That is one of the most painful videos I have ever seen. This is the Pentecost Mass from a parish in the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph, Holy Family.
Mind you, the parish leadership wants people to see this. After all, they put it on YouTube in hi def and with pretty high production techniques.
You will find that, no matter where you click in this video, it is going to be painful. I will suggest a few low points.
10:15 – Note that the priest does not kiss the altar. He doesn’t in other videos either. It is a choice. That is something to think about. It isn’t an empty sign, one way or the other, kissing the altar or not kissing the altar. It is packed with meaning either way. Very different meanings.
12:00 – Opening remarks. Put down your coffee mug first.
13:30 – “The Lord is with you!”
32:00 – Theatrical fire lighting followed by excruciating Gospel reading
37:00 – Sermon. Words fail.
45:00 – I wouldn’t let kids anywhere near this guy.
49:00 – Creed, sort of.
1:05:00 – Eucharistic Prayer “lowlight”
I’m going to stop there. I just can’t go on.
I post this on the heals of posting about the changes to the Gesù in Rome, how the church has to shed its identity connected to Trent and come more to embody what is suggested by the Second Vatican Council.
The people who are screwing around with one of the greatest churches in the world would be just fine with this, bet your bottom dollar. BUT… the Traditional Latin Mass must be suppressed.
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We live literally a 5 minute walk from a beautiful historic church that we NEVER attend. Priest,( I use the term lightly ) lives with his companion in the rectory and both of their little carry around dogs. They both can be seen walking around together carrying their little dogs on their “day off”. When they first showed up and the parishioners complained about the companion living in rectory, the Cardinal forbade it. The companions vehicle was still there every night. The parishioners gave up.
“45:00 – I wouldn’t let kids anywhere near this guy.”
Especially my son.
Thinking that somehow possibly maybe hopefully this might be a fluke, I took a look at some of their other offerings. It’s not. In fact there is an odd consistency of things missing in addition to anything resembling mass rubrics. I don’t think I ever saw an altar server, ever heard anything resembling a penitential rite, which perhaps explains how they are able to free their departed souls to God as they have eliminated sin and therefore eliminated that obstacle to heaven. This is confirmed by the absence of any scheduled confession times. Also missing I noticed, is $100,000 from the cash reserves in the first four months of this year.
The first thing I notice is that, unlike the Chicago video, almost nobody wants to go to this Mass. The church building itself is modern, but better-looking than a lot of them. The pianist/organist is skilled. Somebody’s put some money into this church.
The choir/musician section on the right is not great, but not bad. I don’t think it could have much in the way of good natural acoustics, with all the ceiling being over the middle section of church. But it does have a slanty ceiling pointing toward the middle, so maybe one could get something out of it by standing sideways.
But the cantor’s lectern is set cattycorner to the ceiling, facing the congregation. Ugh. Also, I don’t love the cantor/alleluia mike setup copying an ambo… but honestly, it looks like maybe that used to be the ambo, or one of them, before they changed it.
But it’s not total crud. Somebody is, or was, trying, and a lot of people at this parish do appear to be doing their best. What are they being used to do, and dragged into?
Wow. How embarrassing for Bishop Johnston, who in himself I know to be a good and holy man, and who is not personally opposed to tradition. It baffles me, however, why bishops like him cannot summon up the courage to do anything about these priests, or also deal with NCReporter, which is located in the same diocese. It’s crazy that this is in the same diocese as the Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus in Gower. How inconsistent. Prayers for Bishop Johnston and others like him, that they may develop courage to do what they already know is right.
I like the cantor. She’s really not bad.
But I notice she never bows to the altar, coming or going. Normally, even the crazy churches want that to happen. So one concludes that she has been ordered not to, by the pastor.
At least the second reader looks like she pauses on walking to the altar, as if she would have bowed but was not supposed to. So it’s a recent proscription.
Thank you for the warning before the video Father. When I see this I think that if a Catholic from 250 years ago was alive now and saw these things taking place at mass……they would think it’s a bunch of Protestants. Lord have mercy on us!
This is meant to look like a Catholic Church but it certainly doesn’t sound like one. And I live in the south.
Consolation point: it’s nearly empty.
Do people really think (despite the evidence) that this is effective evangelization?
I’m just heartsick.
