Perpetual Thursday Ramblings, Rantings, Nonsense, and Bunk
A Mortal Sin: A Short Play
Monday, May 29, 2006
A couple of articles prompted me to write this short play, and I'll give links to and quotes from them after the script:
--
A MORTAL SINBy Patrick J. Simmons
Scene: Father Fredrick Fenderbender in the confessional hearing the confessions of Dr. David Drunkard.DOCTOR DAVID DRUNKARD (D): ...and after I broke the door down Mr. Morrison - well I guess he heard me or something, but he came running with a baseball bat in his hands so I pulled out my gun and shot him. Them I short him again, and again, and again. Then his little son, Sammy, came in and I shot him. I heard Mrs. Morrison in the kitchen and I went in and shot her once, but she didn't die, and I was out of ammo, so I grabbed a knife and stabbed her over and over.
FATHER FREDFRICK FENDERBENDER (F): Alright. What else?
D: I robbed a bank and killed everyone there.
F: Mmmmmhmmmm.... Anything else?
D: Well Father, its hard...
F: Son, I am your priest, no one heard but myself and God.
D: Father, I couldn't help it... I knew it was wrong but... Well...
(voice lowers to a low whisper) I knelt in church.
F:
(GASPS) David, do you realize what you've done.
D: Yes Father, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
F: I certianly hope so. I'll give you absolution, but if you kneel again, you're going straight to hell.
END--
Two articles inspired this, both about the same priest. Father Martin Tran says kneeling is a mortal sin. No joke.
One of the articles, from the L.A. Times, says:
--
...Kneeling "is clearly rebellion, grave disobedience and mortal sin," Father Martin Tran, pastor at St. Mary's by the Sea, told his flock in a recent church bulletin. The Diocese of Orange backs Tran's anti-kneeling edict.
Though told by the pastor and the archdiocese to stand during certain parts of the liturgy, a third of the congregation still gets on its knees every Sunday.
"Kneeling is an act of adoration," said Judith M. Clark, 68, one of at least 55 parishioners who have received letters from church leaders urging them to get off their knees or quit St. Mary's and the Diocese of Orange. "You almost automatically kneel because you're so used to it. Now the priest says we should stand, but we all just ignore him."
The debate is being played out in at least a dozen parishes nationwide...
--
The other article is from the Catholic World News, and is mainly a commentary on the L.A. Times article.
Half of me wants to laugh, half of me wants to sign, frown, and shake my head, and half of me wants to laugh even harder. And yes, that is three halves.
I may have more to say on this later depending on read responces here and notes on it by other people.
Until then, Perpetual Thursdays to you...
(Thanks to
Novus Ordo Watch and the
New Oxford Review for the links to the stories.)
Labels: Religion
Share: Digg It - del.icio.us - ma.gnolia - StumbleUpon - Seed Newsvine - Facebook - E-mail
Comments:
There's no way those priests could be sincere. They're obviously asserting obstinately and rebelliously that their own suspect liturgical policies are not only a good idea, but
necessary. They're insecure because they really know they're wrong, whether deep down or not, and so they make a big drama out of the matter; hence the talk about kneeling being a "mortal sin".
The world would be so much better without priests like them.
Posted by at 10:35 PM
Post a Comment
Perpetual Thursday - Design and Content © 2007 Patrick J. Simmons
Hosted by midPhase
Atom/RSS
at 10:35 PM