The new pastor at St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Steven O'Hala, was (and still is) a professor at a seminary before being assigned to this parish as its priest. As I understand it, this is his first job at a parish. He is doing a conscientious job and undertook a parish survey to assess the needs and moods of the congregation. The results shed light on the difficulties of trying to build a parish when there are so many cultural and linguistic differences.
One major issue is holiday masses on Christmas, Easter and Maundy Thursday. It is logistically impossible to schedule separate masses for each language group in one church. There can only be one midnight mass on Christmas Eve. As a result, holy day masses are often tri-lingual, a solution that satisfies virtually no one. For me as an English speaker, this means that Christmas mass, whose music and liturgy I love, loses two-thirds of its meaning, because it is conducted in languages I don't understand. I have resolved this problem for myself by attending these services at another church. No doubt other church members are quietly doing the same thing.
The language difficulty is a good argument for a return to the Latin mass. Of course, no one understands it any more, if they ever did, but that problem could be solved through proper education.
Mass scheduling is the visible tip of what seems to be a much larger iceberg. One of the major differences between Catholics and Protestants is that Catholics place a higher value on community. A language barrier and its attendant divisions are more painful to faithful Catholics than it would be to Protestants. Because I was raised Protestant, I didn't notice any sense of division at all and, on an emotional level, have a hard time understanding the strong reactions many people have to this issue. Cradle Catholics, on the other hand, are very aware of this issue. Those people most active in the church are the ones most distressed by it.
Other concerns include an increase in vandalism and thefts of small items from the parish kitchen that are blamed on some members of the Haitian community. I hasten to add that I have taught hundreds of Haitian students and have found most to be scrupulously honest.
Most distressing to me was Father O'Hala's statement that some of the comments on the survey were so hostile they had to be "sanitized." O'Hala expressed shock that these unloving remarks would be made in a Christian community. This people in the church are generally accepting of cultural differences and willing to give money to help people of different races. If this church has problems with multiculturalism, there is even less hope for te rest of America, which may not share the general ethos of love of neighbor and the view of charity as an ethical requirement.
As an aside, the pastoral team we have now is the best it has been since Father Gabriel Vigues left. He went to the church that used to be pastored by the priest who was photographed snuggling on the beach with a woman. After him, we had an administrator who was, unbeknownst to us, going through the laicization process. His loss of interest in the priesthood showed in his attitude and we had a strained relationship. Now however, the church has the leadership it should have. In spite of the difficulties, this church is a much better place than it was and will continue to improve under Father O'Hala and Father Bellonce.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Sex Scandals, Again
Last night, I came across a some posts about sex scandals in the Archdiocese of Miami. I am not going to link to it because I don't want to further smear the name of a priest who doesn't deserve it. The general idea is that while this priest was a seminarian, the openly gay head of the seminary made him "his boy," and would spend hours gawking at him and photographing him as he worked out in the weight room.
There is no evidence that the seminarian, now a pastor, has ever molested a child, sexually harassed anyone, or misappropriated church funds. He did not deserve to be "outed" as a gay man, if in fact he is. In fact, it may be that he was being sexually harassed. However, the tone of the article implies the former.
His name became known as part of an investigation conducted by a group calling itself Christifidelis. If what they report is correct, they acted properly in investigating and unearthing corruption at the top levels of the Archdiocese. Many of the people named were apparently guilty of flagrant wrongdoing, including sexually harassing seminarians and channeling church funds to lovers.
However, the priest I am referring to did not deserve to have his name made public. If indeed he is at fault in some way, this should have been handled privately with his spiritual director and his confessor. There is a fine line between an investigation and a witchhunt, and naming this man crossed that line. I believe James in his epistle exhorts us to confront people with their faults privately and with due humility because we too are fallible and liable to temptation. In their zeal to defend one tenet of Catholic teaching, it seems to me that this group violated another, more important one.
On the other hand, there is much about their report that addresses issues that should be made public. Apparently, the culture of seminaries in South Florida is so openly gay that straight men find the environment uncomfortable, if not hostile. Apparently, more conservative dioceses stopped sending their seminarians here for that reason. It is hard enough for a young man to embrace celibacy without being in the company of people who openly flout the requirement.
