文章基本信息

标题：Bad homilies
作者：Anne Grogan-Cox
期刊名称：Catholic New Times
印刷版ISSN：0701-0788
出版年度：2004
卷号：Dec 5, 2004
出版社：New Catholic Times Inc.

Bad homilies

Anne Grogan-Cox

The setting: A young girl--her parents divorced--leaves a small town in Ontario to make her fortune out West. She meets prince charming. He is Catholic. The girl takes instruction and becomes a Catholic, too. The couple also takes a marriage course before the girl chooses to come back to her home to be married.

The pastor of the Catholic Church in her hometown makes all of the necessary arrangements, as he is unable to preside at the actual ceremony. The replacement priest, a sociologist from a nearby university, chooses to present a lecture, citing amazing statistics on the number of divorces in Canada and the harm this is doing to our society. He does not seem aware of the girl's background. Sitting in the church is the girl's mother by herself and her father with his new girlfriend. Most of the people in the church are her non-Catholic family and friends ... no matter ... he drones on. He does not say a word, wishing the young couple well as they embark on this new adventure in their lives.

It was inappropriate. Incidentally, the couple recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, still recalling the dreadful sermon they heard on that day! So much for good preaching....

Anne Grogan-Cox

Wingham, Ont.