Not quite in honor of St. Joan of Arc

You might have missed had Catholic Church Conservation not been vigilant.

Yes, YouTube has video produced by the infamous St. Joan of Arch parish in Minneapolis on the occasion of their Earth Day celebration!

Look at it as a sort reverse way of observing St. Joan of Arc’s feast today.

If time constrains you either to watch this or doing something environmentally friendly, then by all means  … um… you know…

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in SESSIUNCULA. Bookmark the permalink.

40 Comments

  1. Braadwijk says:

    This sounds like the dreck I was subjected to in high school. I no longer feel the need to be angry or cynical about this stuff because demographics will take care of it in time, and that is just the “Natural Order” of Creation. :) For the record, though, did anybody else notice the choir is almost entirely shrill old women?

  2. Chironomo says:

    Think Then Post says the Anti-Sapm word… I’m thinkin’…

    I’m thinking they put more effort into this Mass than they probably did for Easter. It was a well-produced show, and that’s about all I can say for it. What an absolutely wretched thing to do to HYFRYDOL though… reminds me of the songs they used to feature on “Big Blue Marble” on Saturday mornings circa 1973. And yes… the contemporary group members are looking less and less “contemporary” by the day.

    In the words of what is surely one of their favorite tunes…

    “Soon and Very Soon…”

  3. Lance says:

    After watching that, I feel the need for a stiff brandy. And it’s only ten in the morning!

  4. TNCath says:

    1. Adoro te Devote on the saxophone–enough said.

    2. The narrator sounds like the lady who played Mrs. Roper on “Three’s Company.”

    3. The man who has been in love with women, men, trees, etc., would this officially classify him as a “tree hugger”?

    This looks and sounds like the beginning of a new religion.

  5. Dan W says:

    Man, I bet they felt all warm and fuzzy and doing there part after doing that! I see they are contributing to global warming with all that Hot Air!

  6. Dan W says:

    Pardon my bad usage: there = their

  7. sarah mosley says:

    So weird watching that video. I completely recognise all the rooms of that church. I grew up non-denom Protestant and went to a non-denom evangelical K-8 that used St. Joan of Arc’s building. Even being the oblivious little Protestant kids that we were, my classmates and I always sensed that really, really weird and extremely creepy stuff went on at that church. The teaching staff at the school were do disturbed by the things they witnessed (after hours, I suppose, when all we students would have been gone — although, it must also be considered that these teachers would have had an anti-Catholic bias) that they would go around praying in each class room one morning a week, praying that God would keep all the evil spirits from that room. And then years later I become Catholic and find out that St. Joan of Arc is one of the banes of the Catholic Church in America.

    I have a question — I am newly Catholic and all, so you will have to excuse my ignorance. But why has this parish not been brought under control, esp. if their Archbishop Nienstadt is orthodox, as one of your previous posts seemed to imply?

    Thanks,
    Sarah

  8. Father Michael says:

    I didn’t get the sense that this program was held in the context of the Mass. Was it?

  9. Brian says:

    Echoning what Choironomo said about the song using Hyfrydol, I wonder who wrote the words? When I heard it… pretty much was LMFAO and ROFL. I don’t think I can ever listen to “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” again in the same way.

    “in our beautiful blue boat home” literally Lol!!!

  10. irishgirl says:

    I couldn’t download the video-sign said, ‘please try again later’. I don’t think I’d really WANT to look at it, knowing the ‘rep’ [reputation] that this church (?) has.

    Dear St. Joan of Arc, you deserve better than this….reach down from heaven and use your sword again-and this time swat the BACKSIDES of these people!

    Sigh…oh, well, happy St. Joan’s Day to you, Fr. Z!

  11. Kevin says:

    So where is the “western” hemisphere?

  12. Thomas Herge says:

    at least they had the melody of Adoro Te

  13. Lubeltri says:

    You know, we always laugh at the ridiculous antics of these parishes, but we seem to forget these are ***parishes with which we are in communion.*** These are parishes operating with the cognizance of the local bishop.

    Should not something be done about these scandalous parishes, or is the hierarchical structure of our Church a farce (as many Protestants think it is)?

  14. Pantheism is bad, mmmkay.

  15. Amy D says:

    “I have a question—I am newly Catholic and all, so you will have to excuse my ignorance. But why has this parish not been brought under control, esp. if their Archbishop Nienstadt is orthodox, as one of your previous posts seemed to imply?”

    I live near JoA and have been watching it for a while. The issue with JoA has been going on for far longer than Archbishop Neinstadt has been around. I think there are a few things going on that are slowly progressing towards the point that JoA may resolve itself.