The members of Christifidelis should remember that many gay priests are rendering compassionate, sensitive pastoral care to their parishioners and Catholic life in Florida would be poorer without them. I don't believe that in the decade since my conversion that I have ever met an American-born man who entered the priesthood as a young adult and that was trained in this diocese who was straight. To the best of my knowledge, they have all been gay. (The exceptions are men who were born abroad, men who entered the priesthood later in life, and men who were trained in other parts of the country.) The diocese could not run without its gay priests. Chasing gay men out of the priesthood would result in the closure of churches and the denial of sacraments to the faithful.
There is no evidence that the seminarian, now a pastor, has ever molested a child, sexually harassed anyone, or misappropriated church funds. He did not deserve to be "outed" as a gay man, if in fact he is. In fact, it may be that he was being sexually harassed. However, the tone of the article implies the former.
His name became known as part of an investigation conducted by a group calling itself Christifidelis. If what they report is correct, they acted properly in investigating and unearthing corruption at the top levels of the Archdiocese. Many of the people named were apparently guilty of flagrant wrongdoing, including sexually harassing seminarians and channeling church funds to lovers.
However, the priest I am referring to did not deserve to have his name made public. If indeed he is at fault in some way, this should have been handled privately with his spiritual director and his confessor. There is a fine line between an investigation and a witchhunt, and naming this man crossed that line. I believe James in his epistle exhorts us to confront people with their faults privately and with due humility because we too are fallible and liable to temptation. In their zeal to defend one tenet of Catholic teaching, it seems to me that this group violated another, more important one.
On the other hand, there is much about their report that addresses issues that should be made public. Apparently, the culture of seminaries in South Florida is so openly gay that straight men find the environment uncomfortable, if not hostile. Apparently, more conservative dioceses stopped sending their seminarians here for that reason. It is hard enough for a young man to embrace celibacy without being in the company of people who openly flout the requirement.
The members of Christifidelis should remember that many gay priests are rendering compassionate, sensitive pastoral care to their parishioners and Catholic life in Florida would be poorer without them. I don't believe that in the decade since my conversion that I have ever met an American-born man who entered the priesthood as a young adult and that was trained in this diocese who was straight. To the best of my knowledge, they have all been gay. (The exceptions are men who were born abroad, men who entered the priesthood later in life, and men who were trained in other parts of the country.) The diocese could not run without its gay priests. Chasing gay men out of the priesthood would result in the closure of churches and the denial of sacraments to the faithful.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Pedophilia Again
This time, not in the church but at Penn State. But a similar story. Abuse covered up from a combination of ignorance about the irreparable damage caused by sexual abuse and a desire to protect the football program.
For what it's worth, I think people are coming down too hard on Paterno. He had no first-hand evidence, only hearsay, which is legally worthless. The eyewitness, McQueary, was the person who should have contacted the police. And why should a 28-year-old college graduate need his head coach to tell him to call the police when a child was being raped? Could he not think of that himself?
My guess is another part of the reason no one called the police is that the U.S. prison system is brutal and it is one thing to see anonymous criminals go through it and another to see someone you know and like do the same. Perhaps that explains by O.J., Robert Blake, and Michael Jackson were all acquitted of murder or sexual abuse. The jurors felt they knew them and couldn't bear to lock them up for life.
A friend of mine at the church says "We are all driving broken machines." I think that comes from C.S. Lewis. Jerry Sandusky is one such person. While it is fashionable to heap opprobrium on pedophiles, I ca't help but wonder why he had this urge. Abuse in his own childhood? Some bizarre epileptic disorder? I also can't help but wonder if our hatred of him is a way of taking attention off of our own often-flawed sexuality.
The man should never be on the streets again, but the rest of his life will be hell and I don't feel good about that.
This is also a lesson to be wary of do-gooders.
Years ago, I met a priest I half-suspect of pedophilia. I don't have any evidence of any kind and his parishioners loved him. I just have a sense that he is a gay man who pays too much attention to women and that he is using them as a "beard," so to speak, in order to cover up something more troubling. He was one of those professional do-gooders too.
For what it's worth, I think people are coming down too hard on Paterno. He had no first-hand evidence, only hearsay, which is legally worthless. The eyewitness, McQueary, was the person who should have contacted the police. And why should a 28-year-old college graduate need his head coach to tell him to call the police when a child was being raped? Could he not think of that himself?
