Speaking of Ash Wednesday, there's an interesting article on Slate today about why so many Protestant churches are now starting to celebrate Ash Wednesday. For centuries Protestants avoiding anything "Roman" in their worship. Fancy services, statues, loopy holidays: all were out. That's changing now. Luckily for them, Lent isn't as rough as it used to be. Used to be no meat at all for 40 days and one meal a day.
The article mentions how "Catholic liturgy has appropriated pop music and hand-holding in evangelical style". Sadly, this is true. I shudder in horror every time I think about it. I went to a Sunday night service a few weeks ago and they had bongo drums. Ach! Mater Dolorosa, pray for us. The hand-holding has subsided in recent years, but not completely. All it's good for is spreading germs, in my opinion.
I almost lost it when they mentioned the "Ecumenical Miracle Rosary", a rosary for Protestants. It's the same type of necklace-thing, but with different prayers. No Hail Marys, which is just stupid. A rosary with no Hail Marys is not a rosary, boys and girls. That's the whole point, asking her for help. Meditating on events in her life and the life of Christ. Take away that, and what do you got? Nothing better than prayer beads, and even the Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims have those.
And you know what? It's also a bit dumb for me to even get upset about it. I'm frothing at the mouth that someone has taken one of our Catholic traditions and changed it around to allow them to pray to God. Oh, the horror! I should be happy that they've found another way to praise the creator, instead of griping that they're not doing it my way.
But Heaven help us if no Hail Marys and bongo drums is the wave of the future.
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Like all human endeavors, this borrowing from the Catholics will result in good and bad.
The good: Participants in borrowed (or stolen) rituals and forms will tire of performing rituals and forms out of Context and will seek and find the proper context and origins of these borrowings and leave their poverty.
The bad: Protestants will be happy with "theme park catholicism" and will smugly convince themselves that what they've got is "just like/just as" catholic as Catholicism and will remain in their poverty.
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