    The first was that under Abp. Flynn, the classes of priests going through seminary, by all accounts, got stronger and more orthodox during his tenure. It’s hard to root out this sort of thing, one would think, if you don’t have a replacements especially given that all of this has to be done with loving charity.

    The second was quietly waiting till the old Priest retired…which happened a few years ago.

    We attend a nearby parish and over the last few years there has been a reduction in odd things (like May poles at Easter Mass). My private theory is that until the diocese has shored up the parishes around JoA, they won’t bring the hammer down out of concern that the diaspora will metastize and affect nearby parishes.

    The other thing to consider is the media in town. Anything that could be construed as harsh or undo would be sung to the hills by the RedStar (err I mean StarTribue) and they would find a way to make it look as bad as possible. Which is what happens when the diocese dealt with St. Stephens last year.

    I like to think of it as the diocese having the patience to go the distance and do it right.

  16. Chironomo says:

    Not to keep harping on the hymn tunes in the video… but our usual complaint is secular-pop tunes with sacred lyrics fitted to them. Here however, they have managed to take a perfectly good sacred hymn and fit secular poop-lyrics to it. However odd is that?

  17. Chironomo says:

    Sorry..honestly! I meant POP-LYRICS… but what an appropriate mis-typing that was!

  18. irishgirl says:

    Yeah, Chironomo….’poop-lyrics’…appropriate for something like this!

  19. What talented musicians! What magnificent readers! We might bring them to see the truth, and then how to make their talents serve the truth. These people have stopped one step short of St Augustine and St Monnica in their mystical vision at Ostia – instead of damning them, or ridiculing them, why do we not ask ourselves how we might help them see themselves all the way home?

    C.

  20. Latter-day Guy says:

    Well, that was nauseating. I couldn’t finish it; I haven’t the will, and life’s too short.

  21. Garrett says:

    Its certainly disturbing on a number of different levels, but, Father, I don’t know why you have to take pot shots at environmentalism.

    A concern for our environment and God’s Creation (and our continuance as a species) is certainly in line with Catholicism!

  22. Amy Chapman says:

    The bag of dog food under the ambo impressed me greatly! It’s a rather expensive brand. Trust me, I’m the wife of a veterinarian. … I bet the pope’s real proud!

  23. Paul Q says:

    I noticed that they purged the word “Father” from the Gospel. “As ‘God’ knows me and I know ‘God’; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

    What is with these people? What is with this priest that he feels that he can take such liberties with the text?

    Paul Q

  24. TMA says:

    Humans are supposed to be good stewards of the earth, but not to worship it. We recycle. We’re trying to go green, organic, simple, fair-trade. That’s fine. It’s when environmentalists expect us to believe things not based on scientific truth, but on faith, that I get concerned. I hear in the news of human jobs being lost to save some obscure animal life form. My kids watch an emotional puppy rescue commercial on TV and ask if we can contribute, to which I reply, “Maybe, after all the human babies are rescued.” Humanity is losing its sense of place in the order of creation.

    And here we see this Catholic community buying in to this new religion. And then let’s just give it extra punch by putting it in the context of the mass. Lord, have mercy.

    To me, the best earth celebration we have is the Easter Vigil.

  25. Brendan says:

    Paul:

    I was at a Mass one time (only one that was available) and the priest read the Gospel as:

    “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of all people.”

  26. ckdexterhaven says:

    The You Tube is labeled “St. Joan of Arc Earth Mass 2009”— so, yeah, it was a “mass”.
    But seriously,this is not even Christian, this is Gaia/earth worship. Where is the Vatican? These poor people are being led astray.

    This is from the gal doing the voiceover: (ckdexterhaven suspects she may be wearing a rainbow cassock?)
    “Our sweet and generous earth has brought forth increasing complexity and sophistication”
    “God creates with inexhaustible exuberance, irresistible energy, and the creator LOVES pizazz”
    “We are the universe in human form” Then they chanted “We are the earth become conscious”

    At the end the voiceover lady says “Will you teach your children what we have taught ours?”

    This is beyond parody. Father, you have GOT to transcribe this, then do your red/black comments!
    Father, I think you picked the wrong screenshot, you should have used the screenshot of the lady blowing into the giant seashell.

  27. Jeff Pinyan says:

    The “script” is here: http://www.stjoan.com/er8/earth/earth.htm

    It says it’s a “Mass”.

    Since when does Ps. 148 mention “bodhisattvas”?

  28. Clayton says:

    Kevin, I believe the Western Hemisphere is all points 180 degrees west of the Prime Meridian.

