Clown liturgy? Good grief! No wonder Church attendance in Germany has fallen through the floor. Church buildings have the purpose of bringing us into contemplation of the awesome majesty of God. Clown liturgy is an embarrassment.
Yes.. but I would also LOVE to be a fly on the wall for the committee meeting that put that liturgy together. What is the process that thought that a) this is a good idea and 2) we should definitely do this in age of social media and instant news where it will be there forever…
And who said “clowns” and then said “here hold, mine beer… clown liturgical dance!” First.
I would say that self confident incompetence is a great description of a circus clown and that you are not far off in your assessment that the Germans chose well.
Yeah, I was typing something else out, got confused, hit "Post", saw the problem, and fixed it. Too late to stop others seeing it, though. (Edit: this comment refers to an error in my original post, which sharp-eyed JD Flynn caught, much to my chagrin.)
Hosts J.D. Flynn and Sara Perla, along with a panel of single Catholics, will tackle the questions: “Why is dating as a Catholic today so hard? If we all hate the way it’s going, why don’t we change it?”
The textures of the cassock in the Pope Julius portrait are so gorgeous -- the smooth sleeves contrasted with the tiny pleats... (and Pope St. Pius V's drapey cassock is beautiful, too!)
Imagine you want to tell a very old and serious club that they should let girls play a special role that only boys have been allowed to play. You decide to wear a funny clown costume to get their attention because clowns can make people laugh and think differently.
But this club is very traditional and might not understand your costume. They might think you're just joking around and not listen to you. If you wear the costume at the right time and place, and explain your idea nicely, some people might start to think it's a good idea. But you have to be careful because if they think you're making fun of them, they might not want to talk to you at all.
So, wearing a clown costume to share your idea is a bit like a tricky magic trick. It could make people listen to you, but you have to do it just right, or it might not work the way you want.
"The clown dance was reportedly meant to convey kinesthetically the women’s hope that God will bring new life to their calls for diaconal ordination, according to German reporting from the scene."
-So, clown-based interpretive dance.
"He is a reminder of the folly of our pride and inflated egos."
-I take it back. The clown dance DOES fit perfectly alongside a service calling for the women deacons.
"In other words, when the clown becomes the liturgical symbol of those who would reshape the Church in their own image, maybe they choose better than they intend. Not that I doubt their sincerity."
I never realized that clown masses had become enough of a problem that the Bishops conference actually had to issue a document on it haha! The Church today certainly has its issues, but man am I glad I wasn't alive to see the Church of the 70's and 80's.
Well, guess what? If you consider the actions of this pope and the antics of those German bishops who thinks they’re smarter than God, you can consider yourself in a time warp back to the 70s .
There is no better symbol of the Church in Germany that a group of women trying to conduct a clown liturgy as a sort of protest calling for the ordination of women
I mean… JD your restraint is admirable. Especially because the jokes practically write themselves.
Do we get Ed’s spicy take in the podcast this week?? Is there video footage?? Not that I want to torture myself, but is it too much schachenfreude to have these poor deluded souls around to remind me that it could be worse…
> The bishops explained categorically that: “The sincerity of those involved in ‘clown ministry’ is not to be questioned,”
Okay, I searched the web for "clown ministry" and found https://www.fcm.org/ "Sharing the Gospel through the use of illusions, puppetry, ventriloquism, clowning, balloon sculpture, juggling and other visual arts" and that sounds like a totally reasonable thing for Protestants to do outside of the context of worship services, or for Catholics who are evangelizing outdoors on the sidewalk to do, or whatever. My kid who memorizes objectively useless information about Muppets [and "Muppet-adjacent shows" of which he has a growing list] and likes to talk about the mimes on Elmo's World should probably check it out. It sounds as sincere as the Great Pumpkin's favorite pumpkin patch, which Linus informs us is the epitome of sincerity.
If I were an experienced clown who wants to share the Gospel I would stay far away from liberals in Germany [unless I had targeted them as "people who might not know the Gospel and who should be told to repent and believe", which seems not to be the case here], but if I were an experienced clown *for hire*... a *masterless* clown, a ronin of clowns... then probably doing a liturgical dance is all in a day's work like being hired for a child's birthday party [one time I was the clown at my kid sister's birthday party actually], and would also probably be a good story I could tell my friends over drinks [I have no birthday party story, it was chill and normal].
Clown liturgy? Good grief! No wonder Church attendance in Germany has fallen through the floor. Church buildings have the purpose of bringing us into contemplation of the awesome majesty of God. Clown liturgy is an embarrassment.
Yes.. but I would also LOVE to be a fly on the wall for the committee meeting that put that liturgy together. What is the process that thought that a) this is a good idea and 2) we should definitely do this in age of social media and instant news where it will be there forever…
And who said “clowns” and then said “here hold, mine beer… clown liturgical dance!” First.
I would say that self confident incompetence is a great description of a circus clown and that you are not far off in your assessment that the Germans chose well.
--> Surely Pope St. Pius V has earned "the Great" added to his name.
--> "Not that I doubt their sincerity." ... Thou doth protest too much, methinks.
kind of surprising that hasn't happened.
