Hi my name is Jason and I watch too much trash TV. I know that I really should be spending more time in prayer and deepening my spiritual life. Unfortunately more often then not the spare time I do have usually consist of watching an hour or so of mindless TV. That being said I try to find God wherever I can, that’s where Glee and Lady Gaga come in.
Recently we’ve been going through our DVR and catching up on all of our shows. A recent episode of Glee focused on each of the different character’s flaws or things they wished that they could change about themselves. This all culminated in the kids singing Lady Gaga’s anthem “Born This Way”. Now you might be asking yourself what could this possible have to do with God or the Catholic Church? My answer is everything!
Now admittedly I’m not the target audience for any of this, but I’ve noticed that the underlying theme across almost every episode of Glee and most of Lady Gaga’s songs is acceptance. I also remember what it was like being a teenager and that longing for acceptance. Pop culture today is filled with the message of self-love, but self-love in a selfish way. The following is a quote from The Guardian in a recent interview with Lady Gaga:
Lady Gaga refers to her recent Monster Ball tour as “a religious experience”, becoming for many, an alternative to organized faith. But she goes on to clarify, “it’s more like a pop cultural church”…Yet she insists: “It’s more self-worship, I think, not of me. I’m teaching people to worship themselves.”
Generation after generation we continue to fall into the same traps and we as a Church continue to fail to look at what “they” are doing right. When people drink the message expounded by shows like Glee and artist like Lady Gaga, they may be satisfied for a little bit but ultimately remain thirsty. Our message, the message of Jesus Christ and his bride the Church can quench their thirst with the living water and they shall never thirst again, but we have to bring them to the well. Right now we are losing the battle and we will continue to do so until we are willing to step outside our comfort zone and meet them where they are.
Blessed Pope John Paul II pray for us…
Jason you are correct. The catholic church must acknowledge that society is changing. The message should stay the same, but the sermons I have been listening to have felt like that of mid-evil times and really missing the mark with their audience. I am a firm believer of my Christian faith, but find myself leaving the church for not identifying with their audience and not understanding their flock.
As for the Lady Gaga, I am not a huge fan, however, most folks I know think she sings good and has a good heart. She really is about people being understood. I don’t know many of my friends that worship her or her music, but they do talk about how her concerts can feel connecting and spiritual. They say she talks alot about understanding one another and living in harmony and holding your head up when folks abandon you or mock you. So even though I don’t appreciate her as an artist, I can understand the base of her message. I think some folks translate her literally and that is not how I think she would prefer to be perceived.
Herman, I think we abandon our Church — not because it no longer
identifies with its audience — but because, like Jason demonstrated,
we’re changing into cultural parishors in the Church of Pop Culture.
So, of course we’re not identifying with the sermons.
Don’t we want our priests to stay “godly”? We really want
them to innoculate themselves with the trappings of pop culture so they
can relate to us?
Think of what you’re asking — they’d be less spiritual, less the
ministers of Jesus Christ and more the ministers of “messengers” like
Lady Gaga. Then we’d be criticizing them for being so worldly.
Can you imagine our priests being so worldly, that when we feel we need a
dose of Christian purity — when we would feel we just needed to talk
to someone who we feel communes with God so we ourselves can feel that
“God connection”– we would find no one.
If you can’t relate, then imagine the confessional. And instead of
finding echoes of absolution and “Jesus loves you,” it’d be “Lady Gaga
loves you”…
Let the Church remain the same, let Christ never change. If you change and you feel a disconnect, then change back.
And listen to the messages of Mary who points to her son, not Lady Gaga
who points to self-love and self-worship — which seems to me to be the
hallmarks of what drove the evil angels out of heaven and created hell
in the first place.
Thanks Bro! I do think the Church understands that society is changing, but at the same time Her teachings are unchangeable. Also, when I speak of “The Church” failing I’m just as much, if not more talking about Joe and Jane Catholic in the pews. We have to learn our faith and at the same time learn to live our faith in a way that will show the world God’s great love and mercy.