Posted on 08/14/2005 9:17:15 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
I'll apologize in advance for this vanity post but I need to get this off my chest:
At our 10:30 a.m. mass this morning, our pastor was the celebrant. Today's Gospel was the story of Christ's meeting with the Canaanite woman and the eventual healing of her daughter. Our pastor then followed with his homily where he first related the plight of the Canaanite woman with a woman he knew who called him requesting prayers for an illness in her family which we could relate to since my wife and I are both contending with (minor, we hope) health issues.
The nest thing we know, the pastor is relating this to the "lady camped out in Texas asking for healing AND ACCOUNTABILITY" (the emphasis is my own). We sat there and listened through the sermon as he returned to the Sheehan story a few more times asking us to imagine an Iraqi woman who lost children in the same position.
Thankfully, it was pretty short and we stood for the Creed but then, immediately before the intercessions, the pastor returned to the topic.
This was too much for us so we turned and left, commenting to those around that we don't come to church to hear politics. I handed the usher my offering as we exited.
This is the first time something like this has happened in this church we have attended for the past twenty years or so and I feel pretty horrible about the whole thing.
bttt
Our parish is pretty diverse, if I may use the word; mostly of Irish extraction but Americans of Polish, Italian, African, Philippine, Mexican, and even Palestinian Christian descent are represented as well. Down 95th Street here, we've had a Polish tailor, a Mexican beauty salon, a Palestian computer store, a Greek Grocer, a black Gospel Church, a German butcher, a Albanian coffee shop, an Irish bar, a Greek Hairdresser, and a Czech bakery all in a half-mile stretch and I'm sure I'm missing a few.
Don't be. God knows what's in your heart and your reasons for doing what you did - and He is your Judge; not that pastor.
If others ask you about what happened, all you can do is state your convictions and opinions quietly and clearly. You've done what you could do to show your disagreement with his opinions, and need do nothing further to justify yourself to any man.
During the Vietnam war era, I was stationed in Toronto, Ontario and went to the Anglican church in my neighborhood. Talk about a politcally motivated pastor! He was hell bent on trashing the United States and its' war of agression. I heard that once and walked out immediately. He, the pastor, came to my house and wanted to know why. Of course at the time I put more money in the collection plate than anybody else. I showed him the door and never went back.
I stopped attending my church after 9/11 as well, for a couple o' reasons. However my wife is still Catholic and attends Mass most every Sunday. I was perusing the bulletin last Sunday, and there was a thing about Hiroshima, and how Paul VI (I think) said that was the worst mass destruction event of all time, and praying to end all nuclear weapons, and how the US has the most, and Hiroshima/Nagasaki killed a bunch of people, yadda yadda. It has so many half-truths and inaccuracies, it made me sick. It just reinforced my decision to stop attending Mass there.
Yes it does. For those of you who didn't see this last night, I had the same thing happen at the Saturday vigil Mass. I didn't walk out, but I was very upset. I did send an email to my pastor, still waiting for his reply.
Yes calm down first. Same thing happened to me last night. I waited a few hours before sending my pastor an email. Funny, I never heard a peep from these priests when Clinton was running around like a tomcat.
John 15:11 these things I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full
.........
I have not observed "joy" in Cindys crusade. She did not rejoice or celebrate during Caseys living days nor has she ever reminisced about joy during his and her relationship. She seeks to wallow and commiserate with like minded company. Misery loves company, it doesn't improve life it stifles it. People from all walks of this world who choose to wallow in misery are not Pro-productive they are against life itself. They are against innovation, creativity, imagination. They are excessive with their anti-SUCCESS attitude.
How are the three gals doing? You need to give us an update thread!
Be thankful. You are now aware. My pastor is a conservative, and if I had to listen to liberal sermons, I would find another church.
I am sure liberals would leave a church just as fast for a good fire and brimstone sermon that preaches standing up for God's morality.
So, what are you saying? Churchgoers must never, ever question the content of their pastor's homilies?
Why should he feel "horrible"? He should be proud. We need more of this. Much more.
Actually, I don't believe that politics do belong in the pulpit, even in the case of politics on the "right" side. The function of the Church is to teach us how to behave as individuals, and this of course affects our political life.
But there should be preaching about things like abortion and homosexual marriage, however, because these are not political. They are moral issues that the Church has every right to speak out on, since various civil powers are attempting to suppress and ignore the moral issues of the Church (and hence, of a great many citizens) in order to impose the (im)moral agenda of others. This battle has to be fought in the political sphere, but from the Christian point of view it's a moral battle and not a political one.
That said, I don't think that every mention of a politician from the pulpit is political. Certainly, no pastor in his right mind could think that Clinton was a good example of anything, and I certainly think a sermon discussing the scandal caused by his actions would have been in line. Sadly, with our liberal churches, most pastors are like the one you walked out on, and didn't seem to see much of anything wrong with ol'BJ.
OTOH,there are some very Conservative and patriotic churches-my issue with them is that they tend to be a bit more evangelical for me personally, since I was raised as a Methodist.
But I know lots of great Americans who attend these churches,and they are HUGE-so there is hope.
I was with ya, right up to this point: "I handed the usher my offering as we exited."
I've left my church too, for numerous reasons. One of them very close to what you described today. :(
God knows what's in your heart. Just talk to him about this and all will be well. :)
I hear ya. And I agree...
Both preachers probably downloaded their sermons from the same website!
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