I battle with something about church....it's that sometimes, priests don't seem so friendly or warm-hearted. [This is completely separate from the heinous abuse scandal. I'm so sorry for the victims involved in that, and shudder at the terror, shame, and darkness of it all.]
But I have a hard time with this priest friendliness gauge because, I guess, I want them to be ultra kind and loving to all. Compassionate. I want them to smile big. I don't want them to play favorites. [One pastor, years back, God forgive me, showered love on a famous parishioner who probably also put big contributions in the basket--but Father barely flashed his wooden smile for me.]
I don't like hypocrites. Again, forgive me, because these men have pretty much signed their lives over to lead the flock. There are a few I hold fondly in my memory--they smiled, cared, advised, welcomed.
What I did like about church today--and I went alone, because Punch was building a snowman in a light ice storm with her friend and I wanted some quiet contemplation--was the music and the Christmas trim. I hadn't seen the joyous altar, since we left December 23 for Maine. Loved the four large evergreens with white lights, the row of many red poinsettias and the crèche scene inside the church. I carefully watched the crèche outside St. Mary's Church when we drove by when I was a girl, waiting for Baby Jesus to appear in the straw crib. He looked indeed like a baby King of Kings, embodying goodness and light.
What do you think? Good night.
TCOY
But I have a hard time with this priest friendliness gauge because, I guess, I want them to be ultra kind and loving to all. Compassionate. I want them to smile big. I don't want them to play favorites. [One pastor, years back, God forgive me, showered love on a famous parishioner who probably also put big contributions in the basket--but Father barely flashed his wooden smile for me.]
I don't like hypocrites. Again, forgive me, because these men have pretty much signed their lives over to lead the flock. There are a few I hold fondly in my memory--they smiled, cared, advised, welcomed.
What I did like about church today--and I went alone, because Punch was building a snowman in a light ice storm with her friend and I wanted some quiet contemplation--was the music and the Christmas trim. I hadn't seen the joyous altar, since we left December 23 for Maine. Loved the four large evergreens with white lights, the row of many red poinsettias and the crèche scene inside the church. I carefully watched the crèche outside St. Mary's Church when we drove by when I was a girl, waiting for Baby Jesus to appear in the straw crib. He looked indeed like a baby King of Kings, embodying goodness and light.
What do you think? Good night.
TCOY
- Mass.
- Baked potatoes, old-fashioned, easy and good.
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Our parish has also had a few of “those” not-so-friendly priests over the years, but for the most part we have been lucky. I agree that when a priest signs on to the job, he should be warm and welcoming, sort of Christlike. But, as in human nature in general, some people are more outgoing and some are more reserved (and some more ambitious and phony, too). Glad you at least got an hour's worth of peace at church :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lin. thanks for answering. i value your opinion. i wonder what our Dads would say. love you. al
ReplyDeleteMore things to talk about when we have lunch! (I'll e-mail you, major deadlines are now DONE.) We are currently not participating. We had a very negative experience when we moved here, and on top of all the things we already disagreed with, the bad personal experience put us over the edge. That said, we had such a beautiful, moving, compassionate Mass for my mom's funeral that it made me wish we'd continued to have THAT kind of experience ... we probably wouldn't have left.
ReplyDeleteOh, Eileen.....I'm so sorry...how did I miss that your mom died? She was so lovely at your wedding. I am sorry and you are in my thoughts and prayers. see you when we meet. love alice
ReplyDelete