Breakdancing Priests - Why Celebrity Priesthood Is An Oxymoron

Submitted by LocutusOP on Wed, 08/23/2017 - 23:57
Author: 

Philip Kane , Paul, Sam Sham, Andrew, Twosunrun, Restore-DC-Catholicism, Edison Frisbee, Marie , fedhill       

Date: 
Wednesday, August 23, 2017 - 23:45
Article link: 
Breakdancing Priests - Why Celebrity Priesthood Is An Oxymoron

 

All I can say is, God help us.

...

 

If you don't understand that there is something wrong in this video without being told, you won't understand if you are told.

...

You mistakenly say some of the comments in support of these break-dancing priests were made by "faithful Catholics." That, also, is an oxymoron. I firmly believe that very few of those who were born post-Vatican II, and, therefore, poorly catechized, and attend the NO are faithful to the Church as established by Christ. Many are called but (very) few are chosen, Pope Benedict has warned. He said he would prefer a much smaller Church of faithful Catholics.

...

You're absolutely right to call this out. Over at CatholicCulture.org. an essay was just published which concludes with this statement: "Why are we facing a shortage of priests in the western world? A significant part of the problem lies in the fact that we don’t treat our priests as men set who are consecrated and set apart. Too often we see them (and worse, they see themselves) as ordinary men like us, who happen to play a different role in the parish."

Its validity as a rite notwithstanding, the Novus Ordo has deprived our priests of their true priestly identities and when those like our breakdancers above still, in spite of every force arrayed against them, follow God's call to our altars, they get there and are made to be nothing more than presiders, presiding over what is primarily the gathering of the faithful 'round the table for a community meal. If some among them do at some point discover the "old" Mass, they will discover that God has set them aside for the purpose of offering Him the One, Holy, Sacrifice of the Mass. Then they will discover how they are set apart for something so profound and glorious, something which defies description. God hasten the days of the restoration and we might pray for these two men of God, that they will also discover what they were truly called by Our Lord to do.

Well....so much for my theory about discovering the "old" Mass: apparently Fr. P offers it too. Maybe the distinction between officers and enlisted in the military works metaphorically in this instance. Effort is made to ensure that they don't drink, party and otherwise "cut a rug" together for a range of very serious reasons. Priests are the officer corps of the Church Militant and us people in the pews are the foot soldiers. They far exceeded the boundary of the dignity attendant to their office, kinda like if a Pope were hypothetically place a beachball on the altar just after Mass or had a bunch of scantily clad circus performers gyrate and dance in a performance in front of St. Peters, or wear a clown nose for photos with newlyweds.

...

It's 100% approved behavior. Here's another video with the same priest and his bishop:
https://youtu.be/W_1oboaQmQA

 

Replies
 

 

...

 

  1. Janet, I agree with you, especially with St. Joseph Cafasso and St. Alphonsus on your side. But please don't be too hard on Fr. P, as he is otherwise an orthodox, very prayerful priest. The exuberance of youth and memories of the life he left behind might have been too much to dispel when young people are around.

    Fr. P was a topnotch break-dancer when he was called by the Lord to the priesthood. It was his way in dealing with his grief at his mother's passing. But when he answered the Lord's call, he gave up everything, including a nice girlfriend that he had hoped to marry.

    Okay, all that is no excuse for him to go back to break-dancing, now that he's a priest. But at least it's not as obscene as some Franciscan friars on YouTube who dreamily fly and pirouette all around the altar during Mass.

    Hip-swinging like Elvis is not overtly sexual; if I remember right (and I'm in my 70's), it was Elvis' music and song lyrics that good Catholics found offensive in my time.

    As regard entertaining kids with acrobatic stunts before and after leading them in prayers, St. John Bosco did so, too, even with magic.

    I'm not saying you were wrong in your assessment of the nature of the priesthood. I'd like to request only, if I may, that we not be too hard on Fr. Leo Patalinghud. (Total disclosure: I'm Filipino and a fan of his cooking show.)
    Thank you and God bless you.

     

    Replies
     
     

  2. I've seen pictures of Mother Angelica with a super soaker, St. John Bosco juggled and danced for kids.

    If this was at Mass, or involved other suggestive dancing I would have a problem. Otherwise criticism of this skirts too closely to Jansenism for me.

  3. I believe St John Bosco did that before he was ordained, not afterwards. As for the Mother Angelica pictures, please cite source. The priest doesn't cease being a priest when he removes his Mass vestments. The behavior, especially for the sake of spectacle, is unbecoming anyone who is consecrated to Our Lord. As for "suggestive", Father Patalinghug crossed that line in the early part of the video.

  4. Regarding Elvis, it was his hip movements that got him censored. When some of his performances were televised, the cameramen were ordered only to focus on the upper part of his body. He was nicknamed "Elvis the Pelvis" if you'll recall. As for going easy on Father, I might have been inclined to do so, had he not been so mocking towards others who voiced concerns similar to mine. That mocking, sneering attitude may be indicative of a worse problem. I pray that the good that he may well be doing doesn't become commpromised by his showman-like behavior. If that happens to him, he won't be the first.

  5. I've linked to the image that I've seen... https://www.instagram.com/p/BXVuIbFDcVO/

    I suppose I just wonder how we determine the line of what is and isn't acceptable. I saw a post on a traditional page earlier of an FSSP seminarian doing missionary work in Mexico giving a young boy a fist bump, something I'm sure some circles would find distasteful.

    I agree that priests or any consecrated person should have a higher standard, just as in any leadership positions there are certain things that they should refrain from.

    I also think we need to be careful of not being overly reactionary just because much of the Church has become emotion laden mush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Own comment: 

Really, puts it very succinctly:

If you don't understand that there is something wrong in this video without being told, you won't understand if you are told.

 

I shall leave it to you to figure out which of the commenters fall foul of that assertion, and which one is almost certainly a Novus Ordite - one who seems very fond of irrelevant analogies and short-circuiting logic.