Some signs which indicate the importance of popular religious culture are: the increasing participation of people in pilgrimages to shrines (especially Marian shrines), the tradition in families of baptizing children, the giving of alms for the souls in Purgatory and celebrating Masses for the deceased, patronal feasts with their characteristic processions and the celebration of Holy Mass (generally attended by large numbers of people), devotion to the saints, not only those of the universal Church but also those of the American continent, etc..(26) These and many other expressions of popular piety offer excellent opportunities for the faithful to encounter the living Jesus Christ. In fact, the ecclesial community, in coming together for the celebration of the Word and Sacrament in memory of the saints, remembers in a particular way those who faithfully imitated in their lives the Savior of the world, and that same community enters into communion with those who are part of the heavenly Church. It is for this reason that popular piety--purified and duly catechized--may come to be a decisive element in the new evangelization. This is a point on which most of the answers to the Lineamenta agree."Giving alms" is a synonym for buying indulgences.Synod of Bishops: Encounter with the living Jesus Christ, 1997
Well, not from our point of view. Giving alms to a parish to remember our loved ones in prayer is the only reasonable thing. Our Priests don’t make a ton of money (neither does any denominations religious) We, in our hearts, are not paying for the prayer, but rather for the means to say that prayer.
We had a homily this weekend by my favorite African Priest. He pulls no punches and some are uncomfortable with what he says, but I don’t care. He really smacks one down about what we should be doing, like standing for Life and evangilization about Christ. He is not fluffy and I love it. This Sunday was about the hard things that need to be done to be Christlike. (and let me tell you, sexual sins were on the top of his list)
Anyway, at the end, he told a story about a parish north of us who called him on a Sunday morning and said that their priest was sick so could he come. He drove 45 minutes, said three masses and got nothing, not even a thank you. His message was, part of your job as the faithful is to take care of your leaders. Invite them to dinner, slip them a 5 if you’ve asked a favor. They only have so much so help out.
Some, I’m sure, were offended by this. I was not at all. It’s only reasonable to think that a church needs extras when you ask for extras. Giving a dollar or giving 100 makes no difference. It’s the intent of the prayer and the intent of the giving.
If I go to my priest and ask for a mass for one of my loved ones, and not a penny was given, he would say that mass. It’s really not the money at all. It’s the prayers. I don’t know of a single parish that has a set price for their mass intentions. The price of a card being a minimum donation, but not, “Get out of Purgatory free for 100”.
That was the mistake in the past.
I don’t consider giving alms to the poor to be a payment for something and alms to my priest for his time and effort is not payment either.
That may not help, but it’s the way we think. When you read some of our documents, please understand that they are written for Catholics. We know what we mean so read it differently than you do. Our Bishops need to make things clearer for everyone and that would help.