10 Ways to Crush the Morale of the Laity

[pnewton]

Could it be that he simply doesn’t want to deal with the issue?

While I think a list like this might be useful in a priest engaging in self - examination, my concern is how subjective it is. Almost everything on there might be something the priest is doing, but one judging him does not think he is doing.

A couple of things of note though:

1. No priest can keep regular office hours, by nature of the job. I have about one third of scheduled appointments cancelled. It is unrealistic for me to be upset because my appointment is pre-empted by something of greater and more immediate importance.
2. The gift thing bothers me. A gift should not come with strings attached. Why should one person giving a chalice, to use your example, replace another chalice the priest uses with equal meaning to him or to another? We recently gave a memorial chalice to a priest. He didn’t need it and gave it to a parish that needed it. Okay. If it was placed on a shelf until some need arose, that is not the business of the giver, or else it was not a gift.

 

[Duesenberg]

The gift thing bothers me. A gift should not come with strings attached. Why should one person giving a chalice, to use your example, replace another chalice the priest uses with equal meaning to him or to another?

Who says the gifted chalice is going to “replace” another chalice? The local KofC donated a chalice a while back and it gets used periodically, yet when a parishioner offered one to remember an 85 year member of the parish it was rejected. That’s simply bad form. In the last 20 years I have seen ONE priest use their own chalice at my parish – a retired priest who uses the chalice his last congregation bought for him when he retired. ALL the rest use what’s in the cupboard, which ain’t much. Accepting a gifted chalice (witch no strings as you mention) would have been the right thing to do.

 

[jcm2017]

It’s not good to go on with non-specific griping. By non-specific, I mean we have a list which is not tied to any real and identifiable incident with real people.
How can we produce a remedy to the vague concerns on your list?

Talk to your pastor. That is where the Christian life is lived and problems are solved, not on a message board. (Face to face conversations about difficult topics can really suck, cause we might come face to face with our own weaknesses.)

 

[Duesenberg]

It’s not good to go on with non-specific griping. By non-specific, I mean we have a list which is not tied to any real and identifiable incident with real people.

How can we produce a remedy to the vague concerns on your list?

Talk to your pastor. That is where the Christian life is lived and problems are solved, not on a message board. (Face to face conversations about difficult topics can really suck, cause we might come face to face with our own weaknesses.)

My list was in response to a list prepared by a priest titled " to Fr. Robert McTeigue,SJ’s list 10 ways for priests to crush the morale of a priest: 10 Ways to crush the morale of priests

 

[jcm2017]

I see the list.
I also see you talking about some problems, wherever you are.
Why don’t you talk to your pastor and see if you can come to an understanding?

 

[pnewton]

This thread makes me:
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[Duesenberg]

I see the list.

I also see you talking about some problems, wherever you are.

Why don’t you talk to your pastor and see if you can come to an understanding?

Once more, my OP is in response to Fr. Robert McTeigue,SJ’s list ( 10 Ways to crush the morale of priests It’s not directed at my parish or pastor.

Now in terms of your comment, in all sincerity, what would I talk to my pastor about? He and I (plus a great many others) have discussed the problems surrounding the liturgy at my parish for a very long time. They’re nothing new – most precede him. It’s very clear that he doesn’t want to deal with the problems – which would take considerable heavy-lifting and courage He clearly has made a calculated choice – there really is no disagreement that the issues exist. Once in a while individual problems do get dealt with when things raise to crisis levels.

Many have left the parish over the years due to liturgical problems. A great many others have become back row ghosts. A huge majority of all parishioners seem to have developed a real aversion to becoming more involved in the parish because they do not want to get tangled up in the problems he (and those that came before him) refuses to deal with.

I am in a good place in terms of my parish. I am fortunate to be involved without have to directly deal with all the malarkey. Unfortunately not all are and it continues to take a toll.

 

[PJM]

THANK YOU and AMEN!

God Bless you NAILED it:disappointed_relieved: