A folk-mass is a Mass that is frequently interrupted
by bright folk with guitars and tambourines, etcetera,
who urge us to be cheerful, and who smile a lot.
I hate them, with a passion.
We are under no obligation to be cheerful.
No doubt, it is good to be alive,
drenched in the love of Christ,
but it doesn't always feel that way.
Life is full of wickedness, betrayal,
suffering, death, and putrefaction.
The lad who wrote Ecclesiastes
knew what he was about.
Of course, there are people sitting in church
who feel cheerful. But the odds are that
some of the congregation are more in the humour
for the De Profundis than this hand-clapping.
The Mass should be grave and level,
and presume no particular mood.
Religion has nothing to do with moods,
and we are entitled to feel miserable
if we want to.
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