Getting Mad at Mass

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Monica02

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I used to attend a parish further from my home, but due to scheduling (and other) issues I have started to attend my local parish which is just a few minutes away.

The parish is over half Mexican so I attended one of the English Masses. The first reading was presented by a guy in African garb in some foreign language (not Spanish). So no big deal, whatever, I just read the reading. The priest starts his homily yada yada yada... okay. Then he smirklily (is that a word?) asks does anyone recognize the language of the first reading? Someone replies "French", which was correct (I could not recognize it as French but oh well). Father smirkily (I like my new word) asks "Do all Catholics in the world speak English? No Catholics speak many languages" He somehow related this comment to the Holy Spirit and Pentecost blah blah blah....

I was so insulted and mad I could not even look at the priest and could only think that I just wanted to get out of there. He pretty much just implied that Americans are too self absorbed and/or stupid to know that other people speak different languages. I wonder if at the Spanish Masses the first reading was read in French and the priest told them that not every Catholic speaks Spanish?

I have seven of eight parishes within a half hours drive. The homily at a parish I used to attend was a "you are a bad person for being a American and not nilly willy lovingly accepting every foreigner that shows up in this country blah blah blah" one. Not is so many words but you get the point.

I never went back to that parish.

The closest parish is the one I attended this morning. I might try a few of the others but they are a bit of a drive and I am sure that I will eventually hear the "bad American" rant. I attended my other parish for years without getting the "bad American" speech, but then-whammo -there it was.

I just went to confession yesterday afternoon and was very happy to attend Mass this morning. Then I got knocked over the head with the "bad, stupid American" hammer and was mad and just wanted to leave. I fear that my only motivation to go to Mass is out of an obligation and not out of joy or love. I will just go and sit there and ignore the homily (or try to do so ) and leave.

I just do not know what to do.
 
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Monica02

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I probably could drive to a number of different parishes and might not be driven mad but sooner or later I am going to hear "the message". The way I see it - I can just save the cost of gasoline, wear on my car and just show up at the local parish. Better yet I could just go to a Spanish Mass and not understand the homily and save myself the trouble of getting angry from what I hear. Might learn how to say Peace be with you in Spanish -oh yeah.
 
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Monica02

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I honestly don't see the problem. The demonstration made sense and was tied into the homily and the season.

And I honestly don't see what the parish being half his panic has to do with anything.


I could not see how a contrived stunt that was a set-up for the priest to insult English speaking Catholics tied into Pentacost and the only sense it made was the sense I understood it in, that of a smug insult.

I mentioned the half Spanish aspect because I chose an English Mass and heard French being spoken and also I wondered if the Spanish Mass goers were subjected to a similar insult.
 
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Gnarwhal

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I hope I'm not hijacking the thread with this, but this was always the appeal of the Latin Mass to me (granted I haven't been to one yet). I always thought it was neat that the church kept Latin alive in a manner of speaking, it seemed like a unifying element of the church. Regardless if you were attending Mass in Buenos Aires, Paris, Kolkata or Chicago, everyone was celebrating Mass in the same language.
 
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bill5

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Let me guess, you live on the West Coast-?

It's hard to say w/o having been there. On one hand, I don't see the big deal in one reading that presents something in a diff language to make a point that Catholicism is universal. On the other, if he was one of these smug, self-righteous "you stupid narrow-minded Americans" jerks, yes, that would wear thin very quickly and I'd look elsewhere too (esp if this is not the rare exception but typical of services there). That idiotic bit has worn extremely thin.

As stated, I'd keep looking around, try some of those nearest (maybe you caught 1 or 2 on a bad week :) ). PS at least count yourself lucky that you have that many choices not too far away. I don't. Here in VA you pass a zillion Protestant churches before hitting one Catholic one and none are near me. oh well
 
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MikeK

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The only homilies I really appreciate are those that hit me in the gut and remind me that I am a privilaged, spoiled, and lucky man to have been born where and when I was and that I darned-well better appreciate it and share what I've been gifted. I sometimes attend a traditional parish where the Latin Mass is prayed exclusively - they are far more likely to remind parishioners how spoiled modern Americans are than the NO parishes I attend are.
 
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Monica02

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If you would like to try an Eastern Catholic parish let me know and I could give you some contact information.

May the Lord Jesus Christ through his abundant grace show you a path where you can find happiness.


I am not there yet but I will keep the Eastern option in mind. I think there is a Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Chicago but, although I am in the Archdiocese of Chicago, the city is well over an hour away.

Thanks and God bless.
 
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Monica02

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Let me guess, you live on the West Coast-?

It's hard to say w/o having been there. On one hand, I don't see the big deal in one reading that presents something in a diff language to make a point that Catholicism is universal. On the other, if he was one of these smug, self-righteous "you stupid narrow-minded Americans" jerks, yes, that would wear thin very quickly and I'd look elsewhere too (esp if this is not the rare exception but typical of services there). That idiotic bit has worn extremely thin.