My guess is another part of the reason no one called the police is that the U.S. prison system is brutal and it is one thing to see anonymous criminals go through it and another to see someone you know and like do the same. Perhaps that explains by O.J., Robert Blake, and Michael Jackson were all acquitted of murder or sexual abuse. The jurors felt they knew them and couldn't bear to lock them up for life.
A friend of mine at the church says "We are all driving broken machines." I think that comes from C.S. Lewis. Jerry Sandusky is one such person. While it is fashionable to heap opprobrium on pedophiles, I ca't help but wonder why he had this urge. Abuse in his own childhood? Some bizarre epileptic disorder? I also can't help but wonder if our hatred of him is a way of taking attention off of our own often-flawed sexuality.
The man should never be on the streets again, but the rest of his life will be hell and I don't feel good about that.
This is also a lesson to be wary of do-gooders.
Years ago, I met a priest I half-suspect of pedophilia. I don't have any evidence of any kind and his parishioners loved him. I just have a sense that he is a gay man who pays too much attention to women and that he is using them as a "beard," so to speak, in order to cover up something more troubling. He was one of those professional do-gooders too.
Emmaus Retreat
During the first weekend of November, I (finally) attended the Emmaus retreat for women. The women who ran the retreat put so much love, thought, and effort into it that it was impossible not to be touched. It is impossible to describe the details because of the firm rule that what goes on in Emmaus stays in Emmaus. Also, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for anyone taking it at a later time. Anyone going should approach it without preconceptions in order to appreciate it fully.
I keep hoping that Jesus will suddenly reveal himself to me and that I will believe wholeheartedly, but that didn't happen. However, I did get a deeper understanding of what Christianity at its best could be when I remembered a passage from the Colossians about all things being in Christ and Christ working to reconcile all things unto himself. A friend, a rabbi, defined mysticism as the belief that there are no separate experiences and I guess I had a mystical experience because I felt and longed for that unity in Christ and perhaps experienced it for a flickering minute. However, after returning to normal life, it is hard to hang on to that insight. But for that moment, I felt that everything I had done wrong and everything wrong that had been done to me would somehow be reconciled in Jesus.
I keep hoping that Jesus will suddenly reveal himself to me and that I will believe wholeheartedly, but that didn't happen. However, I did get a deeper understanding of what Christianity at its best could be when I remembered a passage from the Colossians about all things being in Christ and Christ working to reconcile all things unto himself. A friend, a rabbi, defined mysticism as the belief that there are no separate experiences and I guess I had a mystical experience because I felt and longed for that unity in Christ and perhaps experienced it for a flickering minute. However, after returning to normal life, it is hard to hang on to that insight. But for that moment, I felt that everything I had done wrong and everything wrong that had been done to me would somehow be reconciled in Jesus.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
A Christmas Poem
Since the Christmas season is approaching, I thought I would post this poem about the first Christmas.
An Untimely Birth
Moved with pity for her frail humanity,
He took her, on the day of the other nuptials,
Its virgin bride and her wedding party clothed
In linen finery, her face chastely veiled,
While his covered her belly with the coarse jalabiya
She had fashioned herself on the drop spindle.
The joyful klililililili in the streets
Echoed in the silence of his house.
Four parents ate together wordlessly
Before hers departed, leaving her to her new fate.
Mornings, when she drew water from the well,
Villagers—all two hundred of them—
Averted their heads while pointing at her with their eyes.
Then, a respite. Her cousin, twice removed—
And a hundred miles removed in space—
Received them in a place where no one knew
Their wedding date. She was simply
Another bride of another itinerant and jobless artisan
In an occupied land seeking the succor of kin.
During the barley harvest, they moved on yet again,
First to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem,
Returning to ancestral lands to glean enough
To discharge their debt to temple and state and,
If the expected offspring were male,
To redeem her firstborn from the priests.
There, in the stinking stable on her childbed of shame,
She longed for the redemption promised
By Daniel after the seventy sevens had elapsed,
Daring to hope this child,
In whom David and Aaron were met,
Would reconcile her, and this.
She stirred awake when Shepherds' sun-coarsened hands
Reached out to hold Bethlehem's newest son
Until, quietly, they arose and left.
Returning home, they told their wives,
For the next thing the mother in the stable heard
Was village women’s joyful ululating: klililililili.
