David Ancell / Saturday October 19, 2002
I am now trying to catch up on my blog reading from having been gone to Nashville all week. I ran across this article cited on Mark Shea’s site. Apparently, a priest expelled two boys from Catholic school in California because the parents complained that they were made to wear panty hose outside our clothes.
Several thoughts came to my mind as I read this:
1. Supposedly, this was done as an “icebreaker.” This reminds me of the retreat I went on in my college years where the blessing before meals was sung to the Flinstones theme (or something just as silly) and every day featured several of these “ice breakers.” And they wonder why they have such a hard time getting young people to participate in the Church. We can do without this silliness. Fr. Peter M.J. Stravinskas has often written that, when children play, they try to imitate adults. Subjecting college students to that which breeds a casual attitude towards Our Lord can only drive them out of the Church.
2. It seems to be the attitude of many clergy, parish council members, liturgical revisionists, etc. that they would rather dismiss anyone who dares criticize them as a low-life, closed-minded, uncharitable, cranky pile of pond scum who isn’t worth the ammo to blast him/her into next week. Couldn’t you at least address the concerns of the parents, even if the way in which they stated the complaint wasn’t the most charitable?
3. I guess I’m reacting a bit strongly to this because I tend to think myself as someone whom others dismiss as a crank. Sometimes I deserve it. However, isn’t it part of the life of a Christian to deal charitably with cranks. I’m not claiming to be perfect in this aspect, but it would help if someone would set an example. I also know that I tend to quickly defuse when someone shows that they are really listening.
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