Catholic Men's Conference

Today I traveled by car to a far-flung suburb to hear confessions at the annual Columbus Catholic Men's Conference.The place was packed and it was inspiring to see how many men devoted their Saturday to growing in the Faith. It would have been the first good golfing day of 2009, too. After confessions it was time to get back to my parish for, well, confessions, but the conference organizers (who really know their stuff) insisted I take some lunch first. In keeping with the manly atmosphere of the conference I was hoping for raw meat but they had some very civilized sandwiches instead. As I picked up my sandwich I could hear that Mass was already underway in the adjoining church. That was the only jarring note of the day -- literally. The music selected was deplorable. Moreover, every song I heard included the accompaniment of a bell tree (click here to find out what a bell tree looks and sounds like). Who was thinking what? I felt sorry for the men who had volunteered to be in the choir. Not that you asked, but my advice is: if you want to sing bad Catholic music in a manly way, do it full-bore, like this. Hoo-ah!
It was a great blessing to return to my little parish where the music at the vigil Mass was dignified and lovely. And not a bell tree in sight.