An Untimely Birth
Moved with pity for her frail humanity,
He took her, on the day of the other nuptials,
Its virgin bride and her wedding party clothed
In linen finery, her face chastely veiled,
While his covered her belly with the coarse jalabiya
She had fashioned herself on the drop spindle.
The joyful klililililili in the streets
Echoed in the silence of his house.
Four parents ate together wordlessly
Before hers departed, leaving her to her new fate.
Mornings, when she drew water from the well,
Villagers—all two hundred of them—
Averted their heads while pointing at her with their eyes.
Then, a respite. Her cousin, twice removed—
And a hundred miles removed in space—
Received them in a place where no one knew
Their wedding date. She was simply
Another bride of another itinerant and jobless artisan
In an occupied land seeking the succor of kin.
During the barley harvest, they moved on yet again,
First to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem,
Returning to ancestral lands to glean enough
To discharge their debt to temple and state and,
If the expected offspring were male,
To redeem her firstborn from the priests.
There, in the stinking stable on her childbed of shame,
She longed for the redemption promised
By Daniel after the seventy sevens had elapsed,
Daring to hope this child,
In whom David and Aaron were met,
Would reconcile her, and this.
She stirred awake when Shepherds' sun-coarsened hands
Reached out to hold Bethlehem's newest son
Until, quietly, they arose and left.
Returning home, they told their wives,
For the next thing the mother in the stable heard
Was village women’s joyful ululating: klililililili.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Link to Post on Troubled Priest
A number of months ago, I wrote a post on a troubled priest whose parishioners forced him out of his church. Recently, I met a woman who attends the church and she told me she sometimes felt like God was punishing the congregation for the shabby way it treated the former priest. The new priest is a hard man, inflexible and opinionated. Many people are unhappy. The deacon, a good one, left in part because of difficulties with this priest, although there were other reasons as well. Several people have left as they no longer feel comfortable there. I stopped going after the first month he was there because he had a habit of joking about the physical appearance of women. These were not compliments, but jokes. Trust me, women do not like jokes about their physical appearance.
We should have been happy with the priest we had.
A number of months ago, I wrote a post on a troubled priest whose parishioners forced him out of his church. Recently, I met a woman who attends the church and she told me she sometimes felt like God was punishing the congregation for the shabby way it treated the former priest. The new priest is a hard man, inflexible and opinionated. Many people are unhappy. The deacon, a good one, left in part because of difficulties with this priest, although there were other reasons as well. Several people have left as they no longer feel comfortable there. I stopped going after the first month he was there because he had a habit of joking about the physical appearance of women. These were not compliments, but jokes. Trust me, women do not like jokes about their physical appearance.
We should have been happy with the priest we had.
Women's Emmaus Retreat
If there is an Emmaus retreat for women in your area, you may want to consider going. The care and concern of the women who put on the retreat was a reflection of Christianity at its best.
It is impossible to describe the event for two reasons:
1. To protect the confidentiality of women who opened their hearts and shared intimate details of their lives, retreatants are asked to never disclose what was spoken about.
2. To describe the programming would be to ruin the experience for future retreatants, who will enjoy it more if it is a surprise, and if they approach the experience without preconceptions.
I went because I wanted to be closer to Jesus, who is a hard figure for me. One of the reasons he is a hard figure is that so many non-Christians have suffered so much at the hands of Christians. I don't blame Jesus personally, but this history has made me reluctant to embrace his religion.
During the retreat, I suddenly remembered a line from T.S. Eliot's quartet "Burnt Norton" about the boars and boarhounds, natural enemies, becoming reconciled in the stars. From there, I remembered the verse in Colossians, 1: 20, I believe, about Jesus reconciling all things in himself through his death on the cross.
This was a passage that spoke to my sense of remorse about the many sins and failures of my life and gave me hope that God, in his mercy, will reconcile all of this in some way I don't understand.
The other part of the retreat I liked was that I discussed my doubts about Jesus and, quite randomly, received a verse about receiving whatever I pray for if I have faith. I have a big dream for a way of helping troubled young people and need major funding. This has given me enough encouragement to seek this type of assistance
It is impossible to describe the event for two reasons:
1. To protect the confidentiality of women who opened their hearts and shared intimate details of their lives, retreatants are asked to never disclose what was spoken about.
