Inflection

You will have to turn it up, but this was the first reading at the Good Help Anniversary Mass.  ....please excuse the snickering.  The rest of the Mass was fine...   Chanting the reading might take away the temptation to play act through the scriptures.  There may be a place for this type of reading but it's not during the Mass.  The Fathers of Mercy now manage the spiritual needs of pilgrims so I'm not sure if they coach this fine young man or someone else.

The night before, the first reader of the rosary had a strange, artificial inflection when praying, the younger kids kept mocking her. I was more annoyed by the youth group, but I guess at least they were there. Well, I'll post that video as well.


Also, I'm still trying to figure out Youtube uploads. I see the limit has been extended past 10 minutes so I am going to try to upload some things. My camera records in 16:9 but it still smushes it together - not sure if this is a camera thing or a Youtube thing.

11 comments:

Darla Meyers said...

We were at the Our Lady of Good Help Shrine the next day and also had the playacting reader. I think a good word for it is "distracting." I may be a revert to the Faith, but I find that a good rule of thumb for Mass is that if it's distracting, it shouldn't be there. Deo Gratias!

Darla Meyers said...

We were at the Our Lady of Good Help Shrine the next day and also had the playacting reader. I think a good word for it is "distracting." I may be a revert to the Faith, but I find that a good rule of thumb for Mass is that if it's distracting, it shouldn't be there. Deo Gratias!

Anonymous said...

Seriously, you're making fun of an elementary-aged child for the way he reads at Mass? Sorry, but at least it appears that he's read over the readings and knows what he's about. Of course it's not perfect, but come on!

Badger Catholic said...

Anon, could you quote the part that is "making fun of him"? The liturgy is not a play thing, and whomever is organizing it there needs to take that obligation seriously. This young man should be commended for serving at the altar of the Lord, but clearly this is an inappropriate style for a Catholic liturgical rite. There is no fault for this young man doing what he is told.

Unknown said...

Yeah, they should have chanted the reading, or at least read it in a more subdued manner.

I also get a kick out of the sign that says "do not enter the sanctuary," and the little hanging-rope-thingey that they put there outside of Mass. For pete's sake, just get an altar rail and be done with the tacky sign and hotel lobby hanging-rope-thingey.

Badger Catholic said...

Amen Ben.

Anonymous said...

"....please excuse the snickering." As a parent, would you be happy to see a video of your son show up in the context of this sort of blog post?

Badger Catholic said...

The snickering is in the video, not mine. The young man is not at fault for anything here. Nobody here has said anything negative about him, this is a constructive conversation about Catholic liturgy and alternative approaches that are less distracting. If you want to contribute(see: "I don't think there is anything wrong with inflection") feel free to join. I would have no problem with a public reading of my son being posted and discussed civility. What do you mean by "this sort of blog post"? I'm honestly not understanding the hostility.

Anonymous said...

(Brian from Illinois): We were also at that Mass. The young man is Simon Tipps, the son of Steve and Karen Tipps, who are the caretakers at the Shrine. They're a homeschooling family, and they also have an adopted daughter from India named Trinity. We've known them for almost 10 years now. I know that Simon wants to become a Priest someday (God willing, of course.) I know him to want to be very pious, and I honestly felt like he was trying to do that here. I think he'll learn to temper his enthusiasm, shall we say? :) I also don't know if this was his first time reading at Mass there as we usually only get up there once a year.

Unknown said...

Here's a picture that I had in my mind when I posted my comment above:

https://picasaweb.google.com/isthmuscatholic/PilgrimageToOurLadyOfGoodHelpShrineGreenBay#5621215573958779922

Badger Catholic said...

Thanks for the info Brian! Did you see me? There were actually more people the night before for the rosary procession than there were for Mass. I have no doubt he is pious and trying to do the right thing, maybe the priest talked to him after Mass. It's like every part in the liturgy, it is meant to minimize our own personalities and put the focus on God. I'm sure the intent here was good, it just came off a bit too enthusiastic like you said.