Thoughts & Responses to Anvilcloud

 

My friend, Anvilcloud, posed a few questions in my comments yesterday that I thought would be valuable for me to try to answer and flesh out today:

Question:  "I have heard about Catholic guilt. Do you suffer from it?"

The term "Catholic Guilt" is one that is used by a lot of folks, both by Catholics and others, and it is used in both serious and humorous contexts.  I think it can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different folks.  So, I decided to try to find some more "formal" descriptors of it:

Catholic guilt is the reported "excess guilt" felt by Catholics Guilt is a by-product of an informed conscience.  Guilt, even "Catholic guilt" is not considered a positive thing in itself in any Catholic teaching; rather, contrition is considered constructive.

Guilt is remorse for having committed some offense or wrong, real or imagined. It is related to, although distinguishable from, "shame", in that the former involves an awareness of causing injury to another, while the latter arises from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, or ridiculous, done by oneself. One might feel guilty for having hurt someone, and also ashamed of oneself for having done so. Philip Yancey compares guilt to the sensation of physical pain as an indication that something should not be ignored but attended to. Rabbi David Wolpe says, "Facing up to the hurt we cause others with cruel speech or callous acts, and to our myriad failures to meet the marks God sets for living a true and good life, "makes forgiveness meaningful, not merely a catchphrase".

The Penitential Act at the beginning of the Mass is a liturgical rudiment of sacramental confession. This private confession became the normal way in which this sacrament was and is still practiced, with a strict seal of secrecy on the part of the priest. Sometimes the practice of the sacrament emphasizes doing acts of penance, sometimes it emphasizes making one's sorrow or contrition authentic. In a Catholic or religious context, contrition is "sorrow of soul, and a hatred of sin committed, with a firm purpose of not sinning in the future". 

So, in thinking about myself.... do I feel guilt when I do something that is wrong or hurtful to others?  Yes.  But, I think that is a normal aspect of all people who live in a society.  Is the guilt I feel EXCESS GUILT or what is aka "Catholic Guilt"?  I do not think so.... but in reality I may not be able to know compared to all of society.  I have been Catholic my whole life, and cannot really say what others may be experiencing compared to my own experience.  

I can say that I do feel it is IMPORTANT for a person to recognize and experience guilt for their wrongdoings, and I feel the experience of guilt is critical for being able to understand and enact contrition. From my Catholic perspective, the feeling of guilt is a recognition and awareness of what one does that hurts others, and pursuit of contrition is a) the work one does to try to apologize for the hurt done, b) the work one does to attempt to fix or repair the hurt done, and c) the continued work to try to not repeat that hurt.  

In my mind, while I often couch my ideas of my wrong doings and my attempts to repair my wrongs and become a better person in terms of my Catholic faith.... in reality, I believe that if I were to try to live my life without my faith..... that PHILOSOPHICALLY.... I would still believe the same exact thing with perhaps a more "secular" vernacular:

I unfortunately do wrong things that hurt others.

I should and do feel guilt and shame about the hurt I cause others.  I need to "own" what I do, even if it is something I feel ashamed about. 

I should and need to work hard to apologize for those hurts.  I should and need to work to repair as best as I can those hurts.  And, I need to work hard to not do those hurtful things again.

So, for me, I do not think I have "Catholic Guilt" in the context most folks use the phrase.  I feel I have a mindset, however, where I find it important for me to evaluate my actions in life in the context of being helpful and kind towards others...... or at the VERY LEAST my actions should be "neutral" in effect towards others.  When I find that my actions in life have hurt or harmed others, I do feel a strong need to assess my actions and work to repair what I have damaged, and also work to not repeat the harmful actions. 

Question: Do you really enjoy listening to masses, or do you do it because?

There are several aspects in how I can answer your question:

1.  I greatly enjoy the music at MOST Catholic Masses.  It can range from rather traditional forms of Catholic music (think Gregorian Chants, Latin Hymns, etc) or it can be more modern styles (Haugen, Talbot, and others).  As an example of one song I am ESPECIALLY enchanted with at the moment, and am working to learn the piano/guitar/ and solo line for clarinet (in the video, the solo line is by a flute) is:

"In Every Age" by Janet Sullivan Whittaker

I also very much enjoy music performance by strong, but non-professional musicians.

2.  I participate in other aspects of Mass itself in three contexts, a) a mode of prayer, and b) a form of education, and c) a way to participate in communion.  In regards to each:

a) Mass itself is all about prayer.  Music is a form of prayer, spoken prayer is another facet, and there is also the "prayer" aspect of participating in a community in Mass.  And, even if there are some times when I am not necessarily in the right frame of mind for spiritual prayer, the time and effort in the attempt also helps me feel more emotionally centered and can usually at least become a time where I examine my philosophies on life more carefully.

b) As long as I try my hardest to really LISTEN to what is being said.... be it in the lyrics of the songs, or in the readings, or in the prayers that are spoken, or in the homilies........ there is ALWAYS something of value that I can LEARN (or sometimes RELEARN and bring back into focus in my mind) to help me as I work to try to be a better, kinder, giving person.   This education is, to me, an extremely valuable component of Mass, for in so very much of day-to-day life, I (we?) do not get a whole helluva lot of time for doing much OTHER than to "get the job done" from day to day.  The time I spend in my education in Mass gives me the ability to focus more on the "WHYs" about what I DO day after day.  It helps me also to focus on the "HOWs" of my hoped for purpose in life of being a servant to others, of being a help to this world.  In a more general way, the education I receive from Mass helps me to build a framework in terms of how I may proceed with the work that is what my life is for.  

c) Being at Mass is being with family.  It is, to me a global family.  I used to think about this a great deal when I was in graduate school and I had the likely prospect that my job/work could very easily force me to have to be far, far distant from my nuclear/immediate family (this is of course before I was married).  I used to worry considerably about this potential to be flung far away from my nuclear/immediate family... until I began to better understand within myself that in some fashion, I have a GLOBAL family anywhere I go and can attend Mass.  Now, do not get me wrong.... I ALSO wanted to be close to my nuclear/immediate family.... and I did a helluva lot of work to eventually be able to be hired by a U that was relatively near where I grew up so I could maintain as close of ties with my nuclear/immediate family as possible.  I left behind some opportunities that may have been considered "better" or "more prestigious" in may ways, specifically so that I could have the ability to maintain as close of ties as I could with nuclear/immediate family as well.  

So.... to broadly answer your question..... I do listen to Masses because I enjoy them for the above reasons (ESPECIALLY the wonderful teachings and philosophies of the Capuchins).  

But, in the full spectrum of your question.... there have been (of course) times in my life, where Mass may not have seemed as "important" as it is for me.  And, so in those periods of my life where I may have experienced those feelings of Mass being "less important", I still WOULD go to Mass at least every Sunday..... "just because".  But those "less important" notions were not something I had particularly often.  

I think that is about all I can write for today. Apologies for any glaring typos or poorly written aspects.  I have not edited this at all.

PipeTobacco