2. To describe the programming would be to ruin the experience for future retreatants, who will enjoy it more if it is a surprise, and if they approach the experience without preconceptions.
I went because I wanted to be closer to Jesus, who is a hard figure for me. One of the reasons he is a hard figure is that so many non-Christians have suffered so much at the hands of Christians. I don't blame Jesus personally, but this history has made me reluctant to embrace his religion.
During the retreat, I suddenly remembered a line from T.S. Eliot's quartet "Burnt Norton" about the boars and boarhounds, natural enemies, becoming reconciled in the stars. From there, I remembered the verse in Colossians, 1: 20, I believe, about Jesus reconciling all things in himself through his death on the cross.
This was a passage that spoke to my sense of remorse about the many sins and failures of my life and gave me hope that God, in his mercy, will reconcile all of this in some way I don't understand.
The other part of the retreat I liked was that I discussed my doubts about Jesus and, quite randomly, received a verse about receiving whatever I pray for if I have faith. I have a big dream for a way of helping troubled young people and need major funding. This has given me enough encouragement to seek this type of assistance
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A Poem About Job's Wife
One of my problems with the Bible is that I often sympathize with the "bad guys" like Esau, Saul, and Job's wife, more than I sympathize with the heroes. In fact, I like so many of the minor Biblical characters that I am thinking of writing a volume of poetry entitled Bit Players about them. In any case, here is the first poem in that series. It is on Job's wife and I guess the theological point of it is that she never refers to God at all. Not to curse him. Not to call on his aid or comfort. He has simply ceased to exist for her and she derives a belief in the afterlife by hoping solely in natural processes.
I Have Seen Job
I have seen Job, head bobbing as he rides,
Muttering to his dead sons and daughters,
Stopping just before he reaches his tent
To bid them farewell
As offspring borne by newer wives toddle
Outdoors and cling to his grit-covered legs
Tattooed by boil scars, his papery skin
Reddening at their touch.
My hope lies in this sand his young ones brush
From their hands, for buried beneath these dunes,
I will again abide with the children.
I bore and buried.
As rubbed amber pulls feathers to itself
This stuff that was us will draw together,
Each speck circling the others as we dance
Sheltered by the earth.
I Have Seen Job
I have seen Job, head bobbing as he rides,
Muttering to his dead sons and daughters,
Stopping just before he reaches his tent
To bid them farewell
As offspring borne by newer wives toddle
Outdoors and cling to his grit-covered legs
Tattooed by boil scars, his papery skin
Reddening at their touch.
My hope lies in this sand his young ones brush
From their hands, for buried beneath these dunes,
I will again abide with the children.
I bore and buried.
As rubbed amber pulls feathers to itself
This stuff that was us will draw together,
Each speck circling the others as we dance
Sheltered by the earth.
Monday, May 9, 2011
A Troubled Priest
My mother and brother, also converts to Catholicism, attend a church that had an unpopular pastor. The pastor was overweight, dyslexic, a poor homilist, and a very poor manager of money. He was also a gracious, generous-spirited man with the gift of compassion. He is, I am told, gay.
What distressed me about this situation is the way the entire church ganged up on the man. It seems to me that the mismanagement of money was a genuine issue but one that could have been solved by insisting that he appoint a parish finance council.
The other issues should have been met with compassion. A man with dyslexia who is trying to read the Gospels and deliver homilies in front of large crowds should be treated with kindness. Even though most people in the parish probably did not know about the dyslexia, it was obvious from watching him that he struggled to read and had some kind of disability.
As for his homilies, he was actually decent enough when he spoke from his heart. If the parish and shown him love and support, he might have had the courage to speak from his heart more but it is hard to make yourself vulnerable in the face of hostility.
To make matters worse, that hostility often came from the people who should have shown the most support: the church steward, the people who attended daily mass, the deacon. All those people who compose the backbone of the church and who should have shown the most compassion were often those who treated him the worst.
I have the impression that part of the hostility he encountered was due to his (alleged) gayness. The steward is also gay and there seemed to be some kind ill-feeling between them, the origin of which I didn't really understand. They were NOT lovers so it is not a matter of sexual jealousy. In any case, the steward didn't like him and because he was at the church every single day and knew virtually everybody, he was able to stir up ill-feeling against the priest very effectively.
