I can think of a lot of places I'd rather be than Tommy's confessional booth... I know a cartoon priest who feels the same way.
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
As a Catholic, I can tell you in America I haven’t seen a confessional booth used except to store folding chairs needed for Christmas and Easter. Much like the French Revolution, in the 1970’s anything associated with the pre-Vatican II “Ancient Regime” was tossed out, including confessionals. Now it’s a small repurposed room with a chair facing the priest. In my parish it's a hallway to the Sacristy.
Why is it in TV, movies and comics anyone who needs to unburden themselves is suddenly Catholic and goes to confession? Aren’t there any Methodist or Baptist drug pushers?
LOL RobC, I was thinking the exact same thing. I too, am Catholic and I can't even remember when I was in a confessional booth. It's been decades. (I think I was in my early teens.) I told my husband if I ever went to confession, I would be in there for weeks.
True story. When I was a kid, we couldn't eat meat on Fridays EVER. (Now, it's only in the Lent season.) Well one Friday, my mother treated me to a hot dog. Midway through eating it, she realized it was Friday and I had to go to confession to fix this transgression. The next day, she was dragging me to the church and shoving me in the confession booth. I did the same as Tommy ('Bless me Father...") and told the priest I ate meat on Friday. This was his reaction: WHY DID YOU EAT MEAT ON FRIDAY!!!!!!! You would think from the way he reacted, I had murdered someone on the steps of the church. I was almost in tears and told him I forgot it was Friday. I got a penance of 10 hail Mary's and another scolding for committing such a heinous act. I only hope that Tommy's priest is like mine was.
Anyway, like you Wanders, Tommy didn't strike me as the Catholic type. (Not that there is a "type". I thought maybe he was a reformed Hare Krishna or something along those lines.) Tommy is going to be there a while telling all of his transgression. The priest will either fall asleep or hang himself in the booth.
I remember being terrified as the nuns herded us into church for our first confession in the 2nd grade. I don't remember what I confessed, but it couldn't have been much. Afterward, we all compared penances, which we were told to keep secret. As I grew older, I regularly and ashamedly confessed to having "impure thoughts." Ah, good times.
I think the leftover muffin dumping was the first appearance of Our Lady of the Big Windows church. Looks likes Moy converted, but hasn't quite made it inside the church yet.
Remember when Adrian and whatsisname the cop got married? Uncle Joe drew a plus sign instead of a cross atop the generic church building. (Leading one clever commentator to dub it “The First Church of Math”.) The general rule in the Worthiverse was to have good morals but no identifiable religious denomination. So now, we’re supposed to think Tommy is Catholic, despite the fact that there hasn’t been a confessional booth in use in at least 25 years? Well, I hope he’ll confess to saying “Geez”. That still bothers me.
At my parish (Roman Catholic), the sacrament of penance is by appointment with our pastor, and it’s in his office. Our church was built in the 1980s, and there are no confessionals. Maybe KM is using old movies for her research. James Cagney as a small-time crook stumbling into church and seeking absolution before the cops gun him down?
Apart from rolling my eyes at KM’s usual tone deafness, I immediately thought “Tommy is Catholic??!! Or do really high-church Anglicans do this, or did it in the past?” At any rate, Tommy may feel better if he deals with his past transgressions, but that will have no effect on Brandy’s reaction. Tommy telling her “It’s okay, me and God are square now” may not make her trust him. Of course, the Worthiverse is not the real world. Tommy may give her a signed statement from Fr. Whoever and propose, and Brandy will burst into tears and say “Yes!!”
Instead of 3 Hail Marys and three Our Father’s, Father Priest will tell him to make a list of the Pros and Cons of telling Brandy about his sordid past.
I can't wait to see the boldface rendering of Tommy's Act of Contrition, or even better, his penance in Hail Marys...I predict he gets cold feet and instead confesses to arguing with his mother or playing practical jokes on his elderly neighbor.
True story: 7 years old, one of my first confessions. “Bless me father, etc... I swore 98 times.” At that moment, a little 4 year old kid peeks in through the curtain. “Get the #&*%@ outa here, ya little $@@*%$&!. Make that 100 times, father,” -Noreen
12 comments:
As a Catholic, I can tell you in America I haven’t seen a confessional booth used except to store folding chairs needed for Christmas and Easter. Much like the French Revolution, in the 1970’s anything associated with the pre-Vatican II “Ancient Regime” was tossed out, including confessionals. Now it’s a small repurposed room with a chair facing the priest. In my parish it's a hallway to the Sacristy.
