{"id":2403,"date":"2011-03-18T06:49:25","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T10:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=2403"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:47:27","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:47:27","slug":"the-way-of-the-cross-in-the-company-of-clowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/03\/the-way-of-the-cross-in-the-company-of-clowns\/","title":{"rendered":""The Way of the Cross in the Company of Clowns""},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

That\u2019s how it\u2019s described in one parish in Albany, according to Fr. Z<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 One of his readers picked up this description<\/a><\/strong> of the event \u2014 happening tonight, if you\u2019re in the neighborhood \u2014 from the archives of the local paper:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While clowns are seen as symbols of humor, the Clown Ministry Associates take a page from Emmett Kelly. \u201cIt isn\u2019t essentially a humorous thing,\u201d said Rita Ablett, a founding member of the group. \u201cIt isn\u2019t about clowns \u2014 it\u2019s about people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only humor in the clowns\u2019 performance is at the beginning, when two happy clowns try to cheer up Marmeldook, and in some of the sad clown\u2019s questions to the spirit. At one Station, for example, the spirit explains that Jesus told the women of Jerusalem, \u201cDo not weep for me, but for yourselves and for your children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you weep for your own sins when a lot of them are fun?\u201d Marmeldook replies. Then the spirit reminds him that God understands that and can help him, one day at a time.<\/p>\n

Instead of jokes and pratfalls, the plot invites the audience to struggle along with Marmeldook. At the 12th Station, \u201csacrificed,\u201d where Jesus dies on the cross, Marmeldook says, \u201cI would like to kneel down here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet the whole world kneel down here,\u201d says the spirit, and the audience follows suit.<\/p>\n

At the following Station, Marmeldook ponders what Mary must be thinking as she holds her son\u2019s body as, in the background, the \u201cAve Maria\u201d plays. During a recent presentation at St. Ambrose Church in Latham, the church was silent except for the sound of an elderly woman blowing her nose, moved to tears.<\/p>\n

The idea for the clowns\u2019 Way of the Cross is controversial, and the group has encountered some criticism over the years. A recent presentation at St. Paul\u2019s Church in Rock City Falls (a mission of St. Joseph\u2019s in Greenfield Center) was besieged by the media after a single protester asked Catholics to picket there.<\/p>\n

However, the Abletts noted that those who come to the clowns\u2019 presentation find they have nothing to protest. \u201cIf that gentleman [who protested] had come, he would have realized this is not a fun thing,\u201d Mr. Ablett explained.<\/p>\n

The group shrugs off any criticism. \u201cI feel we\u2019re doing the Lord\u2019s work, and the Lord will protect us,\u201d Mrs. Ablett declared.<\/p>\n

As a matter of fact, the pair noted, one man leaving St. Paul\u2019s after their \u201ccontroversial\u201d presentation was quoted as saying tearfully, \u201cMay God forgive me if I had not come tonight\u2026.I did not want to come.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can read much more at this link<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Evidently, this interpretation is not as uncommon as it sounds.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a report about a clown version of the Stations done a few years ago in Maryland:<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cJesus,\u201d with a green hat and rainbow suspenders, pleaded his case in pantomime to a neon green wig-wearing Pontius Pilate, before being hauled off by two guards in bright tacky mismatched outfits.<\/p>\n

To some, this may sound like a weird sacrilegious dream. To those at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Fulton, the scene commemorated a pivotal biblical event in an artistic and emotionally compelling way. The church\u2019s clown ministry performed scenes from the Stations of the Cross \u2014 a religious reflection on events preceding and following Jesus Christ\u2019s death \u2014 for the season of Lent on March 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great shock factor and it gets their attention,\u201d said Rachel White, a Hammond High junior who played one of the clowns. \u201cAnd the fact that there\u2019s no talking makes it so powerful.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can get an idea of what this sort of thing looks like, from a high school staging in Ohio<\/a><\/strong>, below:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Meantime, for a nice palate-cleanser, here\u2019s a look at how my wife and I do the stations at my parish in Queens<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0If you\u2019re in the nabe, stop by; we do them every Friday night during Lent at 7:30.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s how it\u2019s described in one parish in Albany, according to Fr. Z.\u00a0 One of his readers picked up this description of the event \u2014 happening tonight, if you\u2019re in the neighborhood \u2014 from the archives of the local paper: While clowns are seen as symbols of humor, the Clown Ministry Associates take a page […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[253,523,820],"class_list":["post-2403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-that","tag-clown-ministry","tag-lent","tag-stations-of-the-cross"],"yoast_head":"\n"The Way of the Cross in the Company of Clowns"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"That's how it's described in one parish in Albany, according to Fr. 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