Maybe I'll try to get the ball rolling. From now on, I'll call him Pope St. Pius the Great and see if it catches on.
Yeah, I was typing something else out, got confused, hit "Post", saw the problem, and fixed it. Too late to stop others seeing it, though. (Edit: this comment refers to an error in my original post, which sharp-eyed JD Flynn caught, much to my chagrin.)
I think you're in the clear.
One other thing Pius V did was rehabilitate the spiritual efficacy of indulgences when, in 1567, he forbade any to be granted on the basis of money.
John (not the Apostle): "It's camp! The tragically ludicrous? The ludicrously tragic?"
Homer: "Oh yeah. Like when a clown dies."
Thank you Simpsons for livening up every occasion. Even clown Masses.
Changing the subject entirely:
Dating as a Catholic Today
Friday, July 19, 4–6 PM
Hosts J.D. Flynn and Sara Perla, along with a panel of single Catholics, will tackle the questions: “Why is dating as a Catholic today so hard? If we all hate the way it’s going, why don’t we change it?”
Will this be worth going to, JD?
It should be fun! and interesting.
Where is this talk going to be held?
It's one of the sessions at the National Eucharistic Congress sponsored by the Catholic University of America: https://www.catholicu-lead-with-light.net/nec
The textures of the cassock in the Pope Julius portrait are so gorgeous -- the smooth sleeves contrasted with the tiny pleats... (and Pope St. Pius V's drapey cassock is beautiful, too!)
Great googly moogly
Can someone please explain to me like I'm 5 how having a woman dress as a clown is intended to help the deaconess movement be taken more seriously?
Well, ya see, if the Church beclowns itself in one area, what's to stop if from beclowning itself in other areas.
Makes me glad I'm neither German nor American.
Well, it's all very German. They have a different sense of humor there.
"It's German humour, mate - it's no laughing matter"
I fed the question to chatgpt and got this back:
Imagine you want to tell a very old and serious club that they should let girls play a special role that only boys have been allowed to play. You decide to wear a funny clown costume to get their attention because clowns can make people laugh and think differently.
But this club is very traditional and might not understand your costume. They might think you're just joking around and not listen to you. If you wear the costume at the right time and place, and explain your idea nicely, some people might start to think it's a good idea. But you have to be careful because if they think you're making fun of them, they might not want to talk to you at all.
So, wearing a clown costume to share your idea is a bit like a tricky magic trick. It could make people listen to you, but you have to do it just right, or it might not work the way you want.
Thanks Fr. Justin!
"The clown dance was reportedly meant to convey kinesthetically the women’s hope that God will bring new life to their calls for diaconal ordination, according to German reporting from the scene."
-So, clown-based interpretive dance.
"He is a reminder of the folly of our pride and inflated egos."
-I take it back. The clown dance DOES fit perfectly alongside a service calling for the women deacons.
"In other words, when the clown becomes the liturgical symbol of those who would reshape the Church in their own image, maybe they choose better than they intend. Not that I doubt their sincerity."
Absolutely amazing newsletter—👏👏👏
I never realized that clown masses had become enough of a problem that the Bishops conference actually had to issue a document on it haha! The Church today certainly has its issues, but man am I glad I wasn't alive to see the Church of the 70's and 80's.
Well, guess what? If you consider the actions of this pope and the antics of those German bishops who thinks they’re smarter than God, you can consider yourself in a time warp back to the 70s .
There is no better symbol of the Church in Germany that a group of women trying to conduct a clown liturgy as a sort of protest calling for the ordination of women
I mean… JD your restraint is admirable. Especially because the jokes practically write themselves.
Do we get Ed’s spicy take in the podcast this week?? Is there video footage?? Not that I want to torture myself, but is it too much schachenfreude to have these poor deluded souls around to remind me that it could be worse…
CCHD has devolved to standing for:
Campaign for Communistic Hellish Dumbth.
May it either be completely reformed in Christ or completely done away with.
> The bishops explained categorically that: “The sincerity of those involved in ‘clown ministry’ is not to be questioned,”
Okay, I searched the web for "clown ministry" and found https://www.fcm.org/ "Sharing the Gospel through the use of illusions, puppetry, ventriloquism, clowning, balloon sculpture, juggling and other visual arts" and that sounds like a totally reasonable thing for Protestants to do outside of the context of worship services, or for Catholics who are evangelizing outdoors on the sidewalk to do, or whatever. My kid who memorizes objectively useless information about Muppets [and "Muppet-adjacent shows" of which he has a growing list] and likes to talk about the mimes on Elmo's World should probably check it out. It sounds as sincere as the Great Pumpkin's favorite pumpkin patch, which Linus informs us is the epitome of sincerity.
If I were an experienced clown who wants to share the Gospel I would stay far away from liberals in Germany [unless I had targeted them as "people who might not know the Gospel and who should be told to repent and believe", which seems not to be the case here], but if I were an experienced clown *for hire*... a *masterless* clown, a ronin of clowns... then probably doing a liturgical dance is all in a day's work like being hired for a child's birthday party [one time I was the clown at my kid sister's birthday party actually], and would also probably be a good story I could tell my friends over drinks [I have no birthday party story, it was chill and normal].