW--The video WAS very funny, in part, because it had so many clever moments. I loved it when the "priest(?)" showed his tattoo to illustrate both his relevance, and the fact he had a "past." LOL And, all the speaker's "tricks" were painfully familiar. I like to think I haven't used some of them when I've given speeches, but then, I didn't do motivational speaking. (There are other "tricks" for keeping an audience awake during a talk on a deadly dull subject.)

This is nothing I haven't said before. I wish I had some new insights or suggestions, but unfortunately not today.

Edited February 5, 2011 by IgnatiusofLoyola

[JenDeMaria]

[quote name='IgnatiusofLoyola' timestamp='1296946507' post='2209102']
I thought this was more of a Protestant aberration. To me, for Protestants, it's a natural outgrowth of having worship services without a liturgy. I'm sad to hear it has oozed its way into the Catholic Church. I have heard of these services, but have never been to one (although I saw one video).
[/quote]

Oh, but this *IS* a Protestant aberration. There is a definite form for the Mass and certain alterations make it invalid.

For instance, you can introduce electric guitars into the choir, but you wouldn't be able to dispense with the... well, the entire liturgy, beginning with the sign of the cross and ending with "The Mass is ended, go in peace." . It would be totally invalid for a priest to attempt to offer Mass without vestments -- not to mention the removal of the altar from the sanctuary.

[tinytherese]

I've read a little bit of The Spirit of the Liturgy. It's amesome! I've also been meaning to read Evangelical is Not Enough. This thread reminded me of that. Thankfully, it's at my university's library.