tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34483860.post5878916585000298261..comments2023-04-06T10:55:08.229-04:00Comments on Young Fogeys: In the "it had to happen eventually" DepartmentFather Jay Toborowskyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10959196612796771847noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34483860.post-45136505280408953732010-06-02T14:36:32.580-04:002010-06-02T14:36:32.580-04:00Proud Catholic - I couldn't agree more!Proud Catholic - I couldn't agree more!Mary Morozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12201857468537635547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34483860.post-40919557340120789772010-05-28T10:57:33.412-04:002010-05-28T10:57:33.412-04:00Could not agree more with you once again, Father. ...Could not agree more with you once again, Father. As an usher, I have always realized the need to participate in Mass with my whole heart. Even when helping out at two Masses, I will gladly go to a third so that I can enjoy (yes, enjoy!!) the celebration wholeheartedly in the pew. God deserves at least that.<br /><br />Something does have to be done to restore reverence in the Church. As you said, it is like a weed that has spread and has wound up taking over our places of worship. Trying to pray has become a battle to overcome the many and increasingly obnoxious distractions.When you do say something, too often you get admonished by "leaders" in the church as being intolerant (often, they are culprits as well) so you try to be nice, try to tolerate. But it's as if whatever you do learn to tolerate just has to be pushed to the next level until your patience is at the breaking point. I can't tell you how many times, I have been told to pray at home, that Mass is for community and praying is for anywhere else by yourself--Excuse me?<br /><br />No exaggeration, at a recent confirmation I was kneeling and saying the rosary to myself about 1/2 an hour before the start and a sponsor was in front of me and leaned back so I leaned back so as not to interfere but she felt my presence behind me, turned around and looked at the beads in my hands and said, "This is not really Church, you don't have to say the rosary here." Huh? My eyes shot to the Tabernacle, to the altar, the Crucifix--not church? Even on one of the holiest days of our year, Holy Thursday when a silent dismissal is required, people stand right there in mobs laughing, screaming and when you say something, you are the wrong one.<br /><br />What some of these Catholics have forgotten is that we are the ones who believe in the Real Presence, and so if anyone should understand the need to respect the Church, inside or outside of it, it is us! St. Francis I believe used to fall down in adoration if he was even with mile of Church simply because the Lord is present. <br /><br />Many people don't respect God or his house and of course their fellow parishioners who are looking for peace and talking or listening to God and worshipping. The first words out of those who are admonished for their loud and irreverent behavior is--you don't own the church, we can do what we want, if you don't like it, go somewhere else.<br /><br />Do we wonder why people don't get it..why they do not believe or understand in the real presence, why less and less people are coming. Fellowship is bombarding us everywhere outside the church, we don't need it taking over the church. What we need inside is to walk in and feel humbled and in awe of his Holy Presence ..this is the place he sacrifices himself for you, and is here to be with you as one. Our church is holy and should be treated respectfully and so should parishioners who know this and want to experience it to the fullest. I pray our Holy Father and His shepherds find some way to restore what we so sadly have lost.ProudCatholichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05304386216887981893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34483860.post-9982353010306103022010-05-27T16:33:45.609-04:002010-05-27T16:33:45.609-04:00Unfortunately there are parents out there who thin...Unfortunately there are parents out there who think that children of kindergarten age are not "old enough to sit still and be quiet" without food. Or toys. Last Sunday I was treated to the vision of a little boy with Cheerios, fruit rollups, and juice box. He's over 5--and the little girl in the next pew was dangling a barbie doll by her knees from the edge of the pew. Parents didn't say boo.Barb Szyszkiewiczhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00329184613713551475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34483860.post-65864210250218041952010-05-24T18:18:58.087-04:002010-05-24T18:18:58.087-04:00Oh those ushers. I have to close my eyes at most m...Oh those ushers. I have to close my eyes at most masses so as not to watch them.<br /><br />About the Cheerio thing, I see your point, but sometimes the only way for mom and dad to pray at mass is to keep the toddler happy and food works really well. We break them of that habit once they're old enough to sit still and be quiet.Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17879273326034884153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34483860.post-78003035602732209642010-05-24T17:30:52.283-04:002010-05-24T17:30:52.283-04:00Oh how well I remember this from my days as CCD co...Oh how well I remember this from my days as CCD coordinator. Now my parish is a result of a merger in the Diocese of Trenton. Many of the people from my former parish have left because the merger has been quite one sided with the other parish running the show (thanks to the Bishop who sent us a relatively new priest who has admitted to many, including me, that he doesn't want to be a pastor - ever). The parishioners who came from the other parish walk in late to mass and walk during the readings to the front of the church, think nothing of taking a bathroom break during mass (I'm talking adults), talk through mass, and the minute the priest turns his back to genuflect before leaving the sanctuary, begin to talk, loudly, to people across the aisle.<br /><br />So it's not always just the C & E Catholics or non-Catholics who act improperly in church - sometimes it's the people who are there week after week too.Ellenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02381445346226109566noreply@blogger.com