Looks Anglican – – and unwatchable.
Not exactly a packed church of those thirsting for Truth! I would drive great distances to run from such a place!
You are right, Father. Words fail. This bears very little resemblance to the beautiful and reverent NO Masses celebrated at my parish by my good parish priests. It looks like a comedy satire of how non-Catholics imagine we worship.
As someone who respects priests, this priest needs slapped and sent away for a long, thorough refresher course at a faithful seminary. Although I wouldn’t trust him serve fish sticks in the seminary cafeteria.
I will say, however, the young lady cantoring is very gifted. She has a lovely, clear voice, with which all too few Catholic cantors are blessed. And I liked the Processional hymn.
Such a pitiful waste of a Catholic parish. We are better than this.
Let’s be very clear: this is what Clericalism actually looks like.
The Mass is not the private plaything of the priest. It is a communal ritual that should be protected from fickle whims & personal preferences.
Pretty bad, Father, but to really get your stomach turned, try this one:
https://twitter.com/catolicos_es/status/1534219054310883328
Absolutely awful “Adoration”- if you could call ‘it’ that.
I attended the Pentecost Mass at my diocesan cathedral, which typically does a beautiful traditionally-oriented NO with chant, incense, orthodox preaching, and a healthy dose of Latin. This time, however, the cathedral had invited in the local branch of the Charismatic Renewal to celebrate. There was tons of super creepy (in my opinion) chant-like prayer with lots of “speaking in tongues”, even by the guest priest, and awful music. The Mass ended with a prophecy session and healing prayers which sounded oddly non-Catholic to my ears. It contrasted almost comically with the Veni Sancte Spiritus, which had been chanted beautifully by one of the regular cathedral cantors earlier in the Mass. The amount of gray hair among the “red shirts” was somewhat telling. I certainly don’t doubt their devotion or sincerity, but for me at least, the style left much to be desired.
“45:00 – I wouldn’t let kids anywhere near this guy.”
Can I get an Amen?
The Gospel reading made me physically recoil in pain.
Lord have mercy upon your Church. Save us and restore us.
This is in my diocese, and I know this priest. Unfortunately, this is nothing new for him. Fortunately, this isn’t the only type of Mass that is celebrated in our diocese. Below is a link to our Novus Ordo parish’s Pentecost Sunday Mass in the SAME diocese as Holy Family, with incense, ad orientem, etc.
https://fb.watch/dCf4i1aFAS/
Watching this ‘master of effeminate modernism’ made me want to run down to the local 7-11 convenience store for a package of TWINKIES…
Honestly, I was bracing for something much worse than what we saw in the Chicago “mass” video. Compared to the many liturgical abominations out there on Youtube, I would dare say that this video is more on the *tame* side.
As has already been pointed in previous comments above, the girl cantor seems to have been blessed with a beautiful voice, and it is also possible to recognize that she employs proper singing technique. With the grace of God, perhaps one day she will put her singing talents to good use in a TLM.
I like the fact that the “Ite Missa Est Alleluia” Easter intonation melody was used (something I don’t see done not at my TLM), as it should be for Pentecost, even if it was sung in English. However, I admit it was strange for the cantor to have sung it when the priest should have done so.
Methodist?
UCC?
Presbyterian?
Lutheran?
Episcopal?
Metropolitan Community Church?
Surely not Catholic. Oh. Wait.
The young lady cantor is sweet and can sing. The gentleman also can sing and looks like a nice man. That first hymn is one of my favorites, though I can’t think of the name of it. But gosh, how beautiful it is. They sung it well.
The color scheme of the sanctuary such as it is is pretty.
There are mostly seniors there. Without the seniors it would be empty. Sad. Where are the families, the children, the young couples.
I want to be charitable, the priest seems to care. He actually talked about Pentecost. He seems to want to connect with his people. That’s all to the good. But by not following the rubrics it’s all a hootenanny and there’s no way it’s not going to be. With so much latitude to do whatever we want, of course it’s going to end up in a bad place. Bad for them too, when the seniors are gone and it’s really empty. This is why Kindergartners are given rules because without rules there’s chaos, and that’s where we are.