Why is it in TV, movies and comics anyone who needs to unburden themselves is suddenly Catholic and goes to confession? Aren’t there any Methodist or Baptist drug pushers?
LOL RobC, I was thinking the exact same thing. I too, am Catholic and I can't even remember when I was in a confessional booth. It's been decades. (I think I was in my early teens.) I told my husband if I ever went to confession, I would be in there for weeks.
True story. When I was a kid, we couldn't eat meat on Fridays EVER. (Now, it's only in the Lent season.) Well one Friday, my mother treated me to a hot dog. Midway through eating it, she realized it was Friday and I had to go to confession to fix this transgression. The next day, she was dragging me to the church and shoving me in the confession booth. I did the same as Tommy ('Bless me Father...") and told the priest I ate meat on Friday. This was his reaction: WHY DID YOU EAT MEAT ON FRIDAY!!!!!!! You would think from the way he reacted, I had murdered someone on the steps of the church. I was almost in tears and told him I forgot it was Friday. I got a penance of 10 hail Mary's and another scolding for committing such a heinous act. I only hope that Tommy's priest is like mine was.
Anyway, like you Wanders, Tommy didn't strike me as the Catholic type. (Not that there is a "type". I thought maybe he was a reformed Hare Krishna or something along those lines.)
Tommy is going to be there a while telling all of his transgression. The priest will either fall asleep or hang himself in the booth.
I remember being terrified as the nuns herded us into church for our first confession in the 2nd grade. I don't remember what I confessed, but it couldn't have been much. Afterward, we all compared penances, which we were told to keep secret. As I grew older, I regularly and ashamedly confessed to having "impure thoughts." Ah, good times.
-- Scottie McW.
Today's Boldface Haiku is titled
"Living With Iris Beedie Is Penance Enough".
Bless me,
Sinned...
Long time.
I think the leftover muffin dumping was the first appearance of Our Lady of the Big Windows church. Looks likes Moy converted, but hasn't quite made it inside the church yet.
Remember when Adrian and whatsisname the cop got married? Uncle Joe drew a plus sign instead of a cross atop the generic church building. (Leading one clever commentator to dub it “The First Church of Math”.) The general rule in the Worthiverse was to have good morals but no identifiable religious denomination. So now, we’re supposed to think Tommy is Catholic, despite the fact that there hasn’t been a confessional booth in use in at least 25 years? Well, I hope he’ll confess to saying “Geez”. That still bothers me.
At my parish (Roman Catholic), the sacrament of penance is by appointment with our pastor, and it’s in his office. Our church was built in the 1980s, and there are no confessionals. Maybe KM is using old movies for her research. James Cagney as a small-time crook stumbling into church and seeking absolution before the cops gun him down?
Apart from rolling my eyes at KM’s usual tone deafness, I immediately thought “Tommy is Catholic??!! Or do really high-church Anglicans do this, or did it in the past?” At any rate, Tommy may feel better if he deals with his past transgressions, but that will have no effect on Brandy’s reaction. Tommy telling her “It’s okay, me and God are square now” may not make her trust him. Of course, the Worthiverse is not the real world. Tommy may give her a signed statement from Fr. Whoever and propose, and Brandy will burst into tears and say “Yes!!”
Father to Toomy: Son you must review past interactions for possible causes...
Instead of 3 Hail Marys and three Our Father’s, Father Priest will tell him to make a list of the
Pros and Cons of telling Brandy about his sordid past.
I can't wait to see the boldface rendering of Tommy's Act of Contrition, or even better, his penance in Hail Marys...I predict he gets cold feet and instead confesses to arguing with his mother or playing practical jokes on his elderly neighbor.
Mary gets a letter:
Dear Mary-
Thanks for the referral. With a hard case like Tommy Beedie, it’s always best for a professional to take over (no offense, but you know what I mean).
Love,
G-d
PS See you soon!
PS2. Ha, ha, Just kidding!
PS3. Not really kidding, old girl.
True story: 7 years old, one of my first confessions. “Bless me father, etc... I swore 98 times.” At that moment, a little 4 year old kid peeks in through the curtain. “Get the #&*%@ outa here, ya little $@@*%$&!. Make that 100 times, father,”
-Noreen
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