    It is interesting that they are attempting to frame the creation story within the context of the Big Bang, but it’s also interesting what they get wrong: Bodhisattvas in the psalm, nine planets in the solar system (sorry Pluto you aren’t a planet!), etc. It smacks of freestyle creationism. They are paying attention, to a point.

    But, it’s true, giraffes are in fact pretty far-fetched.

  29. Broadsword says:

    “Ye Men and Women of Minneapolis. Why stand ye staring into the sky? This same Jesus who was taken up is under your very feet. Feel the love of Gaia.” Chorus: “For the love of Gaia!” This video will make tolerable, for several weeks easily, the Haugen Gather hymns.

  30. Nan says:

    sarah, Abp. Neinstedt has only been on the job for a year. He has made a lot of positive changes in that time and has a couple of great liturgists working with problem parishes.

    Garrett, I don’t take this as a pot shot at environmentalism but an explanation of why St. Joan’s is so widely known.

  31. Al says:

    I could barely sit through 3 minutes of this (& thatincluded jumping ahead). So, does getting through it all without wanting to blow the Church up earn you a plenary indulgence?

    Will the mother ship please beam them up.

    PS I used to love Our Town, but now, after that openning, it will be a long time before I will be able to watch it again.

  32. Brian says:

    Highlights:

    “Praise him in the depths of matter;
    praise him in atomic space.
    Praise him, you whirling electrons,
    you unimaginable quarks.,
    Praise him in lifeless galaxies;
    praise him from the pit of black holes.
    Praise him, creatures on all planets,
    inconceivable forms of life.
    Let them all praise the Unnamable God!
    …Psalm 148” (LOL)

    “Nothing could be so far-fetched as a single giraffe.”

    “And the Creator loves pizzazz!!”

    “Right into the heart of its immense celebration the universe produced its next surprise, a being who arose out of the earth itself and possessed the remarkable ability to reflect on its own existence. We are the universe in human form. We are earth become conscious.” (Yaaay, Pantheism!)

    “God Adores His Creation.” (See! Even God worships the earth! But would that be latria, dulia, or hyperdulia?)

    “The gate I want to open now is the one that leads into the flower-bed of my mind.” (That just about sums it up…)

  33. ckdexterhaven says:

    This parish is SO ready for the Christopher Guest treatment. Has anyone seen “A Mighty Wind”, “Best in Show?”. But parodying this church is like shooting fish in a barrel, probably wouldn’t be much of a challenge for a big shot Hollywood director.

  34. Kimberly says:

    Yuk! I also got through about three minutes and shut if off. My Guardian Angel got ticked!

  35. GJP says:

    Why do I get the feeling that if St. Jeanne were alive today, she would have ran into the place with her sword and flushed everyone out?

  36. Felicitas says:

    I am a convert from neo-paganism, and I have to say that even though I witnessed some goofy stuff in my pagan days, these people really take the cake. As a pagan, I was acquainted with so-called “Christo-pagans” who truly believe that the Church hijacked Christ’s teachings, and who follow some mushy new-age version of what they think those teachings actually were. I found it very silly even as a pagan; but with hindsight as a Catholic Christian, I can give those people a little credit because they are not actively working to subvert God’s church. They are out on their own, doing their own thing and forming their own little groups. The parishioners of St. Joan of Arc obviously *are* working hard to deliberately subvert God’s church. It makes me furious, so much so that I guess I really need to say a few rosaries. And pray that at least a few of these people eventually realize the seriousness of their actions and come to repentance.

  37. Bob says:

    I have been intensely studying Jeanne’s life since 1962, and I’ve been saying for at least thirty years that the parish named after her is a disgrace to her. I wish, along with the others, that she would come down from heaven and whack a few backsides with her sword. It’s on record that she did that: “I saw her once at Saint Denis, on the way back from the King’s coronation [July 17, 1429], chase a girl who was with the soldiers so hard, with her sword drawn, that she broke her sword.” — posthumous testimony of the Duke of Alençon, in Régine Pernoud’s The Retrial of Joan of Arc, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2007, p. 160

  38. GJP says:

    I too own a copy of The Retrial of Joan of Arc. A fantastic, amazing resource. Anytime I see a book about Ste. Jeanne that I don’t own, I usually buy it.

  39. irishgirl says:

    Bob-I have that book, too!

    I’m like you, GJP-if I find a good book on her, I’ll buy it!

    And I can just visualize St. Joan running through that church, eyes blazing with righteous anger, sword upraised, ready to whack a few of those behinds! What I wouldn’t give to see that!

Comments are closed.