Where's the Reverence?

This past weekend I attended 3 Masses (singing at all 3), 2 different priests presided. An older, retired priest presided at the first Mass. He had an absolutely outstanding homily. He said he was standing there noticing how wonderful the Gloria sounded in the church and then he looked up and noticed that many people were just there and not singing (not participating in Mass). He also mentioned that sometimes he wonders how many people walk into a church and notice Jesus. He's always present and visible in the tabernacle, but how many people stop to think and recoginze that it is actually Christ, how many people think to say a prayer or thank the Lord for his gifts in life and his presence. Some may have noticed that this past weekend was Scout Sunday (always the first Sun. in Feb.) where any troops, packs, etc. are recognized and thank their charter organizations (usually churches) and typically participate as ushers, greeting people, breakfast afterwards, or other ministries. At the end of the second Mass, the pack and troop were both recognized and came forward to present the charters to the church. The priest preceded to place the framed charters on the altar. Now, I love all of the priests here (even the handful of retired ones who help out), I think they all have great personalities and are great people. But sometimes I can't say that they are all reverent. Some priests refuse to have announcements at the end of Mass as they believe it would disrupt the solemn setting that had just been set by the Mass. But one priest always insists on telling a story or two with a comic punchline at the end of Mass. The third Mass was a Youth Mass that typically only has 10-20 people present (held once a month for the high schoolers in Youth Ministry). The same priest presided at this small Mass. It seems that in this small setting people tend to forget how to be Catholic and no one wants to correct anyone else. People sometimes don't kneel and stand. In fact, this last time, when people started to shuffle to kneel, the priest said "Oh, that's okay you don't have to stand...(people are starting kneel)...but if you want to kneel, I guess you can." So, people are just supposed to sit during the Eucharistic prayer. While eating some of the adults mentioned how they wish Father could be at every Mass because he's so welcoming and how he's still reverent while doing it. Sure, I like some of the things he does differently, but full of reverence is not something I would use to describe the whole of his Masses. Buy condoning priests that don't follow the rules, what are we telling kids these days. Priests should be shepherds and set examples for the people. Maybe people today are being less reverent because of the examples they happen to see in front of them at the altar.

Paix du Christ!