$37.00 Tickets to See Fr. John Corapi Preach?!?

[beehumble]

I’d love to see him, but I’m on a tight budget and $37 is out of the question.

And I’ve already given up cable TV, so no watching him on EWTN either.

Miz

You can see him and get your photo with him and ask him questions for free. The day before he will be signing books etc - here it is from that link above:

Father Corapi will be making a personal appearance to sign copies of his books on Friday, August 6, 2010 from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in downtown San Antonio. The Gunter Hotel is located at 205 East Houston Street and can be reached by calling (210) 227-3241 or by visiting www.gunterhotel.com. Many of Father’s popular DVD-Videos will also be available in addition to books.

**This is a free event, open to the public. You do not need to have a ticket to the conference **on Saturday to attend the book signing.

Due to the many thousands expected for the conference, Father Corapi will not be available to the public at the Saturday event. Don’t miss this rare chance to have Fr. Corapi sign your books, DVDs, and CDs, answer your questions, and take pictures with you and your family.

It is not an event for everyone, but again, he is available virtually ALL day the day before, for free, and I would bet he wants it this way so those who can’t or won’t pay still have access!

We forget that in life if you want to dance, you have to pay the band. If you buy a Catholic book of prayers or inspiration, you are paying for the cost of printing the book, shipping of the book, and a profit for the publisher, and the writer’s agent, and whatever is left (a little only) goes to the author. Music performers make money on concerts, not albums - that money goes to record producers. Theatre owners make money on concessions, not the movie ticket - that money goes to the distributors and movie producers. This is life.

But he can be met for** free **the day before so be happy. And watch his talks on EWTN.

 

[Bob_Aliano]

I’ve watched Fr. Corapi on EWTN a few times and frankly, after hearing about his past which is not that different from mine before I came back and his 5 or 7 degrees, forgot the latest count, I felt no closer to God. I visited his website and surprise, it contained a lot of suggestions of things I could purchase, no real inspiration to be found unless you are a wayward capitalist. I no longer watch him, Mother Angelica is far more inspiring.

 

[JadeStarr]

Wait a minute…did someone here say that he has no parish?

What kind of a priest is he then? Can he possibly that good if he has no parish?

 

[JadeStarr]

Gwen, why would you suggest that I buy a ticket for a poor person? And how would such
a deal be guaranteed? It’s not my responsibility to drum up business for this person and I have no idea who he is beyond what has been written here about him, and I am fairly sure that I read that he has NO parish. I’m always reading about the shortage of priests and now this information comes up! And you think that I should buy a ticket for a poor person to hear him speak?

All of the parish priests that I have met have been kind and patient and very generous with their time, I don’t understand how a person can be a priest and not even have his own parish. I know who Mother Angelica is but I have no idea who this man is.

 

[wanner47]

Isn’t Father Corapi a millionaire already?

Read your own link. Fr. Corapi received $500,000 from that settlement, and I sincerely doubt that what’s left after paying off his medical and legal bills is enough to make him a millionaire.

Doesn’t he get a paycheck from a diocese?

No, he doesn’t. To my knowledge his only income comes from the proceeds of his appearances.

 

[GwenL]

Gwen, why would you suggest that I buy a ticket for a poor person? QUOTE]

I am not suggesting that you, JadeStarr, buy a ticket for a poor person.

For those that think a $37 ticket price “excludes poor people” from attending, my suggestion is merely that one do something to include the poor people. If one’s concern is really about poor people not being able to attend, it seems to me that’s what you’d do.

I think $37 is quite reasonable for a day-long conference, especially with a dynamic speaker like Fr Corapi.

 

[rebecca123]

God bless Father Corapi. I really like him and he’s a good teacher. I believe in his integrity.

With that said, there is no way I would pay money to hear him preach in person. I believe we shouldn’t charge money for the preaching of the gospel. A free will offering is different, but buying tickets is another thing.

I would rather listen to the priests in the parish I go to for free. God speaks through them really good.

 

[boatbearer]

I’ve watched Fr. Corapi on EWTN a few times and frankly, after hearing about his past which is not that different from mine before I came back and his 5 or 7 degrees, forgot the latest count, I felt no closer to God. I visited his website and surprise, it contained a lot of suggestions of things I could purchase, no real inspiration to be found unless you are a wayward capitalist. I no longer watch him, Mother Angelica is far more inspiring.

I met Fr. John several years ago at a Marian Conference. He and about a dozen other people spoke. (I think it was 40 bucks for 3 days – they had to rent the fairgrounds, pay for a music system and play for plane tickets.) He seemed a great deal different back then. Certainly far, far less commercial. I remember he had a couple of helpers from the parish he was from somewhere near Sacramento, CA. and he pulled a little utility trailer full of tapes behind a minivan.

How times change.

 

[boatbearer]

(19,000 seats)($37.00/seat) = more than $703,000.00

(The ultra-premium seating has already sold out and is in addition to the other 19,000 seats)

So a potential for more than $700K in revenue for a single day? I bet Pat Robertson, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer or Bennie Hinn don’t come anywhere close to that on their best days…

 

[puzzleannie]

Wait a minute…did someone here say that he has no parish?

What kind of a priest is he then? Can he possibly that good if he has no parish?

he belongs to a religious order, he is not a diocesan priest. There are hundreds of priests who have assignments other than parish ministry. His ministry is preaching, catechesis and evangelization and he carries that out under the direction of his religious superiors.

JadeStarr;6822812:

Gwen, why would you suggest that I buy a ticket for a poor person? QUOTE]

I am not suggesting that you, JadeStarr, buy a ticket for a poor person.

