Kwanzaa<\/a> for goodness sake!<\/p>\nThen there\u2019s the priest who hears sirens going during Mass and interrupts to say, \u201cLet\u2019s all take a moment to pray for the people involved in that emergency!\u201d\u2013and launches into a long extempore prayer.<\/p>\n
Another grumble comes from a young person who say, \u201cFather\u2019s homily for Christmas was like, he came down and wandered among everyone and said, \u201cChildren, I want you to know that you can actually talk to God! It\u2019s called \u2018prayer'\u201d then he stood still and closed his eyes and was silent for about thirty seconds and that was it. Really.<\/p>\n
So while I don\u2019t criticize particular priests I do wonder what is going on when one hears so many repeated horror stories.<\/p>\n
What about the priests who cannot or will not pronounce the words of absolution at confession?<\/p>\n
Some lay people report that the priest says, \u201cGo in peace God loves you\u201d or \u201cRemember Jesus loves you and forgives you.\u201d<\/p>\n
OK, but that\u2019s not really the sacrament.<\/p>\n
I had this experience once myself. I endured about twenty minutes of platitudinous psycho babble from the priest and then he said, \u201cYou can go now.\u201d I asked for absolution and he said, \u201cYou know God loves you go in peace.\u201d When I insisted that he say the words of absolution he got mad and said, \u201cI already said that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo you didn\u2019t father. I\u2019m simply asking for the words of absolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have them here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can just say, \u2018I absolve you in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally he muttered, \u201cI absolve you.\u201d<\/p>\n
So I sympathize with the laymen\u2019s lament and wonder why so many of our priests seem to be so incompetent. It\u2019s not that hard is it? I mean the bottom line is to be able to turn up at the right time and say the black and do the red. The bottom line is to be able to anoint and absolve. Those are really the only three things a priest can do that nobody else can do and some of these guys can\u2019t even manage that?<\/p>\n
When it comes to being competent in matters of administration, church music, preaching, pastoral care, counseling, church architecture (yes many priests have to build, repair or renovate churches) church history, theology, liturgy, catechetics, apologetics and evangelization\u2026.I\u2019m not even going to go there.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s be positive. What\u2019s to do?<\/p>\n
Firstly, let the lay people get more involved, not less involved. Let those who are skilled step up to the plate and gently and in a winning manner offer Father the help he needs, and when it comes to stuff they can\u2019t do like preaching and celebrating Mass\u2013why not organize a liturgical committee for the parish or if there is one join it. Observe best practice in the places where things are going well and put gentle and steady pressure on the liturgist and committee and musicians for gradual and positive change.<\/p>\n
photo:\u00a0leadershipfreak.wordpress.com<\/p>\n
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\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I should be clear. One of the rules I have set myself is to never criticize a fellow priest on this blog. Even if I think the priest is an insane traditionalists nutcase or an idiotic left wing, crypto Marxist new age freak I keep my mouth shut. Almost all the time, and when I\u2019ve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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