Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
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. |
North of Atlanta where I live there are long waiting lists for Catholic schools. They are also expensive. I have 3 children in Catholic School. Tuition for my high schooler is about $10,000 per year. My 7th grader and 4th grader are both $6,000 per year. It is a big sacrifice for us. (well worth it) There are probably many in this area that would love to send their kids to Catholic school but either cannot get in or cannot afford it.
Except that he does many many times a day. This is the only teaching of Christ that actually caused him to lose disciples. Your claims of cannibalism is the same claim the Roman brought against the early Church. It is unfortunate that after so much time many Christians have chosen to side with the pagan Romans rather than the Church.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
DITTO
I know, I, too, have mixed feelings regarding the kids. It's a tough nut - maybe the priest tried everything else he could think of to get the parents to be serious about their religion.
Wow. This is where I start to sound like an old lady. I had no idea Catholic schools had become this expensive. I went to an 'expensive' Catholic prep school in the 60s and it was outrageous at a few thousand. I can see a couple of thousand for grade school and maybe 5k for high school, but those prices are high. I guess this is because nowadays they have to hire more lay teachers instead of nuns?
The parishes used to give a discount if you lived in the parish and contributed to the collection at Mass. Doesn't this happen anymore? And, considering the Church's stand on birth control; no discount for multiple kids in the same school?
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Except many of us are not allowed to accept the Sacraments under the rules that the Church has set. I am divorced and I don't go to confession, and therefore, I'm not supposed to partake in ritual. I'm not angry or bitter at the Church, and I want my children to grow-up in the Church and appreciate Catholicism. Why shouold the kids suffer because of the sins of the parents? (BTW, I still give several thousands of dollars A year to the Church.)
There is no discount for multiple children now. I have heard rumours that it is being considered. There is not even a discount for teachers' children. Everyone pays the full price. There is financial aid available and I know there are some who have received it. The schools are very good and the facilities are very nice. (This is different from the Catholic school I attended as a child, where the buildings were old and decrepit (sp?) The teachers are all employees, no nuns. This is probably why the cost is so high. Good choice for my family, but we have to budget for it year by year. No guarantee that we can afford the rising tuition each year.
Anybody can go to mass and partake of bread and wine then go about their business the rest of the week as though the Eucharist had no other relevance to him....but it is the ongoing practise of faith and the cultivation of God's spirit in one's life that ultimately defines one as having the presence of Christ in their life...the Eucharist when taken in " a careless or unworthy manner brings damnation unto the partaker, for this cause many are sick and many are already sleeping"(apostle Paul)
The Eucharist is Christ's body and blood poured out for us and to partake in it is to do so in "remembrance"(his word for it) of him. Christ moved beyond this pouring and breaking of himself for it is in His Resurrection that we find our own Salvation....we sorrow at his death brought about by our sin through the observance of the Eucharist but we rejoice at his Resurrection believing in the hope of our own collective resurrection; arising on that day with the same glorified bodies that our Saviour now possesses.
No sir...I think you need to review your own PERSONAL CATECHISM!
You may not take Holy Communion but you certainly can go to confession and go to Mass. And you should!
Actually, Christ didn't mean for it to be taken literally.
And, no... Christ doesn't do it at all... In the Transubstantiation, it is a belief that Christ manifests himself into the eucharist.. That is a form of Egyptian ritual, not roman...
So, why leave out the water? What did Christ mean that he is the living water and who ever shall drink shall never thirst? Do we have to make the last supper a literal cannibalistic feast? no, He said when you get together to eat, give thanks and remember me when I was with you....
Don't forget 'First Fridays' and all the other Holy Days of obligation.
I think that Benedict XVI will be doing some changes to the Novus Ordo. He was at Vatican II and understands it's original intentions. Oremus!
This is wrong,
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it is the Pastor's and the Parents responsibility to jointly teach their children.
Ok Found it, it's Number right form the USCCB Site.
Also, The Catechism of The Catholic Church states:
"1417
The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year."
Throw that one back at the Pastor, demand from the Bishop of the Dioces that he require the Church to reenter these children of God.
The Pastor is now ignoring the Catechism of The Catholic Church and these parents should form up, and make a complaint first starting at the Parochial Vicar for the Diocese, before submitting it to Rome.
It's Pastors like these that IMHO, are attempting to drive People form the Church rather than embracing us all as sinners. we're sinners, and when we act like it, sometimes these Religious want to take the Laws of the Church in their own hands.
Send this pastor a message, and stop all donations to that parish, until this is rectified, write letters to the editor of the newspapers, and give interviews to TV if you have to. Get those kids back in there.
Regards,
Joe
But certainly you can still attend Mass, without going to Reconciliation or Eucharist, correct?
I've taught Old Testament to 6th graders for the last 7 years. With the growth in our parish, we had to expand to Weds & Sunday nights. The difference between the two nights is remarkable, because many of my students attend the Mass before CCD.
Wednesday nights were simply too hectic for me (and many of the kids).
Maybe, maybe not. I know of some that are absolutely vehement about tithing. It may depend on the pastor more than the denomination. Every church has to walk a fine line between meeting its financial needs, and driving away members who are disgusted by the hard-sell.
-ccm
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