The classic example of the Jewish humour trope has been the man who murdered his parents then asked the judge for mercy because he was now an orphan. Well, perhaps until evening Mass in a Glasgow church at the weekend. Feinting with a quick reference to Pope Francis, he hit us with the difficulty of being a disciple. Especially being a priest, him and his fellow priests. What they need, he told us, is encouragement.
We’re all pretty poker-faced now in Church, but that was a strain for others too, I imagine. One of the things not going to plan was that apparently things can be arranged, and “not as many come as were expected”, etc. But ‘encouragement’ was the thing.
I know of only two moments of drama at Mass in a Glasgow church, possibly because those who would be interested in providing one now don’t come. I’m told that in one quite recently the priest said he had a surprise for the congregation, and a couple were to be married during Mass. A man with a young child stood up and said that wasn’t why he had come to this mass, and that it wasn’t the kind of surprise he appreciated, being there with a young child. The other occasion was when the parish priest had to apologise to the congregation for providing them with general absolution on a Christmas Eve, his fellow priest having taken ill, thus leaving a church with a large number of would-be penitents . This of course was the usual ‘Code of Canon Law’ nonsense.
Last night was a temptation, we must say. Some kind of congregation involvement must come. It’s bound to happen, and the sooner the better. Encouragement ? Encouragement ?? It was a bit like listening to Bishop Robson on Pope Francis, Jesuits in general, and ‘Pastors Not Princes’ and being ashamed of not having spoken up, although one person did, very courteously.
Encouragement ? To the Tridentine priesthood? To a group of people in whose hands the provision of the Eucharist rests almost exclusively, and which takes no heed of the Pope’s suggestion that ordination be extended to married parishioners, and who has already done this in the Eastern Church? To a group of people which in fact is preventing the Flock from receiving the Eucharist ?
The concept of ‘encouragement’ has apparently been re-defined . Never afraid of a ‘Titanic’ image when discussing the Church in 2016, we wonder if the passengers fighting for the boats would have been ‘encouraged’ by somebody punching another hole in the side of the liner from inside.
That was all bad enough, and believe us, it was bad enough. But just last week, the local broadsheet as obligingly as ever, provided yet another example of a dirty old man /priest brought to court for paedophily. Yes, another one.
Interestingly, this bizarre sermon may have a positive side. There is a well-supported belief that some animals may be able to detect not merely an oncoming earthquake, but also an oncoming tsunami. Is it possible – is it just possible-that an appeal for ‘encouragement’ suggests a subconscious realisation that perhaps all is not well ? That a microscopic crack has appeared in the adamantine carapace of the concept of ‘Alter Christus’ ? That perhaps the many websites like this which advocate that the Flock should be able to receive the Eucharist , even if it doesn’t suit the Tridentine priesthood, are getting through ?
In other words, is it being realised that Christ’s Eucharistic imperative , which can transform our world , does not have to be the exclusive property of the medieval concept of celibates with an intensive theological education and supported by a parish, but by newsagents, taxi-drivers or engineering technicians chosen by their parish , validly ordained and valid participants in the Apostolic Succession?
If so, why can’t we get on with it ?
We refer you to ‘kintsukorol’ or ‘kintsugi’, the Japanese method of repairing a treasured piece of porcelain by glue mixed with gold . The end product is therefore more valuable than the original. Why cannot our priests add the gold of their dedication and worthiness to the repair of the Church by throwing their weight behind a new kind of Church and enhancing it by getting behind the cause of extended ordination?