Suffice it to say that the church went through much trauma, the pastor has been sent back to assist at his original parish, and a new pastor has been appointed. The new pastor has not been able to say mass at the church yet because he is actually serving as pastor for two parishes until a replacement can be found for his old parish. He sent a message to be read in church today saying that he is working hard to get the parish finances in order and that he was doing "forensic accounting." In other words, even though he hasn't said a single mass yet, he let it be known during mass that the other pastor had messed up royally. My heart ached for the original pastor.
Fortunately, many other people in the congregation thought this priest got a raw deal and that he was treated with a singular lack of Christian love and compassion. Some of these parishioners plan to visit him at his new church where he serves as priest but not as pastor.
If any priest or future priest is reading this, learn the following lessons from this saga:
appoint a parish finance council
Unless the financial situation of the church is absolutely desperate, be sure to give the church steward, the church secretary, and other employees annual raises. One of the things that bothered the steward--and this was legitimate--was that the pastor spent huge sums of money refurbishing the rectory while the steward hadn't had a raise in three years.
The pastor often downloaded his weekday homilies from the internet. If you do this, don't be seen doing this. Or, one pastor I know simply omits the weekday homily. His Sunday homilies are excellent and maybe his parishioners are okay with skipping weeday homilies because the mass ends sooner and this is important for people who need to get to work on time.
Remember that your parish is judging you by the quality of your homilies. If you need help in this area, join a Toastmaster's Club or take a public speaking course. Apparently, seminaries don't teach this skill well enough. Go to priests who give excellent homilies and ask them for their advice on how to do it.
Money management and homilies will make or break your priesthood or pastorate. Keep that in mind. After reading this story, do you still really want to be a priest?
What distressed me about this situation is the way the entire church ganged up on the man. It seems to me that the mismanagement of money was a genuine issue but one that could have been solved by insisting that he appoint a parish finance council.
The other issues should have been met with compassion. A man with dyslexia who is trying to read the Gospels and deliver homilies in front of large crowds should be treated with kindness. Even though most people in the parish probably did not know about the dyslexia, it was obvious from watching him that he struggled to read and had some kind of disability.
As for his homilies, he was actually decent enough when he spoke from his heart. If the parish and shown him love and support, he might have had the courage to speak from his heart more but it is hard to make yourself vulnerable in the face of hostility.
To make matters worse, that hostility often came from the people who should have shown the most support: the church steward, the people who attended daily mass, the deacon. All those people who compose the backbone of the church and who should have shown the most compassion were often those who treated him the worst.
I have the impression that part of the hostility he encountered was due to his (alleged) gayness. The steward is also gay and there seemed to be some kind ill-feeling between them, the origin of which I didn't really understand. They were NOT lovers so it is not a matter of sexual jealousy. In any case, the steward didn't like him and because he was at the church every single day and knew virtually everybody, he was able to stir up ill-feeling against the priest very effectively.
Suffice it to say that the church went through much trauma, the pastor has been sent back to assist at his original parish, and a new pastor has been appointed. The new pastor has not been able to say mass at the church yet because he is actually serving as pastor for two parishes until a replacement can be found for his old parish. He sent a message to be read in church today saying that he is working hard to get the parish finances in order and that he was doing "forensic accounting." In other words, even though he hasn't said a single mass yet, he let it be known during mass that the other pastor had messed up royally. My heart ached for the original pastor.
Fortunately, many other people in the congregation thought this priest got a raw deal and that he was treated with a singular lack of Christian love and compassion. Some of these parishioners plan to visit him at his new church where he serves as priest but not as pastor.
If any priest or future priest is reading this, learn the following lessons from this saga:
appoint a parish finance council
Unless the financial situation of the church is absolutely desperate, be sure to give the church steward, the church secretary, and other employees annual raises. One of the things that bothered the steward--and this was legitimate--was that the pastor spent huge sums of money refurbishing the rectory while the steward hadn't had a raise in three years.
The pastor often downloaded his weekday homilies from the internet. If you do this, don't be seen doing this. Or, one pastor I know simply omits the weekday homily. His Sunday homilies are excellent and maybe his parishioners are okay with skipping weeday homilies because the mass ends sooner and this is important for people who need to get to work on time.
