There has been much discussion in St. Blogs concerning this Jimmy Fallon interview.
In an interview with Terri Gross, Jimmy Fallon weighs in on liturgical innovations:
GROSS: Do you still go to church?
Mr. FALLON: I don’t go to – I tried to go back. When I was out in L.A. and I was kind of struggling for a bit. I went to church for a while, but it’s kind of, it’s gotten gigantic now for me. It’s like too… There’s a band. There’s a band there now, and you got to, you have to hold hands with people through the whole Mass now, and I don’t like doing that. You know, I mean, it used to be the shaking hands piece was the only time you touched each other.
GROSS: Mm-hmm.
Mr. FALLON: Now, I’m holding hand – now I’m lifting people. Like Simba.
(Laughter)
Mr. FALLON: I’m holding them (Singing) ha nah hey nah ho.
(Speaking) I’m doing too much. I don’t want – there’s Frisbees being thrown, there’s beach balls going around, people waving lighters, and I go, ‘This is too much for me.’ I want the old way. I want to hang out with the, you know, with the nuns, you know, that was my favorite type of Mass, and the grotto, and just like straight up, just Mass Mass.
For me though it leaves me rather sad. There are certainly themes I can identify with in what he said, but I still find it a lousy reason not to go to Mass. Even at the most happy-clappy Folk Music Mass with a forgettable homily we still receive Jesus in Holy Communion. The reason to be Catholic is because it is true, not that your liturgical experiences will always be what they should be. This attitude makes the Mass all about us and not about worshiping Christ, an attitude I am quite guilty of when I spot something not quite right at Mass and focus on that instead of worshiping. This is not to say that we should not do all we can in the reform of the reform when it comes to liturgical renewal, just that we should not lose sight of what the liturgy is for in the first place.
