Posted on 05/06/2012 1:27:25 PM PDT by NYer
Instead of the joy of knowing and serving our Lord there is a sincere and extreme sadness in her face that no doubtedly reflects her soul. She needs our prayers.
Yesterday at the Mass that is closest to our house, but not the parish of which we are members, in the homily the priest started talking about how much he disagreed with the sisters being reprimanded, how the issues that they were being reprimanded for were "unimportant" and how the work the sisters did for the poor was so much more important. He said it was wrong to criticize them, etc.
I had only suspected the Leftist nature of this priest before and his laid back attitude toward the Mass is why we are not members there and one reason why we are homeschooling instead of putting our kids in the school associated with that parish. However, yesterday was the first time he made statements in his homily in direct contradiction of the Pope. Calling the HHS mandate, abortion, gay marriage, etc. "unimportant" issues really leaves little doubt in one's mind where this priest's priorities lie. I'm not sure what action I shoudl take, since we are not members of this parish.
Threw it in the trash years ago, along with her Bible, her Catechism, and her soul.
May God grant her the grace of repentance and conversion.
Loved seeing those Ann Arbor sisters witnessing on "Oprah" a few years back. If only all nuns were like this!
Our not-so-wonderful old priest gave a disturbing homily about these nuns yesterday, and said how it was wrong to criticize them over "unimportant" issues when they were doing such good work for the poor. This is the church we only occasoinally attend, as selling free-trade coffee after Mass is clearly a bigger priority for them over the unborn. The prayer list always includes the homeless, but never the unborn--and so on. But it wasn't until yesterday that I realized that this priest is a full-blown unapologetic Leftist, unafraid to publicly oppose the Vatican. I wrote to the Deacon's wife today who I know personally to try to get a feel for the reaction to this atrocious homily.
Same Diocese, though. Write a letter to the Bishop. This Priest needs to be corrected.
I will do this. Do they keep these letters confidential, or will this priest end up knowing that I wrote this letter?
Keep it polite, professional, and most of all truthful ...
And let the chips fall where they may.
IMO.
YMMV.
Yes, I suppose you are right about that. This priest never remembers who I am anyway! LOL
My FRiend NYer has some experience butting heads with recalcitrant, unorthodox priests.
In my experience they just give the priest your beef and name, at least in Richmond diocese. I complained to the bishop’s office once about some things via e-mail, also about a parish I was visiting, and simply got a nasty e-mail from the priest I complained about soon after. Problem resolved I guess. Of course I didn’t say in the email not to give my name, but yeesh. It wasn’t like I was raving or used cursing(the priest didn’t either, to his credit). Ah well, maybe it makes sense to handle it that way. But I wonder if they would have even looked into it if I had just sent a letter and not signed it.
Freegards
LOL! Yeah, I didn’t read closely enough. I knew she was old, though, as are most of her fellow Sisters in the old Orders. Those Orders are dying out, but I guess the Pope just wanted to give them another reminder of Jesus’s teaching about millstones to those who confuse the faithful. ;o)
Good morning all and thank you, AB, for the heads up to the ongoing discussion. Elvina, you note that you are not a member of this parish yet attend mass here on a regular basis. Without membership in the parish, you have no voice with the bishop other than that of an observer. As an outsider, you have the flexibility of attending mass at a different parish.
The purpose of a parish is to form a community. As with any family (i.e. community), there will always be differences of opinion. For example, I happen to reside in a RC diocese run by one of the most progressive bishops in the US. He was appointed by the pope, at the recommendation of the now deceased uber liberal Archbishop Jean Jadot, Pope Paul VI's apostolic delegate to the United States from 1973-1980. He was also one of the youngest bishops appointed - translation - he has been serving in this capacity for 30+ years. During that time, he has dismantled the diocese, closing churches and schools. The remaining churches are run by 'like minded' priests. With few vocations over these decades, some remote parishes are now priestless and managed by lay people appointed by the bishop. The bishop wanted to be a street priest. This is a classical example of someone whose excellent work among the poor drew positive attention and resulted in being promoted to incompetency.
I cite the above to demonstrate how, even at the higher level of a diocese, catholics are subjected to homilies and liturgical novelties, approved by a more progressive or conservative bishop or priest. Meanwhile, those who do not share these views, have formed an underground movement where information on more devout liturgies, is exchanged.
As freeper AB noted, I have experience with successfully combatting liturgical abuse. I was able to do so, though, as a member of a parish community. There are procedures to be followed in this regard but opinions expressed by a priest in his homily, unless they are heretical, do not qualify as abuse. You can learn more about it at this link.
Let me assure you up front, that it takes tremendous strength to go through the proper procedures as you address it to increasingly higher levels of the hierarchy. Bishops are quite powerful. Specific facts, supported by documentation, not opinions, are necessary.
As an aside, I notice that you reside in Michigan. There are several Eastern Catholic Churches in that state. You may want to consider exploring this alternative. Though raised Roman Catholic, I am now a parishioner at a Maronite Catholic Church. The liturgy is reverent and beautiful, the priest is young (only 33), the homilies are based on that Sunday's gospel; no personal opinions are expressed. Eastern Catholic communities tend to be smaller and more personal. Everyone pulls together, working with the pastor, to ensure the continued viability of the parish. As our young pastor always points out, he is there to serve us. The bishop, in this regard, moves priests every 8 years. This also ensures that priests do not become attached to a particular community.
Apologies for the lengthy response. Just wanted to provide the big picture.
God help them I have never heard a sister talk like that before. I knew they existed but to hear how her mind works. What about their vow of obedience. do they even still take them?? (rhetorical)
I had no idea Benedict....errrr...”Ratzinger”....was going around “silencing” people!!!
How does he do it?
Is he threatening them with violence if they speak?
Is he duct taping their mouths shut in their sleep?
I was under the impression he was simply doing his job....upholding catholic teachings.
These ladies can speak as loudly as they’d like.....somewhere else. Afterall....we know the reporters will follow them everywhere they go.
A couple/three years ago my husband and I were blessed to be able to make a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and EWTN and the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery there. The cloistered convent there is doing *very well* for vocations and rumor has it so are other traditional or what some would term “old fashioned” orders. Yes, the times they are a-changing.
He’s a new priest already facing a lot of hurdles in a dying church. He has to tread carefully. He’s shaking things up all over the place. It makes my heart swell that there are good young men filling in for the aging hippy priests I grew up with.
I’m so sorry! Our new priest replaced one like yours. Every homily was social justice. We left the parish(within walking distance!) and started driving half an hour into downtown to Mass every Sunday where there is an amazing holy community made up mostly of homeschoolers from all over the KC Metro area. However, now that Fr. B has taken over we are dividing our Sundays in order to support him. I hope your priest retires soon and you get a replacement like we did. Every homily makes me want to stand up and cheer! I don’t but in my head I do! :o)
Hmmm. Didn’t the “Sisters” take a vow of obedience among other things?
Time to close ‘em down.
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