The Priesthood and Keanu
OK. Alright. Fine. I am an Old Geezer. But I never knew it quite so painfully as I knew it today when I found out that The Matrix and Keanu Reeves as an image are being used to woo young men into the priesthood.
Is something wrong here? Or am I, as I said, just middle-aged and careening towards irrelevance with every passing minute.
Oh, please, let it be the former.
posted by Matt Friedeman @ 3:00 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Matt, please don't post statements like this that just beg people like me to tease you! :)
I will not tease you. I will not reaffirm your fear that you are an old geezer! I WILL be nice, even though it goes against every grain in me. (smile.)
Yes, this ad is terribly unbelievable. I wonder if it is working.
Just stopping by after a fairly long interval to see what is new...keep up the good work and blessings to your dear wife and children.
Matty,
Your a fud just like me. I, however, think I understand the appeal of the ad. As the article to which you linked stated the attraction into the priesthood on the part of young men has been enhanced by other heroic celibate figures. The Matrix (while not celebrating celebacy) surely has evoked a consciousness in many Christian young men of the challenge to help people free themselves from the unreality of our fallen world. NOt a bad thing, if Jesus can take it and utilize it for his kingdom.
STeve
If I remember my church music history correctly, a good many of our "traditional" Christian hymns started out as Godly lyrics set to popular tunes of their day, including tunes sung in bars. Although we are not of the world, we are indeed in it, and it is sometimes effective to recast a pop icon in an image that can be related to some aspect of Christianity.
The trick, though,is to strike a balance between evoking an image for a Godly purpose, and co-opting something that wasn't of God to start with and merely "Christianizing" it (Halloween and All Souls' Day comes to mind, for one).
I'm of two minds on this story: I applaud the creativity that someone has used to bring more young men into the priesthood, but at the same time I pray that the Church (the Body of Christ as a whole, and not just a particular denomination) doesn't dip its toes too far into the pool of secular culture merely for the sake of boosting numbers.
And yes, Matt, I'm thinking of your Harry Potter post with that last comment. I can't believe a church would use witchcraft and sorcery to draw children to its Vacation BIBLE School. How much of the Christian aspects of that VBS do you think those children will remember, when their senses are being stimulated not by tales from the Bible and lessons on applying it to their lives, but instead by Quidditch, broomstick riding and other elements of the Potter books?
But that's a post for another thread; as for this Matrix/priest poster issue, I like the creativity of it, but I'm concerned that the implication is that some of the trilogy's less Christ-like elements might be seen as being endorsed by the Catholic church. Considering their recent history, I hope this recruitment campaign doesn't give them cause for regret when the new seminarians take their posts.
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