Friday, October 24, 2014

Of Rock-Star Religious And The Follyhood Of Hollywood

Lately two "acts" have been winding their way through Catholic circles: one is some Italian nun who apparently can sing (choices of material leave something to be desired).  Another is that of a pair of priests who can tap-dance.  There are videos of both - and I refuse to post them.  In this post, I won't say too much of these entities.  Rather, what piques my curiosity is why so many good Catholics seem to be in awe of them.  I had a discussion on facebook about the priests and some of the comments are downright troubling.

I started off the discussion by asking "Why are people so fascinated by priests and religious who engage in "dancing with the stars" antics that are, at best, ancillary to their sacred vocations? Just asking..."  I heard a number of responses.
  • "Their joyful witness is something that the world is incredibly hungry for".  No.  A tap-dance routine, no matter how happily done, will not satisfy the world's hunger.  They need to hear the truths of our faith preached to them in a straight-forward fashion.  They need the Holy Mass.  They need the Sacrament of Penance.  "Joyful witness" to what?  Jesus Christ, or their dancing talents?
  • "So many don't think of them (priests) as normal human beings".  That begs the question of what we consider a "normal human being" to be.  The way I've understood it is that a human being is created in the image and likeness of God and that image and likeness is manifested through man's intellect and will.  Period.  I suspect that our concept of "being human" has been dumbed down by the secular culture - and deliberately so over these past few decades.  Our de facto belief (as a superficial culture) seems to equate "human" as "clown".  Unfortunately faithful Catholics are acquiescing to this degradation in attempts to "win people over".  In reality, we bow to lies and that will only lead to ultimate futility.  Should we not be teaching our young and those with whom we come in contact the real dignity that comes with being human?
No one begrudges these priests of their hobbies.  The problem is that we now know them not because they're exemplary teachers of the faith or stellar confessors, but because they can do tap-dance routines.  In our minds we have replaced the essential with the superficial, the primary with the ancillary.

Last year I had occasion to write about this false-joy mindset that is in actuality a focus on silliness.  I and some others had spoken out against it and were lambasted by those who wanted to remain in la-la land.  Here it is, for what it's worth.

Let's pray for these two priests, that their ministries (meaning at the altar, in the pulpits and confessionals, etc) be fruitful and that they continue to draw closer to Our Lord.

5 comments:

  1. Maybe you know more about these two priests than I do, I cannot tell if you are upset with them or those commenting about them...if the latter, cut off facebook. Don't allow others to disturb you so very much. On the other hand, I said that I don't know about these seminarians, but from what I witnessed, these two have been dancing for years (perhaps from their youth...I don't mean dancing together). Their talent appears to be something they brought with them, a part of them. A bit more grand than those who sang before and with them, but basically they were chosen for part of the entertainment I would think. I'm glad someone did post it in some blog, or else I wouldn't have seen it. To me, it wasn't because they were religious so much as it was all staged like an old movie...one hoofer trying to top the other hoofer with the end being a duo.

    As for the singing sister, have at her and her superior as far as I'm concerned...I found it very disturbing when someone posted her months ago on some show (which I believe she won?) singing the Flashdance (stripper) song "What a Felling"...that to me brings memories of a movie that I should never have watched nor enjoyed in days of deep sin gone by. I saw people dancing around her that looked real bad and from what I recall, even her hand movements along her torseau were poorly selected. Sister's voice should be used to give glory to God.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's not so much the priests themselves that concern me, but I'm puzzled by a tendency for otherwise intelligent Catholics to behave like teeny boppers when they see this sort of thing, forgetting that priests - by virtue of their ordinations - are NOT "ordinary joes" but alter christi. You might recall the Irish priest who did a night-club act during a nuptial Mass - same weird phenomenon happened with many Catholics.

      Delete
  2. I don't know about the tap dancers but Sr. Cristina is headed for something bad if her superior's superior doesn't reign her in right now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As I said to Miriam above, I'm more concerned with this tendency of Catholics to turn into teeny-bopper groupies when videos such as the dancing priests emerge.

      Delete

Please be respectful and courteous to others on this blog. We reserve the right to delete comments that violate courtesy and/or those that promote dissent from the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.