let's just say...a low liturgical point...

so low, in fact, that I just have to laugh.

A friend and I were visiting a touristy-island recently, (yes, I'm being vague deliberately...) and since it was off-season, there weren't very many people there.

We decided to go to Mass, and as it neared the time Mass was supposed to start, there was no priest in sight, candles lit, other Mass-goers, etc. We sat in a pew and waited. A couple minutes before Mass was supposed to start, the priest shuffles in.

My friend and I agree that most likely the priest is not thrilled to see *any*one at Mass, since now he actually has to go through with it, but precisely for that reason we are going to make him say Mass. tee hee. (sure enough, he checks with us that we're going to participate.)

He seems to be over-all a pretty decent priest; he says some good stuff about how God is the only thing that matters, and doesn't change too many words. (except replacing "Him" with "God," and adding a whole bunch of chatty-pray-y type stuff,)

UNTIL...he is saying the prayers at the offertory and his phone goes off! (which is, btw, right under his chasuble, as there is no alb or stole or anything else as far as I can tell covering his street clothes...sigh.)

AND he says to us something about expecting an important call, and ANSWERS IT!!! No one seems to respond on the other end, so he hangs up and continues with the prayers.

good grief. It was just so ridiculously horrible that all my friend and I could do was look at each other and try not to laugh.

oh dear God, have mercy on us, and the state of Roman Catholic liturgy...