As stated, I'd keep looking around, try some of those nearest (maybe you caught 1 or 2 on a bad week :) ). PS at least count yourself lucky that you have that many choices not too far away. I don't. Here in VA you pass a zillion Protestant churches before hitting one Catholic one and none are near me. oh well


Nope, Chicago suburbs. I did not see a big deal about the whole different language thing, in and of itself, either. But when the priest grinned and said "not all Catholics speak English" - there was just something about his expression that rubbed me the wrong way. I guess I am lucky to have so many parishes (and religious orders) within reasonable driving distance.
 
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Fantine

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Like French Defense, I don't see anything wrong with demonstrating the message of Pentecost in an original and memorable way.

But what's the point of getting angry? When I find myself bored or distracted at church, I look around the congregation (we have a small parish) and choose people in the congregation to pray for. Everyone has problems--many far greater than mine--and what a wonderful gift of prayer I can offer in my bored moments.
 
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GoingByzantine

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It turns out we live in the same area Monica :p

I used to live in the South Suburbs, but now I live farther afield. Chicago and the suburbs are blessed with an abundance of Eastern options if you ever get the desire to pay visit. :)
 
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katerinah1947

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I used to attend a parish further from my home, but due to scheduling (and other) issues I have started to attend my local parish which is just a few minutes away.

The parish is over half Mexican so I attended one of the English Masses. The first reading was presented by a guy in African garb in some foreign language (not Spanish). So no big deal, whatever, I just read the reading. The priest starts his homily yada yada yada... okay. Then he smirklily (is that a word?) asks does anyone recognize the language of the first reading? Someone replies "French", which was correct (I could not recognize it as French but oh well). Father smirkily (I like my new word) asks "Do all Catholics in the world speak English? No Catholics speak many languages" He somehow related this comment to the Holy Spirit and Pentecost blah blah blah....

I was so insulted and mad I could not even look at the priest and could only think that I just wanted to get out of there. He pretty much just implied that Americans are too self absorbed and/or stupid to know that other people speak different languages. I wonder if at the Spanish Masses the first reading was read in French and the priest told them that not every Catholic speaks Spanish?

I have seven of eight parishes within a half hours drive. The homily at a parish I used to attend was a "you are a bad person for being a American and not nilly willy lovingly accepting every foreigner that shows up in this country blah blah blah" one. Not is so many words but you get the point.

I never went back to that parish.

The closest parish is the one I attended this morning. I might try a few of the others but they are a bit of a drive and I am sure that I will eventually hear the "bad American" rant. I attended my other parish for years without getting the "bad American" speech, but then-whammo -there it was.

I just went to confession yesterday afternoon and was very happy to attend Mass this morning. Then I got knocked over the head with the "bad, stupid American" hammer and was mad and just wanted to leave. I fear that my only motivation to go to Mass is out of an obligation and not out of joy or love. I will just go and sit there and ignore the homily (or try to do so ) and leave.

I just do not know what to do.

Hi,
Chrisitian Mystic here, and with my Christian mystic hat on. One day, I am going to go to a Mass. I am out of my town. I am more than 500 miles from home. It is at a church that I had been told not to go to, by my host. He knows me, and when I am told to go there by God, in any way shape or form, I comply as it is really fun, to see God work Good where ever He sends me.
The sermon was over. The priest preached hatred, not love. I talked to him at the end of Mass. He tried, it seemed to say he did not understand me. He eventually did.
I had told him this story: ~"On the day, I was treated by God, at the behest of Mary to the core of Jesus Christ, this is what I found out. He is infinitely infintely infinitely tender and and then some, he is mild.~ I told him, that I was called to Medjugorje to get this and other things, but it was at Medjugorje, for me that this was revealed."
I left this priest. He had been told. He is dead now, but he was told before he died, what Jesus is actually like.
Not all priests know God. Not all deacons know God. Would you like a test you can do, given to me by God, The Holy Spirit? It is this. Hurtful women and mean men, cannot be listened to about God, unless they are quoting directly from something God has said, like in The Bible. Nothing they say can be taken as from God, in their own personal lives, or sermons as their goal is not God, rather it is something else. Many of those are hiding in the churches in all of this world.
If you care to, and know how to do the work, read Matthew 7:15, and also Matthew 7:16. Matthew 7:15 is what The Holy Spirit made me know one day as the answer to a question. I looked it up. I read it, but I did not understand why that was the answer for the group that I was given this answer for. It is in reading about grapes, who are women and figs who are men in those passages, that I then tested and finally understood. Neither of them is found in women who hurt, nor men who hurt.
Thus, you were hurt by a non fig, a man who is verbally rough. When that happens, Matthew 7:15 applies.
LOVE,
...Mary., .... .
 
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pdudgeon

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there are many different ways to demonstrate to a congregation what the experience of Pentecost was like. that the priest in question chose to demonstrate the opposite of Pentecost and use the languages of the world to confuse and divide the congregation was unfortunate at best, and showed his ignorance of scripture.
 
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ebia

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I used to attend a parish further from my home, but due to scheduling (and other) issues I have started to attend my local parish which is just a few minutes away.

