J. Fallon w/ T. Gross: ‘This is too much for me.’ I want the old way.
  • a1437053a1437053
    Posts: 198
    http://www.sacatholic.com/2011/12/05/catholicism-jimmy-fallon-wanted-to-be-a-priest/

    First, :) . . . a positive view of Catholicism, from a comedian, nonetheless.
    Second, :) :) . . . HE SEEKS SACREDNESS.
    Third, to T. Gross (and many Catholics), the priest is a performer?!?!

    Mr. FALLON: I just, I loved the church. I loved the idea of it. I loved the smell of the incense. I loved the feeling you get when you left church. I loved like how this priest can make people feel this good. I just thought it was – I loved the whole idea of it. My grandfather was very religious, so I used to go to Mass with him at like 6:45 in the morning, serve Mass. And then you made money, too, if you did weddings and funerals. You’d get like five bucks. And so I go ‘Okay, I can make money too.’ I go, ‘This could be a good deal for me.’ I thought I had the calling.

    GROSS: Do you think part of that calling was really show business? ‘Cause – like the priest is the performer at church.

    Mr. FALLON: Yeah. You know what – I, really Terry, I’m, I recently thought about this. [...] It’s my first experience on stage is as an altar boy. You’re on stage next to the priest, I’m a co-star.

    (Laughter)

    GROSS: ‘Also starring, Jimmy Fallon.’

    (Laughter)

    Mr. FALLON: Yeah, I have no lines but I ring bells. I ring bells and I swing the incense around. And you know, you are performing. You enter through a curtain, you exit through the, I mean you’re backstage. I mean, have you ever seen backstage behind an altar? It’s kind of fascinating.

    GROSS: Right.


    . . .



    GROSS: Do you still go to church?

    Mr. FALLON: I don’t go to – I tried to go back. When I was out in L.A. and I was kind of struggling for a bit. I went to church for a while, but it’s kind of, it’s gotten gigantic now for me. It’s like too… There’s a band. There’s a band there now, and you got to, you have to hold hands with people through the whole Mass now, and I don’t like doing that. You know, I mean, it used to be the shaking hands piece was the only time you touched each other.

    GROSS: Mm-hmm.

    Mr. FALLON: Now, I’m holding hand – now I’m lifting people. Like Simba.

    (Laughter)

    Mr. FALLON: I’m holding them (Singing) ha nah hey nah ho.

    (Speaking) I’m doing too much. I don’t want – there’s Frisbees being thrown, there’s beach balls going around, people waving lighters, and I go, ‘This is too much for me.’ I want the old way. I want to hang out with the, you know, with the nuns, you know, that was my favorite type of Mass, and the grotto, and just like straight up, just Mass Mass.
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,046
    Well, allowing for comedic exaggeration, he has a point. And if he were really sincere, he'd have kept on looking. And yes, the priest "performs" the sacrifice of the Mass. That doesn't mean he's an entertainer. But he has a job to perform.
  • benedictgal
    Posts: 798
    Actually, without meaning to, Fallon makes the point that now-Cardinal Ranjinth made when he was the secretary to the CDWDS. This is what he said back in 2008:

    "Ego Pampering
    Let us face it, all of us priests, bishops, and even cardinals, are human beings and so the temptation to place ourselves at the center makes us feel good — what I call “ego pampering”.

    None of us is exempt from this, and now with the Missa versus populum [Mass facing the people], that danger is even greater. Facing the people increases chances of dis-attention and distraction from what we do at the altar, and the temptation for showmanship. In a beautiful article written by a German author, the following comments were made on the subject:

    While in the past, the priest functioned as the anonymous go-between, the first among the faithful, facing God and not the people, representative of all and together with them offering the sacrifice … today he is a distinct person, with personal characteristics, his personal life style, his face turned towards the people. For many priests this change is a temptation they cannot handle … to them, the level of success in their performance is a measure of their personal power and thus the indicator of their feeling of personal security and self assurance.

    (K.G. Rey, Pubertaetserscheinungen in der Katholischen Kirche [Signs of Puberty in the Catholic Church] Kritische Texte, Benzinger, Vol 4, p. 25).

    The priest here, as we can see, becomes the main actor playing out a drama with other actors on a platform- like place, and the more creative and dramatic they become, the more they feel a sense of ego satisfaction. But, where can Christ be in all of this?"

    He spoke these words at the Gateway Liturgical Conference in St. Louis, MO. I was privileged to be there in person to listen to his address. Sadly, not only has Jimmy Fallon proved his point, but, I've seen it proven many times.
  • PaixGioiaAmorPaixGioiaAmor
    Posts: 1,473
    Yes, sadly, there is a great deal of wisdom in what Jimmy Fallon says.
  • martin
    Posts: 19
    To link in with an analogy from a different culture:
    Next to studying Gregorian chant and semiology, I have studied and learned a very old Indian vocal tradition, called Dhrupad (Dagar-family tradition). Before it was adopted by the Mogul courts, it was part of a temple service, where the singers sat facing statues and other representation of the Gods, with the audience behind. One of my teachers explained it was done this way to create optimum concentration and to be inspired, to better serve the music and God.
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