Posted on 06/27/2005 1:42:52 PM PDT by Coleus
| Parents miss Mass, kids get ax |
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The Rev. Michael Cichon, pastor of St. Joseph/St. Thomas in Pleasant Plains, used each family's bar-coded donation envelope to track attendance. He's tossed about 300 kids from classes and told them not to reapply until next April. Without the classes, children cannot receive the sacraments, meaning some youngsters who thought they'd be making their First Communion next year will have to wait. The suspensions, legal under church doctrine, were a shock to many parents with kids enrolled in the 1,400-child program, which caters to kids who don't attend Catholic schools. "It's hurtful," said Joseph LoPizzo, 38, whose 6-year-old son was booted. "I've been a parishioner at that church for 23 years - longer than he's been the reverend." LoPizzo said he paid the $150 for his son's Thursday afternoon classes last year, but his father-in-law's illness hampered the family's church attendance. "I've just never heard of a church kicking you out," complained Lisa Nicol, 36, who got a letter saying her 7-year-old twin daughters had been barred from classes. "They should be more welcoming and sensitive." The pastor said he suspended kids from the 2005-2006 after-school program because Mass is an "essential" component of the Catholic faith. The affected families were attending church less than once a month, he said. Cichon insisted that the move has nothing to do with the lack of a donation. "There are many families who put absolutely nothing inside the envelopes they submit," he said. |
You can go to confession, mass and take communion provided you have not remarried. My father left my mother over 20 years ago and there was a civil divorce, my mother has probably missed commuinion less than a dozen times on those years. In the eyes of the church she is still a married woman (with a scoundral husband who took off) Talk to your priest
If you aren't allowed to commune/partake of communion then it isn't because God doesn't allow it, it's because the church wants to continually shame you. Find God elsewhere, that isn't the right church. We are human and destined for mistakes that God does forgive. Man has a hard time forgiving, God doesn't.
Neither had I... until that day. Having been born in Spain, I was not surprised whenever I found out that certain things were done different over here, for example I was used to wine for communion and the first time I saw grape juice I was amazed! So, I thought this was another difference, especially since the other graduate students, protestants, talked openly about tithing. What got me was the idea of posting the names of the members who did not tithe. First, I couldn't imagine anything more embarrassing than having your name in a big poster on the wall, as you entered the church, as someone who "owed money to God". Secondly, I couldn't help but thinking that the priest was having to guess peoples' salaries to decide whether or not they were tithing. Then, there was the little detail of people like me, who don't believe in keeping a record of money given to the church, and put cash in the collection plate.
I wish I knew if tithing is common in local Catholic churches, but shortly after I stopped attending that church, I was invited by a friend to worship at a Southern Baptist church. I asked for baptism about a year later and now I don't worry about how other people think they ought to worship. I'm perfectly happy with my relationship with Jesus Christ and He's held me in the palm of His hand through good times and hard times. But several months ago, an old lady at our church was scolding a visitor for not wearing a suit... I stopped her on her tracks and told the visitor that Jesus loved him no matter his clothes. He's now a student in my Sunday school class and, while not yet a member, he worships with us.
I am assuming that you are divorced and remarried, which is the issue, correct?
Have you considered exploring the possibility of an annulment? Depending on the circumstances, it may be something that could help you.
If you have to force people to tithe, then it isn't a God loving Church.
It is also a Church that doesn't believe in God to provide.
I do not attend a church that is a number counter.
We only have services on Sunday. The Catholic churches where I grew up had masses during the week. Saturday was especially crowded.
When I was in the Philippines, there was mass everyday, sometimes three times a day.
It is a tough call. Presumably, the priest lectured on this subject ( a warning), for a week or two from the pulpit on Sunday, but if parents weren't at Mass, they didn't get the message in time.
Please, don't take offense at my comments, but have you considered going just one Sunday to a Southern Baptist church? We don't celebrate the Lord's Supper every Sunday, but when we do all baptized believers are invited to put their feet under the table and share in it! Who knows, you may be surprised by finding yourself at home there. I know I did! And, once you live under grace rather than under the law, there's no way you'll ever want to return!
I go to Assemblies of God...
Who the Lord sets free is free indeed!
I agree that this is a difficult subject. At Mass on Sunday, the homily discussed a similar subject. Fr. made a very good comment IMO. He said "the church of God is not a temple for the righteous but a hospital for the sinner."
As a parishioner our duty is to encourage the less faithful to come to Mass, set an example of being a good Christian, and to keep the door open so that everyone can hear the word of God. God will do the rest.
God gave us free will so that we could come to him williingly. This is only shutting the doors on "sinners" by refusing their children religious instruction and possibly sacraments. I fear for the future of the church, if it becomes ok to withhold religious education to children because their parents are not good Catholics.
I don't think this is the answer though I bet he's making a point. I would venture to say that MOST of the kids in our Catechism class don't attend Mass with their families. It is very sad and we talk to the kids and encourage them to ask their parents to come to Mass. But if their parents aren't coming to Mass, how are these kids supposed to learn about God? "Let the children come unto me"
Hallelujah!
ping
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