Remember that your parish is judging you by the quality of your homilies. If you need help in this area, join a Toastmaster's Club or take a public speaking course. Apparently, seminaries don't teach this skill well enough. Go to priests who give excellent homilies and ask them for their advice on how to do it.
Money management and homilies will make or break your priesthood or pastorate. Keep that in mind. After reading this story, do you still really want to be a priest?
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Sex Scandal Again
Our Archbishop, Thomas Wenski, published an op-ed piece in the local paper, the Sun Sentinel, against gay marriage. His basic argument is that it undermines the sanctity of the family. The hypocrisy reeks to high heaven. He gave a priest who had been accused of molesting a teenage boy a new church not too long ago, albeit a church serving mostly elderly people. I can think of nothing that undermines the family more than the sexual abuse of children because it damages the ability of the victims to have emotionally mature relationships with others. This is far worse than a marriage that ratifies an age-appropriate relationship between two people of the same sex.
After all the pain the church has been through during the last decade, re-appointing a priest accused of molesting a kid is the height of insensitivity. I hope this priest is innocent but given the church's history of sweeping these allegations under the rug rather than investigating them, nobody knows.
After all the pain the church has been through during the last decade, re-appointing a priest accused of molesting a kid is the height of insensitivity. I hope this priest is innocent but given the church's history of sweeping these allegations under the rug rather than investigating them, nobody knows.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The priest shortage: a proposal
Catholics are deeply concerned about the priest shortage. Few sexually normal young men want to sign on for a lifetime of celibacy and the ones who do often leave, which is frequently a good thing. It seems to me that much of the problem could be solved by changing the structure of the diaconate.
What if young men were offered the opportunity to train for the priesthood without being ordinained into the celibate diaconate. At the same time, they could have a second, secular major like law, accounting, education, psychology, or whatever. As younger men, they could serve as financial directors, teachers in catholic schools, accountants, or whatever their secular occupation is. In return, perhaps their children could get scholarships to Catholic schools or maybe the church could help them by arranging favorable home loans or good health insurance. Having these young men serve the church in a secular capacity would free the priests to tend to religious needs rather than economic ones. Then, when these men were older and if they were unmarried at that point, they could be ordained into the priesthood--after their hormone levels had declined and they had had children.
Modern medical technology enables people to live longer, healthier lives, meaning that a priest ordained at age 65 might serve a decade or more.
This suggestion solves another problem. Many priests really don't know how to manage large budgets or how to be administrators. Having others handle these jobs would no doubt save many churches from undergoing severe financial trials. Over and over, I have seen compassionate, spiritual priests mismanage church funds, not from dishonesty but from lack of knowledge. I have also met priests who were wonderful administrators but amazingly insensitive people.
Just my thoughts on the vocation crisis.
What if young men were offered the opportunity to train for the priesthood without being ordinained into the celibate diaconate. At the same time, they could have a second, secular major like law, accounting, education, psychology, or whatever. As younger men, they could serve as financial directors, teachers in catholic schools, accountants, or whatever their secular occupation is. In return, perhaps their children could get scholarships to Catholic schools or maybe the church could help them by arranging favorable home loans or good health insurance. Having these young men serve the church in a secular capacity would free the priests to tend to religious needs rather than economic ones. Then, when these men were older and if they were unmarried at that point, they could be ordained into the priesthood--after their hormone levels had declined and they had had children.
Modern medical technology enables people to live longer, healthier lives, meaning that a priest ordained at age 65 might serve a decade or more.
This suggestion solves another problem. Many priests really don't know how to manage large budgets or how to be administrators. Having others handle these jobs would no doubt save many churches from undergoing severe financial trials. Over and over, I have seen compassionate, spiritual priests mismanage church funds, not from dishonesty but from lack of knowledge. I have also met priests who were wonderful administrators but amazingly insensitive people.
Just my thoughts on the vocation crisis.
Non-Catholics at Catholic Funerals
Yesterday, I went to my first Catholic funeral. Since neither the deceased nor his wife was particularly religious, I had not known the wife was Catholic--and I have known her for 30 years. Many of the guests were non-Catholics--Protestant and Jewish.
The priest reached the point in the service during which Communion was offered and said "If you are Catholic, you may receive the Eucharist. If you are not Catholic, remain in your seats." His wife went forward to receive communion and someone approached her and apparently told her not to receive. "I'm a baptized Catholic," she told her.
