Remember that great post from Fr. Longenecker about talking with the High School aged boys about ad orientem celebration?
I especially enjoyed…
"It feels more holy … it feels like you are offering the Mass for us more … I think it feels more, well, manly."
There is a follow up. This time in poetic form!
A Student’s Plea
No, no, Father, please don’t toss the mike
like a DJ when you preach. Please don’t be cool.
Please don’t ride a Harley motorbike
when you come to school.Don’t wear red cowboy boots for Pentecost,
and tell dumb jokes to be our pal. Please don’t ‘high five’,
say, “Sweet!” “Awwsome!” “You suck!” “You’re toast!”
or teach us how to jive.Don’t sing along to the latest pop band;
you don’t need to be hip and up to date,
or come to our parties with a drink in your hand,
trying to relate.
Play it straight. Say the black and do the red. [Well put, even though I do say so myself!]
Refrain from politics and rainbow pins.
Pray for all of us, the living and the dead,
and listen to our sins.We want you to keep the faith, you see,
but keep it as it was. We want it old.
We want it to be waiting there when we
come in from the cold.We want you to be our Father, not our mate.
We want a solid rock; so when we roam,
we know you’ll be there, waiting at the gate,
to welcome us home.Fr. Dwight Longenecker
Well said!
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I could never put my finger on the problems I had with the N.O. mass until I started reading on the feminization aspect of the church and actually experienced the TLM.
“Say the black and do the red – be a man!” sums it up.
Growing up in the wreckage due to the VII rockets – I now know that I have been robbed of a great treasure.
Outstanding poem from Fr. Longnecker!
It reminds me of what I tell my own kids, “I’m your father not your friend.”
When I get to my judgment, I want to have done my God-given right as a father. Our priests should take this even more to heart.
I know that a great many do, including our gracious host :-}
I was remarking to an older priest one time about how enjoyed his very direct homily because he was instructing us. I finished my comments with “Father, we want you to lead us.” That comment visibly moved him. Being men, our priests need bolstering too from time-to-time to let them know we support their leadership and spiritual guidance.
I much prefer the more manly liturgy myself, and most of my girlfriends say the same. We love the TLM. We also love church when men are more involved, and when priests have the courage and love necessary to serve us by teaching the whole truth.
Good poem. Priests who try to be relevant aren’t. On the other hand there’s a priest at our church who, once in a blue moon, can be persuaded to come to a party. We *love* his company. Whenever conversation lags, he’ll start talking about the Faith, and we leave feeling like we’ve discussed things that are interesting, good, and real, instead of the small talk we usually have.
Sometimes these little cute poems aggravate me with their general’ness’.
I own a HARLEY. What in his holy name is WRONG WITH A HARLEY? I know I know, you implied something there. Like people imply something when they say folks who gravitate towards the EF are mean spirited, closeminded squares…..
The difference, Sacristy rat, is that Harley, the corporation, fosters the image of Harley Davidson as cool rebels (which is all the poem seems to be implying – if you see something more negative there, your engaging in a bit of eisegesis, imho), whereas the EF and its promoters do not foster an image of traditional Catholicism being mean-spirited and close-minded.
Sometimes a metaphor is just a metaphor.
Jason said…
“Outstanding poem from Fr. Longnecker!”
THE
BLACK
SAILS
The power of the cassock
Is to lure
Like fishermen
To nets secure.
The power of the cassock,
Ebony shine,
A hull of hues
On deck Divine.
The power of the cassock
Anchors the man,
Dead to the world
In his sea-span.
The power of the cassock,
Weighted strength,
Before the mast
It’s linen length.
The power of the cassock
Sails your soul
To greater depths
From shallow shoal.
The power of the cassock,
Captains’ pure.
The fishermen,
Our land-locked cure.
It’s a poem, not a dogmatic document. There’s nothing wrong with a Harley, and nothing wrong with a priest riding a Harley (if you check out my blog you’ll actually see a pic of me on a pretty cool road bike!) It’s being used as an image of the priest who rides a Harley to show off, be cool and ‘relate’ to the young.
The difference, Sacristy rat, is that Harley, the corporation, fosters the image of Harley Davidson as cool rebels
Comment by Tim Ferguson
How about Organ Donor?