There's an interesting (at least if you're into the finer points of the laity's role during the liturgy) thread at Jimmy Akin's blog about, well, holding hands during the liturgy. Why we shouldn't, why doing so isn't bad, how to defuse people who let no social barrier prevent them from making physical contact with you, and such.
I grew up in a parish that was really hand-holdy, so it's not a big deal to me. I've moved away, as have my parents, so I don't even get back there during holidays; it's a little different where I am now. Sometimes a stranger will reach out and I'll comply, but I won't try to get someone else to hold hands with me. I can always shake his or her hand during the sign of peace, if I'm jonesing for some kind of human contact or whatever.
I might have a solution. It's not realistic, and it might not even suffice where it's possible, but why should I constrain myself?
Find yourself a parish, most or all of whose congregation is of recent east Asian descent. If it's like the Korean Catholic church a mile or so from my office, hand-holding is diminishingly rare and the sign of peace is a bow, so there's little to no physical contact, and with any luck the Our Father will be written phonetically inside the cover of your missal or Worship book.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
and with any luck the Our Father will be written phonetically inside the cover of your missal or Worship book.
hahahaha
Unfortunately, I've moved the opposite way...from being raised in a parish where handholding was literally unheard of (I didn't even know people did it until I moved away to go to university) to a parish where hand-holding is the norm. I manage to avoid the hand-holding most of the time by holding my hands together in front of me and keeping my head bowed and eyes closed for the Our Father. They have to be pretty presistent to get me to hold their hand. I also try and sit next to friends who share my feelings on the whole hand holding thing. It helps.
Post a Comment