02 February 2006

Irksome Things

1. Altering Altar
2. Using "The Lord be with you" as an everyday greeting
3. Taking potshots while hiding behind anonymity
4. Announcing the rubrics
5. Complaining to the wrong person
6. Caricaturing the "other side"
7. Hymns that drag
8. Asking "What's wrong with them" instead of "What's wrong with us/me"
9. Not having the courage to lovingly confront another
10. People who make lists of "irksome things"


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is irksome about Christians greeting one another with "the Lord be with you?"

Anonymous said...

Be careful to distinguish between "dragging" and "majestic" i.e., "The Head that Once was Crowned with Thorns."

Fr John W Fenton said...

First, the phrase "The Lord be with you" is not derived from a common Semitic greeting. It was an angelic greeting--the words the angel spoke to the Blessed Virgin. Other occurences notwithstanding, this use informs its use in the Western liturgy.

Second, in the Western liturgy, "The Lord be with you" is not a liturgical "hello" or "good day." "Peace be with you" when spoken by the bishop, "the Lord be with you" is spoken by the priest but within the episcopal context. Hence, it is a declaration to the assembled that the Lord is in their midst in the person of the celebrant (in persona Christi). The historic response ("and with thy spirit; et cum spiritu tuo") acknowledges that this is possible only because of the Spirit in the Church.

I suggest that it's a denigration of this liturgical phrase to "commonize" it.

Anonymous said...

Sharing the peace of the Lord in the middle of the service.

Questionaires.

Seperate children's church service.

People who secretly give the consecrated bread to their children.