Especially by leaders in the 21st century. When you say things like this...
I think that [the introduction of female altar servers] has contributed to a loss of priestly vocations. It requires a certain manly discipline to serve as an altar boy in service at the side of [a] priest, and most priests have their first deep experiences of the liturgy as altar boys. If we are not training young men as altar boys, giving them an experience of serving God in the liturgy, we should not be surprised that vocations have fallen dramatically....you make yourself look bad because you sound out of touch. You make me look bad by association because you are a leader of my chosen religious tradition. And you make the Church look at best unappealing - and out worst downright disgusting - to thousands of people that we should be welcoming with open arms.
You really should go and read Mollie Wilson O'Reilly's column on Commonweal (Cardinal Burke's vision of a manly church, and what it leaves out). It's intelligent and well written, and points out several flaws in your reasoning. It also explains why such a line of thinking is bad for the Catholic Church. She's above posting a picture of you in your lacy vestments to point at the contradiction between your words and your (literal) dress.
I'm not Molly Wilson O'Reilly. Just we're clear, here your image of manliness:
I would add only the following to O'Reilly's words:
You say that altar serving requires "a certain manly discipline." If that is true, Your Emminent Manliness, then why do we let boys be altar servers? I am 22 years old. I consider myself a young man. It was not so long ago that I considered myself a boy. I remember what it was like to be a boy and I know a bit about what it is like to be a man; the difference is obvious to me. It is vast and it is complex. The difference between boys and men is a difference marked in Scripture: "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things" (Corinthians 13:11). Stop reasoning like a child, Cardinal Burke. Put away your childish fear of all things feminine.
By all means, Cardinal Burke, lament the "feminization" of the church loudly and often. But before you open your mouth again, just remember a few things.
Just remember that the very first person to hear the Gospel was a young woman in Israel.
Just remember that while Jesus's apostles fled, it was his female friends who stayed at the foot of the cross and watched him die.
Just remember that the Church is "the bride of Christ" (see Ephesians 5:25-27), and that brides tend to be feminine.
Just remember that we as Catholics hold a special devotion to a certain woman named Mary. Look at her and tell her that feminization is a bad thing for Mother Church.
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