Insulting Jesus: Turning the Mass into an Elementary School Pageant Edition

A reader sent this picture of his parish’s Veterans Day Mass along with this commentary:

Does your daily Mass have joyful worship like ours does? I bet all of you are jealous that your Holy Sacrifice of the Mass does not include two slide show presentations, country western music, performing children (several performances  including the one in the picture which took place during the homily). I joked that there was rumored to be prayer and worship taking place but I was unable to find it.

In all honesty, Jesus was not the focus. While the event was lovely and honoring the veterans is good, it was not Catholic. The fact that Jesus was not the focus of the Mass made this a travesty and it was very sad.

There was not one single sacred song that was about God. The two slide shows, and accompanying country western music, bo‎th took place after reception of the Eucharist and made it nearly impossible to pray and spend time in recollection. 

‎I wondered to myself if anyone remembered that Jesus, our King, our Savior, our God, was present, truly present before us, and indeed, in us…

There is so much wrong with this picture, it is hard to know where to start:  the young children up around the altar with their backs to Jesus, the young lad with the guitar, the slide show screens in the front of the parish, the people taking pictures, the plastering of U.S. flags all around the sanctuary,  the abandonment of the altar area by the priest, the Masonic goddess image of the Statue of Liberty upstaging the Crucifix.  Perhaps the worst is the Tabernacle shoved off to one side, out of the way so as not to distract from the elementary school pageant being staged.

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy.  And may He guide these little children to a priest who loves Him enough to keep His Sacrifice reverent and holy.

Recently, I attended a parody mass and was shocked at the lack of awe given to our King.  In the article, I highlight the parody nature of a Mass, offered, I suspect in the “Spirit of Vatican II”, which for faithful Catholics should mean that it has little to do with the Spirit and nothing to do with Vatican II.   The priest who staged this above musical is in his 70’s so too was marinated in the “Spirit of Vatican II.”

If anyone wonders why only 25% of men go to Mass on a weekend, this kind of buffoonery is one of the reasons why.  When the Mass starts looking like an elementary school musical, it distracts from the sacredness of the Mass.  And men opt out.  “Oh, Junior is not doing a song and dance at Mass this weekend?  Lets say we skip Mass and go out to the Pancake House.”

Full disclosure:  I have 4 children and have attended countless beautiful elementary/high school events (very found memories).  My son-in-law is a captain in the Marines and my daughter worked for the Marines and my father was in the Navy during WWII (I have great respect for our military and regret not serving myself).  And I have a soft spot in my heart for country music.

This is all true.  But Jesus Christ is the Almighty King who deserves us crawling on our bellies up to the altar for His Eucharistic Sacrifice.

It is time for Catholic men to rise up in righteous indignation to the insults that routinely happen in Masses led by hapless priests.

Jesus threw the money-changers out of the Temple because they were insulting His Father.

Maybe He was trying to tell us something.