You’re probably witnessing liturgical abuses when the woman in the pew behind you asks out loud, “What the hell is he doing?”
This happened at a funeral. A visiting celebrant (at a parish that I do not belong to) left the sanctuary before we prayed the Our Father. He repositioned people in the front few pews and lead the prayer while holding the hands of various family members and pall bearers, even though the coffin was in the way. This followed and preceded other changes to the liturgy that brought too much attention to the celebrant, confused the family, frustrated the servers, and had the rest of us wondering what would happen next.
Read the full article here.
My Note: I have often marveled at how uncharitable it is for (some) clergy to preach "canonization" at Catholic funerals instead of the reality of Purgatory. How much "longer" will the dearly departed suffer the pains of purgation because we are led to believe that our loved one is already in heaven, flitting about with angels, and yukking it up with deceased relatives and not languishing, helplessly, desperately in need of our prayers? (Except for baptized children before the age of reason, of course, and certain others not capable of reason.) Here is an article I wrote for the U Matuna in November, 2012: PURGATORY: PROBABLY NOT YOUR NEXT STOP
Absolutely right!
ReplyDeleteI think that some protestant teaching has crept into the church,
(like the eulogy).
There is only one who judges souls.
While a preacher can recount ones good deeds, I feel he should not venture out and actually canonize people from the pulpit!
To be accurate we can only say that they are in God's merciful hands...