Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford the way they were:
And the way they are: (YIKES)
The Deacon's Bench Blog has a post on the Alternate Universe of Wisconsin's Holy Wisdom Monastery. You can read the whole article there by pressing The Deacon's Bench. I'll just pick out a few lines from it.
The following segment captures the Alternate Universe of Holy Wisdom Monastery:
"...Women can lead the service and preach the sermon. Gay relationships are warmly embraced. All parishioners, not just Catholics, can consume the communion wine and bread because the service is ecumenical, meaning welcoming of all Christian traditions.
It’s an alternate universe of sorts — what some think a Catholic Mass might look like today if the liberal spirit of Vatican II in the 1960s had taken root and flowered.
“We’re doing what the hierarchical church was afraid to complete,” said Jim Green, a longtime Holy Wisdom parishioner who is gay and describes himself as “a Catholic in exile.”..."
Thus far there are 335 parishioners, not all disaffected former Catholics, but many who are from Protestant denominations and who feel quite comfortable there. Most of the 335 are in their mid 60's and 70's and older.
The photos below are a glimpse into what might have been if the "spirit" of Vatican II liberalism of the 1960's (the heyday of the people of this Church, who, by the way, are so nostalgic for it, that they've created an "alternate universe" of an ecclesial community to preserve it. In the 1970's I was trained or at least prepared for the Church of the Future that would look like this. It is more like "Back to the Future."
11 comments:
Looks a lot like my parish. :-(
My Dad had a great saying about folks that look like this: "They look like something that was shot at and missed and s..t at and hit all over." LOL!
A friend of mine, a disaffected Anglican, once said, "You just cannot take the '60s out of some people!"
Father Allan, with great respect and affection, I ask what is the point of posting this? I believe that for the largest portion of RCC blogdom and culture (save for the diehards at PTB/NCRep.) the tide has turned. Even if there remains a majority of parishes wherein the faithful bear the cross of hearing "Gather us in" on a weekly basis, enough publicity concerning the recovery of our true faith, ritual and cultural traditions and practices has, in one way or another, reached the mainstream. If nothing else, the HHS scandal has evened awakened new generations of RCC's to Humane Vitae where not even JPII's "Theology of the Body" had made much of an impact.
I don't see a need to deride the folks portrayed here for how they choose worship. First amendment, goose/gander here in the USofA and all that. This is their "here and now," they have their choice.
As to the disposition of their eternal souls, we have only one charitable option in our own locales: prayer. If we should want to visit them and engage in fraternal correction, we could in good conscience exercise that option. But from afar on a blog? Whom does that benefit?
You make good points; as you might know I've been accused of living in an "alternate universe" so sometimes I wonder who really is!
Charles, I do not believe the tide has turned yet. There are plenty of these lulu's still around and they have aloud voice. They need to be ridiculed...besides, it is fun. Fraternal correction does not work. These people are angry, hostile towards authority, and unrepentant. A Blog is a fine place to discuss these people. Of course, I would be happy at any time to tell them just what I think of them face to face.
Charles, Pin is right. I have at least dozens of these folks in my parish. One is the DRE. Another is our liturgist. It makes it very difficult to move things back in a more traditional direction.
Charles, we can't pretend that what they are doing is acceptable. It does deserve criticism. So FrAJM could tick off the litany of what they are doing wrong, starting with calling themselves Catholic. But that belabours both the obvious and the arcane. So laughing at their chosen foolishness and dishonesty is a service to the community because we are responsible to ensure others are not misled by this sort of travesty. So while I may not presume to judge them for their beliefs, I can say with certainty if one is seeking salvation through the one True Church, that is not the building for it.
We are not laughing at a legitimate service of another religion, we are laughing at people who are lying to themselves and misrepresenting Christ's Church. It's actually pretty kind.
rcg
I'd rather be burning heretics.
You know, Templar, now we could probably get a nice ceramic-over-iron propane stake with lava rocks instead of wood. It could have a bracket with a drop down stainless steel Cross to hang down in front of the heretic's face in the eventuality of a final true confession. It could have an auto-lite, adjustable flame with settings like "mercifully fast" (for the merely misled and victims of stupid catechesis),"standard broil" (for your "lukewarm" Catholics and Christians who just don't care about proper belief), and "slow roast" for Pelosi, Biden, Sebellius and their ilk). I like trade names such as: Aposta-Grill, Repenta-Roast, or Joker-Smoker. There could be several models: the standard "Flames of Hell" model for the budget minded Church, the "Wrath of God" model that is self-cleaning for busy congregations, and the deluxe "Torquemada" model with surround sound.
Charles, there is an entire country of these...AUSTRIA.
Apparently the 60's just won't die....
Whether or not FrAJM is in his own alternate universe..that's a different question.. ;-)
just kiddin' around
~SqueekerLamb
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