Palm Sunday: How our view of media relates to the crowds

So today officially started Holy Week in the Protestant and Catholic faith. With Paul it means a weekend of singing and lots of services (he has 2 rehearsals and 3 services to sing at)! For me it is a celebration of joining the church two years ago. I always enjoy Easter Vigil Mass for that reason on Saturday night because seeing the candidates and catechumens going through the service reminds me of my continuing journey as 9 months is not nearly long enough to learn it all! It's kind of like being a baby: you don't come out of the womb reciting Shakespeare or doing algorithm (and some of us never do...math ugg! lol). My faith before converting was still evolving and I doubt this evolution in understanding Christ is anywhere near completion.

Here's a little chart I found that I thought was cool about Holy Week put out by Bible Gateway Blog (click on it to get a better view):

Palm Sunday always seems like such a juxtaposition to me: on one hand you have Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem being praise as the messiah and then just days later he is given up by those same crowds condemned to death. I mediated a lot on on the crowds' reactions to Jesus in both instances as we were preparing for Mass this morning. I relate a lot with the idea that even myself I am capable of being completely on fire for Christ (as the crowds were that Palm Sunday) and then in the same day completely ignoring my need for a Savior by my action or inaction (as the crowds condemned him to death). We went through the Passion today in Mass and as difficult as it is to say "Crucify him!" when it came time for the congregation to respond, I know I could very well have been in the crowd saying those very words.

I also think about when the soldiers mocked him by labeling him King of the Jews and placing the crown of thorns and robe on his back. I thought a lot about our media and how easily they mock Christ, the Catholic faith, our values, and Christianity as a whole. I also thought of how easily we dismiss it and continue on as if nothing has happened. We accept it as something that cannot be changed: the media will do what is popular and we are the minority unable to change it. The secular media continues on with destroying our values and our faith and we continue to support them with our time. You wouldn't be friends with someone that openly mocked you so why do we allow entertainment to do that to our faith? Why do we continue this friendship with secular media that attacks us?

We hum along to Lady Gaga on the radio even though some of her songs, such as Judas (lyrics attached if you want to examine further), and actions openly mock our faith. We watch programming and support artists that do not support our morals and are set out to destroy it (here's an article regarding a recent Glee episode and ties to Planned Parenthood through Gwenyth Paltrow. When someone questioned her for supporting sexual activity in teenagers she responded with "what are you the pope lady?"). But if  we contacted the advertisers for some of these shows in force it would be persuasive. Can you imagine what would happen if we boycotting any one of the advertisers for Glee (which in the spring according to this article is set to earn $373,014 per 30-second ad)? Money speaks. Not saying it doesn't have catchy tunes and some really great singers...but when do we stand up?

On the other hand we don't support enough the Christian media that struggles against a very secular leaning society. Programs like Catholic Answers, The Journey Home, Veggie Tales, and Adventures in Odyssey are in need of support. There are also some great movies coming out such as Of Gods and Men, Cristiada, and There Be Dragons. And as far as singers go Christian music has everything from Gospel to Christian Rock to Christian Screamo (which I've never got personally...but if that's your cup of tea go for it!). There are so many voices out there it is easy to go with the popular voice or the easiest to find, but what about absorbing programs and media that isn't trying to put our faith down? Am I saying curl up into a cave, never listen to another Glee song again, and defriend everyone you know who loves Lady Gaga? No. I don't have cable and PBS (despite some of their programing I disagree with) is still a fun station. I love History Detectives, some Nova programs, and American Experience. I also am an avid watcher of Grey's Anatomy still despite my disagreements with character choices and storyline.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is our choices in what and who we support can be closely related to the crowd on Palm Sunday: at church we praise Christ but what did we do with the rest of our day or for that matter Holy Week? Were are actions or inactions glorifying Christ? I myself am not perfect as I still get sucked into programming like Grey's Anatomy. It's called being human, but when we recognize our choices are not aligned with Christ shouldn't we make efforts to change them?