Many years ago, before I entered seminary, I remember hearing about a conservative priest who went to dinner at the home of his more progressive parishioners. Before or after dinner, one of the spouses said to the priest, “Why don’t you relax and take your collar off?” The priest replied, “Why don’t you relax and I keep the collar on?”
I thought that was quite a funny zinger when I heard the story about 25 years ago. But now I wonder why a conservative priest would ever spend time with progressive parishioners unless his goal was to convert them. And I don’t think talking to them that way is going to convert them.
However, the above account illustrates that liberals and conservatives (and as we will see, traditionalists) treat priests in different ways. Because I have roots in all three categories (liberal and conservative and traditional) within the Catholic world, I have been able to observe the sociology surrounding a priest as he goes outside the Novus Ordo Mass (NOM) and the sociology surrounding the priest as he goes outside the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM.) Both sociologies have something to do with the Mass.
Baby-boomers who attend the NOM usually treat the priest outside the Mass (and by “outside” I mean the parish hall or a family’s home or even an airport) as a politician or a comedian. This is because most American baby-boomer priests have presented themselves as politicians (having to please both sides of the aisle, pun-intended) or as comedians (as baby boomers really really like those sermons that make them laugh.) But this sociology has transferred itself to outside the Mass where the average modernist priest is encouraged to talk more about himself than Christ or the Faith.
I noticed this recently in an airport in Florida. Many older folks wanted to know which congregation I belonged to (which is fine.) But then they asked my name. They asked which diocese I was from. Then they asked why I wasn’t in parish life. Then they asked (the ever-predictable question) why a hermit was out of his cave—as if they were the first to come up with that joke.
One lady before we got on a gangway at the airport in Denver even asked my address. I said to her (as nicely as I could, but obviously perturbed) “Do you want to tell me your name before I give you my address” Her husband was shaking his head. But he wasn’t shaking his head because I was rude. He was shaking his head at how obnoxious his wife was being to me. But I guess I need to be compassionate, because Novus Catholics have been essentially taught that the priest is just the wisecracking politician of the local parish since Vatican II.
Let me give you an another airport example, but this time from someone who treated me in a good way with quiet respect. As I got on a Delta airline from Lisbon to NYC last month, the 60 year old Filipina flight attendant surprisingly recognized me. She didn’t yell or ask me about my life or make a scene. She just leaned in as I got on the plane and whispered “Padre, welcome. I’m going to take care of you with whatever you need.” She meant a wine or stiff drink on the house.
Several hours later, I am getting off the plane at JFK in NYC. As I was stepping onto the gangway, she quietly said from the airplane door, “Sorry I couldn’t get you anything. It got really busy on that flight!” I smiled and said “No problem!” as I kept walking. But then I walked back to the plane and I whispered to her “Did you call me ‘Padre’ because you call that to every priest or you actually listen to my podcast?” She basically then said “I listen to every one of your podcasts.” Then she blew me a kiss as only a 60 year old Filipina woman could do. Now that is love of the priesthood, and a specific way to honor me as different from other priests (by listening to my podcast, I mean.)
Again, notice: The flight attendant didn’t make me talk about myself, but rather said things without drawing any attention to either of us. Also, she was more interested in me teaching the faith on the podcast than asking why I wasn’t in parish life anymore. I would much rather talk about the Faith or hear confessions in airports than talk about bishops or dioceses or the NFL to show how relevant I am.
The flight attendant didn’t draw attention to either of us. I don’t know if she attends the NOM or the TLM (for I have a surprising amount of listeners who attend the NOM—and that totally fine) but the sociology of both Masses lends itself to a different approach to the priesthood. If you see the picture at the top left NOM, the priest is masked yet drawing attention to himself while facing the people. It is a show. If you see the priests at the top right at the TLM, they are facing God but not making a fuss over themselves. It is sacrificial adoration. Those two attitudes transfer to how we comport ourselves outside the Mass.
If you want to honor my participation in the One Priesthood of Jesus Christ, then please ask me some tough questions about Catholic dogma or Jesus or Mary or the saints, not about me. I’m here to get you to heaven, not be your resident comedian.