Remember the 'ton-up' Vicar?

You know, back in the 60s when Vicars thought they were being trendy by being one of the boys, riding around on 500cc Motor bikes, dressing in leathers and meeting up with the gang in various cafes along the A1. Or, sometimes you would see them standing outside a pub on a summer evening, shooting the talk with fellow bikers and quaffing a daring half pint of shandy.

If the words Wincarnis, Complan and afternoon nap have some resonance with you, the chances are that you will recall these vicars who thought that they could be trendy and pull in a few souls to join their dwindling congregations by being part of the mob. I do not think that any of the vicars actually converted a Hell's Angel into a Heaven's Angel; it just does not work that way.
Familiarity, in this case, definitely breeds contempt.

Despite having this model of getting things wrong in front of them there are some in the Catholic Church who have gone the same way. Priests who believe that they will only be accepted by putting on a shell suit and trainers or, who get rid of their schola in favour of a bit of a rock 'n' rolla choir. Silly chaps! Don't they know that one of the reasons that people go to church is to escape the everyday and the banal?

There is a rather wonderful blog called The Little Way and today's post about a priest who ad libs at Mass is well worth reading.
It falls into the same category as the ton up vicar syndrome; bring sacred worship down to the lowest common denominator and you drive people away from the Faith - not difficult to comprehend is it?