random thoughts on All Saints Day

Feast of All Saints

• I've noticed a lot of attempts at man shaming going on in Catholic blog land. In the 70s and 80s a lot of men  were disgusted by the shenanigans in their parishes but kept on going to Mass and refused to help with anything, (the guys who were active beyond ushering or putting up the altar Christmas tree, were chuckled at and the adults use the word "hen pecked" to describe them ). Other men and boys simply stopped going to Mass as soon as they turned 18, and would only return for weddings, funerals, graduations, the occasional baptism and perhaps a Christmas Midnight Mass. As a girl,  I never got the impression that any of the ladies really missed them. Anyone who had a problem with the pastor, the church musician or the deacons behaving in a womanish manner had two choices: Shut up or don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya,  and until the pedophilia/ephebophilia  scandal burst open like a rotten watermelon this was all A-okay.   Frankly, instead of these sermons, essays and not so cute memes to shame men into coming back to Mass how about begging their pardon and asking them to come back for the sake of their souls and because we need them? Steve Wood has an interesting essay on the subject at his site. 
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• The annual fight about whether to let the kids participate in  Halloween didn't happen in Catholic blog land this year. Things in the church and the secular world are so bad right now that people had other concerns.
• My parish is having a missa cantata on November 6, at 7:30.
  
• Rocky and I went on vacation last week and on the way back we stopped at the church we were married in for Sunday Mass. I couldn't wait to leave. The cantor came darn close to giving up a lounge act but the priest gave a good homily. As I sat there I thought of my own pastor and decided that I should thank him for the way he celebrates Mass and if I get chance I'll thank our church musician, who is highly talented, for never cutting loose and dominating the Mass.
  
  
• I realized something on my vacation. I felt physically great for the entire week. I'm not sure how to do it but I'm going to have to figure out a way to lower my stress level at work.
  
  
  
• I feel embarrassed for Michael Voris.