When I was a young seminarian we would attend evening prayer and Mass with the monks.
So, for the first part of the Mass we would chant the psalmody. It usually was a beautiful experience.
On one such evening I had a monk sitting to my right.
He thought it best to change every gender identifying pronoun to a non-specific non-gender pronoun.
So every time God was referenced in the psalm as He--it became God, or Lord, or Creator (but too many syllables would not flow--you get the aural picture).
Every psalm.
Every messed up syllable.
Every blessed pronoun.
Yeh, good prayer.
Later that week someone in seminary referred to the Trinity as Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.
Okay...I get it. I know the arguments from all sides and all genders (only two genders right??)
Yesterday at Mass my wife had a non-gender-specific responder or (NGSR's) as I am now officially coining the phrase--post this and tweet it from the blogosphere
Now parishes will have to post on their bulletins and pages and promotions if they are NGSR.
Anyways this woman was next to my wife at Mass.
I think she was a nun.
In the old days you knew of a women religious by their garb---now you know them by their response at Mass.
I know, in the greater scheme it is no big deal. In fact if I was the therapist for this rant I would laugh and tell myself to chill.
It just gets old. Why does someone need to pointedly not respond the way the community is responding?
Is it really about praising God the Father? (excuse me--God the Creator)--or is it more about simply drawing attention to one's own relationship with Christ? (excuse me--Redeemer --cause the descriptor 'redeemer' is so much more personal to me).
When I didn't want to live and play by the rules--I left--(canonically we call it excommunicated.) BUT when I returned (by the Grace of God) I understood one thing--I had to leave my agendas and baggage and crap at the door--(and believe me I had some crap)--but nothing that a letter from the Pope couldn't clear up.
My point?--NGSR is inherently flawed.
They need to stop.