The parish is over half Mexican so I attended one of the English Masses. The first reading was presented by a guy in African garb in some foreign language (not Spanish). So no big deal, whatever, I just read the reading. The priest starts his homily yada yada yada... okay. Then he smirklily (is that a word?) asks does anyone recognize the language of the first reading? Someone replies "French", which was correct (I could not recognize it as French but oh well). Father smirkily (I like my new word) asks "Do all Catholics in the world speak English? No Catholics speak many languages" He somehow related this comment to the Holy Spirit and Pentecost blah blah blah....

I was so insulted and mad I could not even look at the priest and could only think that I just wanted to get out of there. He pretty much just implied that Americans are too self absorbed and/or stupid to know that other people speak different languages. I wonder if at the Spanish Masses the first reading was read in French and the priest told them that not every Catholic speaks Spanish?

I have seven of eight parishes within a half hours drive. The homily at a parish I used to attend was a "you are a bad person for being a American and not nilly willy lovingly accepting every foreigner that shows up in this country blah blah blah" one. Not is so many words but you get the point.

I never went back to that parish.

The closest parish is the one I attended this morning. I might try a few of the others but they are a bit of a drive and I am sure that I will eventually hear the "bad American" rant. I attended my other parish for years without getting the "bad American" speech, but then-whammo -there it was.

I just went to confession yesterday afternoon and was very happy to attend Mass this morning. Then I got knocked over the head with the "bad, stupid American" hammer and was mad and just wanted to leave. I fear that my only motivation to go to Mass is out of an obligation and not out of joy or love. I will just go and sit there and ignore the homily (or try to do so ) and leave.

I just do not know what to do.
Maybe you're confusing church with a republican convention.
The homily should be challenging our national and cultural assumptions.

Monolingulal english speakers (myself included) certainly could use a kick up the backside about our assumptions for our own good and the good of the english speaking countries.
 
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ebia

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there are many different ways to demonstrate to a congregation what the experience of Pentecost was like. that the priest in question chose to demonstrate the opposite of Pentecost and use the languages of the world to confuse and divide the congregation was unfortunate at best, and showed his ignorance of scripture.
You're assuming how his homily worked. Presumably it actually work by contrast.
 
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MoreCoffee

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I used to attend a parish further from my home, but due to scheduling (and other) issues I have started to attend my local parish which is just a few minutes away.

The parish is over half Mexican so I attended one of the English Masses. The first reading was presented by a guy in African garb in some foreign language (not Spanish). So no big deal, whatever, I just read the reading. The priest starts his homily yada yada yada... okay. Then he smirklily (is that a word?) asks does anyone recognize the language of the first reading? Someone replies "French", which was correct (I could not recognize it as French but oh well). Father smirkily (I like my new word) asks "Do all Catholics in the world speak English? No Catholics speak many languages" He somehow related this comment to the Holy Spirit and Pentecost blah blah blah....

I was so insulted and mad I could not even look at the priest and could only think that I just wanted to get out of there. He pretty much just implied that Americans are too self absorbed and/or stupid to know that other people speak different languages. I wonder if at the Spanish Masses the first reading was read in French and the priest told them that not every Catholic speaks Spanish?

I have seven of eight parishes within a half hours drive. The homily at a parish I used to attend was a "you are a bad person for being a American and not nilly willy lovingly accepting every foreigner that shows up in this country blah blah blah" one. Not is so many words but you get the point.

I never went back to that parish.

The closest parish is the one I attended this morning. I might try a few of the others but they are a bit of a drive and I am sure that I will eventually hear the "bad American" rant. I attended my other parish for years without getting the "bad American" speech, but then-whammo -there it was.

I just went to confession yesterday afternoon and was very happy to attend Mass this morning. Then I got knocked over the head with the "bad, stupid American" hammer and was mad and just wanted to leave. I fear that my only motivation to go to Mass is out of an obligation and not out of joy or love. I will just go and sit there and ignore the homily (or try to do so ) and leave.

I just do not know what to do.
It seems from your post's account of the mass that you attended that you took offence more than the priest gave any offence. Surely it is a fact that not everybody speaks English and surely it is useful to demonstrate what hearing holy scripture spoken in a different language sounds like in the context of Pentecost Sunday where the first reading (the one read in French) is about the gift of the Holy Spirit evidenced by the sound of a mighty wind, tongues of fire resting upon (or above) the heads of the disciples in the upper room, and the gift of speaking in foreign languages to the gathered incredulous crowd of Jews who heard what was said in their native tongues and knew it for a miracle. The little piece of theatre in the reading and the explanation of it in the homily does not imply that being from the USA makes a person bad. I do not see any connection between reading the first reading in French and condemning people from the USA.

 
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pdudgeon

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You're assuming how his homily worked. Presumably it actually work by contrast.

WRONG! Pentecost itself IS the contrast.
It is the healing work of God through the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

If you need more info on this let me know via the 'conversations' button, and I'll be glad to respond.
 
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