One of the things about the Catholic church that I like is its heavy use of ritual. It’s ridiculed a lot for that, especially from protestants (who despite their ridicule, and largely dropping the rituals originally, are now adding them back) and by SWPL types who mock the irrationality of it all. Yes, it’s irrational. So are human beings. Our psyches have a deep rooted need for ritual, and modern society is sorely lacking in them.
One part of the process of converting to Catholicism (or going through confirmation if you were born Catholic) is called the Rite of Election. Basically, you go to a ceremony in front of the local Bishop that’s almost but not quite like Mass (there is no communion, for example) and everybody who is going to be baptized and/or confirmed formally goes up and adds their names to the book, which is then presented to the Bishop, etc. Very Roman, very Catholic, very ritualistic.
Typically it’s done on the first weekend of Lent, so we had it done for us yesterday. And here I go, walking up in front of everybody. I get to the baptismal font, dip my fingers in the water, do the cross sign, and turn to shake hands with the Bishop.
That’s when I realized my fly was down.
Thankfully, my shirt had it concealed. I shook his hand and smiled, made my mark in the book, turned and walked back to my seat and sat down. After the whole ceremony was done I managed to find a clear spot in the hall and quickly zip it up, with nobody the wiser. Even my wife wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t told her later.
The moral? Sometimes the right solution is just to play it off like nothing whatsoever is wrong. Oh, and shaking the bishops hand with your fly down is both very amusing and very embarrassing.
