Sunday, February 10, 2008
SOME GENUFLECT--SOME PRANCE
Lately when I see videos like this one over at Catholic Light where even the priest is making a fool of himself dancing around the altar with the monstrance in his hands, and men and women are dancing around with him in what appears to me to be a senseless demonstration of...what?, reflective of Paganism that has invaded the Church and found itself at home. What's more, I don't see much likelihood that it is going to go away any time soon.
It used to make me angry to come upon this sort of thing on the web, but the anger is gone, replaced by a strong desire for distance. Now I breathe a heavy sigh and move on, knowing full well that there is nothing I could do or say that would have even the minutest impact on what I'm looking at. This sort of thing makes of the Church an alien place where I don't belong and don't want to, especially when it is compounded with report after report of scandal of one form or another. This is not the Church I've held in reverence for most of my life. This is something else entirely. I don't recognize these people as Catholics in the way that I think of myself as Catholic. This religion is not my religion.
As I watch this video the questions keep recurring, "What does it all mean? What is the monstrance really that it draws this sort of irreverence out of people? Is it just metal, glass, bread? How could it be God Who calls forth awe and reverence, when this sort of behavior is taking place? Surely these people must see this object as something different from what I see when I look at this object?" And then the unwelcome thought follows that perhaps they are right afterall, and reverence is wasted.
