Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Here Come the Men in Black


Ok, not those men in black, but these men in black: young faithful priests who wear the collar, even when it is inconvenient; and in a related note, this explains the religious orders that have stayed with the traditional habit and are now adding on to their residences.
Don't take my word for it, but rather get Fr. Damian Ference's point of view. (He's a young priest from the Diocese of Cleveland who is in the Graduate School of Philosophy at CUA.):
Generation X and millennial Catholics have never experienced a pre-Vatican II church and don't carry around the baggage of the previous generation when dealing with the issue of religious garb. Habits and collars are not oppressive or clerical, but courageous, especially in the post-scandal era. As a matter of fact, the first time I ever wore my cassock at a youth gathering at my first parish, the young people thought I looked like Neo from The Matrix. Rigid seminary formation was the last thing on their minds.
Brad Watkins at Roman Catholic Vocations and Fr. V. at Adam's Ale both posted on this first. I am way late to the game, hence they get the Blog Award nominations and I get the scraps that fall from their table.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

there is nothing more comforting, beautiful, or inspiring than seeing a priest in his "blacks" or a religious in their habit. love it! esp. when at an airport!

Adoro said...

I love seeing habits, clericals, etc., too. It IS inspiring. And besides...now that I'm studying theology, I can recognize "experts" who can help me do my homework, no matter where I happen to be!

(Just kidding...I never leave my house anymore except to go to work...)

And Father, FYI, I tagged you for a meme. You'll like this one and I'm really curious about your favorite parables. Your readers would be interested, too. :-)

http://adorotedevote.blogspot.com/2008/03/parable-meme.html

I'm also using this meme to send more traffic your way.

Kasia said...

I love seeing priests in Roman collars (or at least witness shirts). But who on earth thunk up the witness shirts in gray, pastel blue, and PINK?!? I'd rather see a priest in civvies than in a pastel witness shirt any day!

Adoro said...

What are "witness shirts"?

The term calls to mind some of the t-shirts I'm wearing at the gym, sporting such tokens as "10 reasons to stay Catholic" or "CATHOIC" with a fish symbol beneath it.