I was appalled. Yes, I know about the rules about Catholics and communion but this was her husband's funeral. Even if she had been Protestant, it would have been kinder to let her receive this act of comfort at her husband's funeral and just keep quiet.
When the priest told non-Catholics to remain seated, the woman in front of me muttered "This is so wrong." At a time when everyone needed to feel united, we were divided. I was unsure of whether to receive or not. On the one hand, I thought maybe the widow would have been disappointed if I didn't go forward. On the other hand, I didn't want to claim a privilege denied to other attendees.
I wish the priest had said something like "Catholics may receive communion. If you are not a Catholic, you may come forward and I will give you a blessing." It would have made everyone feel included in the service.
In fairness to the priest, he spoke English as a second language and his curtness may have been the result of his limited English rather than insensitivity. Still, we Catholics need to find ways to make non-Catholics visiting our churches feel like welcome guests instead of people who don't belong to our club.
The priest reached the point in the service during which Communion was offered and said "If you are Catholic, you may receive the Eucharist. If you are not Catholic, remain in your seats." His wife went forward to receive communion and someone approached her and apparently told her not to receive. "I'm a baptized Catholic," she told her.
I was appalled. Yes, I know about the rules about Catholics and communion but this was her husband's funeral. Even if she had been Protestant, it would have been kinder to let her receive this act of comfort at her husband's funeral and just keep quiet.
When the priest told non-Catholics to remain seated, the woman in front of me muttered "This is so wrong." At a time when everyone needed to feel united, we were divided. I was unsure of whether to receive or not. On the one hand, I thought maybe the widow would have been disappointed if I didn't go forward. On the other hand, I didn't want to claim a privilege denied to other attendees.
I wish the priest had said something like "Catholics may receive communion. If you are not a Catholic, you may come forward and I will give you a blessing." It would have made everyone feel included in the service.
In fairness to the priest, he spoke English as a second language and his curtness may have been the result of his limited English rather than insensitivity. Still, we Catholics need to find ways to make non-Catholics visiting our churches feel like welcome guests instead of people who don't belong to our club.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse
A few years ago, allegations of sexual abuse were made against seven priests in the Archdiocese of Miami. One of the priests went into retirement. He has been brought out of retirement by the new archbishop and made the administrator of a church in Pompano Beach. Apparently, this was because he was a friend of the Archbishop.
I have no idea whether the man is guilty or innocent. Maybe it was a one-time affair with someone who was seventeen. Or maybe it was numerous times with a fourteen-year-old boy. Nobody knows and that is the point. If the allegations had been investigated and the priest had been cleared, that would be one thing. Apparently, there was no investigation--or if it was, this has not been made public--and the priest has been reinstated. Innocent people are wrongly accused all the time. Every few months we read about people who have spent decades in prison only to be found innocent. I hope this priest is innocent but the archdiocese has handled this in a way that has left doubt in the minds of many people.
However, I am so proud of the Catholics in that church. They have left the church in droves, taking their money with them. They refuse to take communion from him. The church is dying.
The assignment of the priest to this parish shows a total lack of regard for the Catholics in the church. They are entitled to a priest who does not have sexual liaisons with minors. No one expects priests to be perfect but Catholics do expect their priests not to be pedophiles. Gone are the days when an archbishop can appoint a priest and have the parishioners accept it without question.
I have no idea whether the man is guilty or innocent. Maybe it was a one-time affair with someone who was seventeen. Or maybe it was numerous times with a fourteen-year-old boy. Nobody knows and that is the point. If the allegations had been investigated and the priest had been cleared, that would be one thing. Apparently, there was no investigation--or if it was, this has not been made public--and the priest has been reinstated. Innocent people are wrongly accused all the time. Every few months we read about people who have spent decades in prison only to be found innocent. I hope this priest is innocent but the archdiocese has handled this in a way that has left doubt in the minds of many people.
However, I am so proud of the Catholics in that church. They have left the church in droves, taking their money with them. They refuse to take communion from him. The church is dying.
The assignment of the priest to this parish shows a total lack of regard for the Catholics in the church. They are entitled to a priest who does not have sexual liaisons with minors. No one expects priests to be perfect but Catholics do expect their priests not to be pedophiles. Gone are the days when an archbishop can appoint a priest and have the parishioners accept it without question.
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