Parents. The days of leaving your boys, including teens, at church with priests or bishops or brothers are over. Don’t send your boys on mission trips or any other kind of trips unless you are there every single second of the day, to monitor every activity. Never leave your precious boy alone with any unrelated male, including priests, bishops, brothers, cantors, organists, seminarians. At this point the obvious should be obvious. This isn’t 1952 when nobody knew. We know. They know. Everybody knows. Don’t ever do it. Forget trying not to hurt feelings or insult people. Care about your boy FIRST and LAST. Once he is corrupted, you cannot undo it, the harm is permanent and can negatively impact their sexuality and their entire life and their relationship with God. Don’t ever do it.
Their music was better than our Pentecost music, though the musicality of the organ is a bit pedestrian compared to what I’m accustomed to.
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But aren’t we supposed to “just embrace modernity?”
Two things
What’s the kachina doing behind the lectern?
The cantors are pretty good, and one of them looks like he’s the pit boss at the local barbecue.
Ok
One more thing. With the “kachina” standing behind him, the presider announced cake and punch just before his homily.
That’s bold.
And that’s why they called these things “a synaxis”
These videos are like when someone says , “ughh this smells DISGUSTING–Smell This!!!”
And I opt not to.
@JabbaPapa
Typically Anglicans are not this bad. They may be rank heretics, but they have much more liturgical sense and decorum than your average Roman. Even their women faux-priests are better than this.
After seeing Fr. Guitar Blessing Bubble Making man at the Iverness IL Holy Family I have to begrudgingly admit this was a step up.
How sad is it I can make my aforementioned statement?
To quote the late Jerry Garcia: “Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”
@matt from az:
To echo that general sentiment, I used to live in a city in Florida with 2 or 3 Catholic Churches. One particular Episcopal church near my house was by no stretch conservative or traditional and was served by a priestess and deaconess. After catching wind of their communion and confirming via their live streaming service, they receive communion exclusively on the tongue while kneeling at a makeshift altar rail.
All the while those of us ascribing to the faith that purports to believe in the Real Presence have to tip toe around the best way to receive Jesus. How cowardly and lost are we!
Father:
Instructive? I don’t have to walk into a bordello to know what goes on in there. In this instance, I was able to indulge your request for the first few minutes of the “celebration.” When the priest started talking, I heard enough.
It’s all about him. That’s it. “Look at me. Everybody thinks I’m swell.” And they lap it up. Mostly older people, and younger ones with nothing better to do, or no awareness of any alternative. Most of their friends have better things to do, and no longer attend Mass.
What is important here, I think, and the lesson that transcends any other you are trying to impress on us (with all due respect), is that THIS MAN IS ONE OF A DYING GENERATION. In ten years, he and his ilk won’t be here to entertain us. He will be replaced by a younger, more sensible, and better trained priest, if he is replaced at all. Those among the pews who don’t know what will happen next, will find out soon enough.
I don’t have too much to add except:
drama queen and gaydar
I feel sorry for the people of that parish.
I was curious so I played the entrance hymn portion. What a shame, whoever did that to Thaxted. I’ve often wished for a UU hymn that could use Gustav Holst’s beautiful hymn, but “I Vow to Thee, My Country” sets a pretty high bar for lyrics to match the majesty of the music.
Finally got around to subjecting myself to more of this.
Hokey smokes, that priest was doing weirder stuff than what they were doing in the 1970’s. I mean, it takes some doing to come up with all new bad stuff, after all the bad stuff people have already done.
Well, here’s hoping and praying for that poor parish. And that priest.
As an Orthodox deacon, I always appreciate these videos. Honestly, I wish they didn’t exist, but since they do, keep ’em coming.
Well, that was interesting. I thought I knew a bit about the liturgical landscape of my diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, but that video has certainly upended that. I have provided a link to my parish’s facebook page where you can find photos from our principal Sunday Mass for Divine Mercy in which Bishop Johnston was the celebrant. We’re a ‘reform of the reform’ parish where the traditional Latin Mass is offered during certain feast days throughout the year too. Lastly, we’re definitely not a one off parish in the diocese. Let’s continue to pray for all priests to offer a reverent holy sacrifice of the Mass.
https://www.facebook.com/shrineofdivinemercykc
Wayward antics such as those in the video (and frequently appearing in my former diocese) are what made easy the jump to the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter and Divine Worship.
Indeed – let us pray for the people and priest of that parish.