I dare you not to smile at this priest getting down with his bad self

[StarfishSaver]

I definitely needed this today. I hope it tickles your hearts, too

[chowder66]

1. That was fantastic!

[tblue37]

6. I am not a believer, but this is the embodiment of making a joyful noise unto the Lord. nt

[IcyPeas]

9. I'm not either but

I have to say some church choirs and songs like this move me.

When I used to have to go to church in the 60s it wasn't joyful. It was very solemn. No way would a priest dance like this.

[Progressive Jones]

26. I'm an atheist who attends the Chicago Gospel Festival nearly every year.

I'm a musician, I like all kinds of music, and I find Gospel to be extremely powerful and uplifting.

[chowder66]

10. Me either but boy if I was I would want to be a part of that!

[tblue37]

14. This! nt

[sheshe2]

2. Bad ass.

Loved it. Yes. I smiled.

Ooh
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life

One of my favorite songs.

Wait for the high note here...

[SharonAnn]

3. Wonderful! I needed that!

[Drahthaardogs]

4. Cool they still kept the High Altar

So many removed them. They were beautiful

[Cracklin Charlie]

5. Nice!

Father was feelin’ it!

[DonaldsRump]

7. Nice...and please remember this as a follow on to "Oh Happy Day"

From my beloved George Harrison:

[healthnut7]

8. Loved It!!

Thanks for sharing!!

[demosincebirth]

11. That was great!

[tiredtoo]

12. Great

Had to share this to bring some happiness to all.

[burrowowl]

13. Priest had some good moves!

[healthnut7]

15. I love this video, hope you don't mind me posting.

[Enterstageleft]

16. In 1998

We were staying in a B&B in Key West.

On Sunday morning we started towards Duval Street & passed a large building that had a few windows open so we could hear the singing inside.

It was a church gathering (to my regret I don't know the religion) & the happy voices & toe tapping sounds made us stop & listen for 5-10 minutes.

I'm not religious at all, but I felt I could listen to them celebrate their god (or goddess) forever.

Just as an aside, the B&B was run by two gay men & a lesbian sister. They were absolutely the best hosts I've ever encountered.

[misanthrope]

18. Ever been to the Gospel Stage/Tent at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival?

If you ever get the chance, go. It's usually some of the best music at the festival.

[Enterstageleft]

19. We haven't

but thanks for the recommendation.

[thenelm1]

17. If any priest I ever knew had done something like this back in the day...

(the 60s & early 70s when I was expected by the parents & elders to attend Sunday mass) at least 3/4s of the congregation would have either immediately headed for the doors or fainted dead away in the pews. And likely all of the other priests would have been calling for an exorcism...

My aunts, uncles and grandparents would have been scandalized.

[grantcart]

20. Lovely community, thanks for posting

[Greybnk48]

21. Back in the day, this Priest was an excellent dancer!

He's a little rusty, lost some muscle memory (I know the feeling), but his natural dancing ability is clear. This is fun to watch!

[catchnrelease]

22. Such a joyful song

Another non-churchgoer here but that song does get me. Kind of OT to the original video OP, but my very favorite video of this song is in the film Secretariat, of all places. Played during the stretch run of the Belmont Stakes. It has nothing to do with church or religion etc in this context but it's just perfect. A lot of the movie's story revolves around persevering and coming back from struggles. Chokes me up every time.

(I can't edit the video down to the specific scene, so here's the whole thing for anyone interested.)

[link:

|

[misanthrope]

29. Tangentially

If you're interested, here's the actual footage from that day. It's more remarkable when you can see the other horses in the same camera shot.

&list=RDkx533GIKhZU&index=2

Secretariat's jockey, Ron Turcotte, didn't touch his whip in that race. He just held on. If memory serves, he later said he could tell earlier that day Red was in a special mood by his demeanor. Turcotte just decided, "I'm going to let him run." No strategy, just let the horse do what he wanted.

Turcotte said when they came around the first bend and Sham was neck to neck with them, he wondered what Red was up to. When the horses got eye to eye, he saw Red look at Sham in the face/eye and then Red just kicked into overdrive. It would be a reach to say Secretariat was toying with his challenger but horses have emotions just like we do, so there's no telling what was going on.

All horses love to run but there was something extra competitive and special about Secretariat. When he passed away, they discovered his 22-pound heart was more than two and a half times that of an average horse's 8.5-pound heart, one of the reasons he had that kind of stamina.

Red's mental edge? You can't put that on a scale.

[catchnrelease]

33. Oh yeah

I'm a huge Red fan from back then. I've watched that race over the years more times than I can count. (In the film clip I posted they show Penny Chenery in the stands @1:42. I loved that touch of including her for the race.)

He was definitely a freak of nature and I'm sure we won't see his like again.

[misanthrope]

34. Sham also had a much larger than average heart

About 18 pounds. He finished second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness but finished last at Belmont when he suffered a hairline fracture of the cannon bone. It was repaired with three screws and he outlive Secretariat by about three years or so.

[OKNancy]

35. OMG. My favorite scene

I've watched it so many times. It gives me goosebumps.

[misanthrope]

23. That song

holds a oddly primal spot in my childhood memories, likely because the version by the Edwin Hawkins Singers shot up the pop charts to #4 in the late 1960s. I no doubt heard it often on the radio and around my very religious family in those formative, preschool years.

Another song of a religious nature that hits a deeper primal spot is this:

I heard it on a public radio station one evening when I was about 39 years old and it made the hair stand up all over my body. It was one of the oddest emotional experiences of my life because I felt the recognition from a deep well within me and didn't know why.

I dug around and discovered this Africanized portion of a Latin mass was used in the soundtrack for Debbie Reynolds' 1966 film "The Singing Nun." I remembered my uncle's copy of that album being around their house in that same time period as the previous song mentioned, when I would have been a small kid. I obviously internalized these haunting African rhythms and harmonies only for my subconscious to recognize it around 35 years later.

[pnwmom]

24. And Father Korth sings, too.

&fbclid=IwAR1DVz6H9jOflzMl73Coy4GG6i167P2yq_l7EMwpMc6Ie-kMwl-GKd_tueg

[peggysue2]

25. Loved this!

Made me laugh out loud. Sheer joy!

Thanks for that!

[secondwind]

27. Oh, OH I loved this! I will be watching it over and over today!

I felt a little nervous though, with the amazing singing, and I hope there’s no Covid lurking in that church.

[electric_blue68]

28. : ) that Father could bust a move and..

the woman had nice set of pipes. 🙂 Thanks!

And like an above poster I remember when the Edwin Hawkins Singers had their hit with it!

Good memories.

[nolabear]

30. Joy is indeed sacred, and he is joyful!

For an atheist I have a real soft spot for religious art and music. I understand the need for meaning, beauty, shared joy, hope, all the things it represents.

[murielm99]

31. This whole thread is a joy!

[Demovictory9]

32. lol. that was great

[3catwoman3]

36. Very exhilarating!

Thanks for posting this.

[drmeow]

37. my mom's cousin

Is a Jesuit priest and scholar. He's in his mid 80's, lives in Rome (maybe at the Vatican, not sure), has over 1000 FB friends where he posts in English, Arabic, Italian, and (I think) Aramaic, travels all over the world, and is rabidly anti Trump. If he was 30 years younger and had a Parish I think he'd be like this