[The Rt Rev John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester] argued that the free beer was intended to be symbolic of “the generosity of God”.
Men at St Stephen’s church in Barbourne, Worcester, will be handed bottles of beer by children during the service. A prayer will be said for the fathers before the gifts are distributed.
The Ven Roger Morris, archdeacon of Worcester, who will be leading the service at St Stephen’s today, said that it was a practical way of sending a message to fathers.
“I don’t see any other time that we can stop and remember fathers, and this is a gesture saying ‘Here’s something that will bless you,'” he said.[reference]
Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary use beer.
14 comments
Hey John V.,
I love that Beer Prayer. Hope you don’t mind if I post it on my blog. I have a suspicion that some of my blog audience drink beer – and I want to suprise them.
God bless…
This made me laugh on several levels:
When I belonged to the Vineyard, we had “servant evangelism” where we’d hand out free Cokes to passer-bys “just to show them God loved them.” Can you imagine the mob if we were passing out free beer?
Story: When I was younger, I attended our parish festival. The big raffle prize was a “Barrow O’ Booze.” No kidding. It was a wheelbarrow filled to the hilt with every kind of liquor you could think of! Later, when I shared this story with my non-Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ, they looked at me with horror.
Gotta love those Catholics!
I hope it’s German beer.
And here’s my husband, after reading this, saying over and over “ya see??? ya see???” Sheesh 🙂
(I had to remind him that this was the Church of England, not the Roman Catholic Church.)
Maybe some Dads will think the beer like making love in a canoe…
it’s F-ing close to water.
Blessing of Beer
P. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All. Who made heaven and earth.
P. The Lord be with you.
All. May he also be with you.
Let us pray.
Lord, bless + this creature, beer, which by Your kindness and power has been produced from kernels of grain, and let it be a healthful drink for mankind. Grant that whoever drinks it with thanksgiving to your holy name may find it a help in body and in soul; through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The beer is sprinkled with holy water.
–From the 1964 Roman Ritual, VIII:5
Seen a few years ago at Shrine of the Holy Whapping
Yeah…but where were the pretzels and the hot dogs? Surely God would have understood that we should have more than just a beer.
I’ve forwarded this to our pastor!
Our Holy Father was way ahead of the curve on this one:
http://www.bigoo.ws/images/funny-clip/funny-beer-pretzels-german-pope-223806.htm
Friar Tuck: This is grain, which any fool can eat, but for which the Lord intended a more divine means of consumption. Let us give praise to our maker and glory to his bounty by learning about… BEER.
“I wish rainwater were beer.”
Michael – A Man for All Seasons
Beer–eww. Where are the churches handing out free gin and tonics?
Much better than at our Mass.
At the end it was announced that a contribution had been made in all our names to fund trips to prison for children wishing to see their fathers for Fathers’ Day.
A nice charity, but it ended Mass on a low note to say the least.
Mary Rose, we still have the tradition of a “Barrow of Cheer” raffle. There was some controversy a few years ago, because some people thought it promoted drunkenness and was an affront to recovering alcoholics. (I never understood that last part. I always figured if I won, I’d keep the wheelbarrow and donate the liquor to a parishioner’s wedding reception.)