For those that think a $37 ticket price “excludes poor people” from attending, my suggestion is merely that one do something to include the poor people. If one’s concern is really about poor people not being able to attend, it seems to me that’s what you’d do.

I think $37 is quite reasonable for a day-long conference, especially with a dynamic speaker like Fr Corapi.

in my diocese every time he comes, and for this SA appearance, some tickets are purchased in bulk by parishes for those who cannot afford them, and there is usually reduced bulk pricing as for most such events. Some parishes are chartering buses as well to help with transporation, and at least hear, so many people have relatives in SA board is not a problem either.

I am not familiar with the ATT Center but have been on committees planning events at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center in SA, and the price per ticket is quite in line for expenses associated with those events, well below “market rate” in fact for SA. You should see what people are willing to pay, and stand in line for, when country music stars appear at the Alamo dome if you think this is exhorbitant.

 

[boatbearer]

he belongs to a religious order, he is not a diocesan priest. There are hundreds of priests who have assignments other than parish ministry. His ministry is preaching, catechesis and evangelization and he carries that out under the direction of his religious superiors.
GwenL;6822917:

in my diocese every time he comes, and for this SA appearance, some tickets are purchased in bulk by parishes for those who cannot afford them, and there is usually reduced bulk pricing as for most such events. Some parishes are chartering buses as well to help with transporation, and at least hear, so many people have relatives in SA board is not a problem either.

I am not familiar with the ATT Center but have been on committees planning events at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center in SA, and the price per ticket is quite in line for expenses associated with those events, well below “market rate” in fact for SA. You should see what people are willing to pay, and stand in line for, when country music stars

appear at the Alamo dome if you think this is exhorbitant.

He’s a Catholic priest…

I don’t care what country music stars charge.

 

[MarkThompson]

He’s a Catholic priest…

I don’t care what country music stars charge.

Are you saying that he shouldn’t be holding this event at all, or that the tickets should be cheaper? If the latter, do you have any basis for ascertaining what a fair and sustainable ticket price for an event like this one, at this venue, would be?

If you can’t up back any of what you say, maybe you should stop making so many insinuations about this priest.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Gwen, why would you suggest that I buy a ticket for a poor person? And how would such
a deal be guaranteed? It’s not my responsibility to drum up business for this person and I have no idea who he is beyond what has been written here about him, and I am fairly sure that I read that he has NO parish. I’m always reading about the shortage of priests and now this information comes up! And you think that I should buy a ticket for a poor person to hear him speak?

All of the parish priests that I have met have been kind and patient and very generous with their time, I don’t understand how a person can be a priest and not even have his own parish. I know who Mother Angelica is but I have no idea who this man is.

Father Corapi belongs to the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, a religious order. The professed members take vows. The proceeds from his talks, books, DVD’s etc. go to the order for their work. You can do a Google search on them.

 

[Melchior_1]

(19,000 seats)($37.00/seat) = more than $703,000.00

(The ultra-premium seating has already sold out and is in addition to the other 19,000 seats)

So a potential for more than $700K in revenue for a single day? I bet Pat Robertson, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer or Bennie Hinn don’t come anywhere close to that on their best days…

Perhaps they chose an arena because they wanted to reach as many people as possible.

If that’s the case I’d like to see;

• The amount it costs to rent the arena.
• The amount it costs to pay the staff.
• The amount it costs for logistics like travel and teardown/setup.
• The amount it costs to pay for advertising.
• The amount that goes towards funding other activities.
• The amount that gets put back into the ministry itself (such as books, running a web site, etc etc).
• The amount that possibly is given to charities.
• The amount that gets tithed or put into the Church.
• The amount that goes back to the Order.

I don’t mind people making some coin, provided they aren’t greedy. The final thing I’d like to see is the amount that is actually hitting Father’s pockets.

Until I do, I’m withholding judgment.

 

[PaulinVA]

I am taken aback by this whole thing. I do indeed think that the parishes and diocese should be run with sound business practices (budgets as such) but this is weird.

As in the Christopher West discussions, I am against the cult of personality anywhere it appears. It is distasteful to see this. It’s not the subject that people are paying to hear, it’s the person.

No, I would not pay $37 to hear a Catholic priest talk about what a Catholic priest has dedicated his life to talking about.

 

[OraLabora]

I am taken aback by this whole thing. I do indeed think that the parishes and diocese should be run with sound business practices (budgets as such) but this is weird.

As in the Christopher West discussions, I am against the cult of personality anywhere it appears. It is distasteful to see this. It’s not the subject that people are paying to hear, it’s the person.

No, I would not pay $37 to hear a Catholic priest talk about what a Catholic priest has dedicated his life to talking about.

You said it best, and you brought up a very important point, the cult of personality. This has no place in Catholicism. Most of the truly wonderful and effective priests I know, exercise their ministry in quiet humility, especially those in religious orders.

 

[JadeStarr]

You said it best, and you brought up a very important point, the cult of personality. This has no place in Catholicism. Most of the truly wonderful and effective priests I know, exercise their ministry in quiet humility, especially those in religious orders.​

I agree with the above statement. What I don’t understand is the last sentence. Are some priests NOT in religious orders?
I’ve heard of Brothers who teach, but all the priests I know have their own parishes. It’s hard work to have a parish and I know that some Catholics watch their priests like hawks
so it must be difficult to live under such scrutiny.
In spite of this, the priests are very wonderful.

 

[pnewton]

. You should see what people are willing to pay, and stand in line for, when country music stars appear at the Alamo dome if you think this is exhorbitant.

This is why I think such events are fine. Compared to other forms of entertainment, it is cheaper and can provide spiritual benefit. There is nothing wrong with spending money for such things. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with priests or other speakers doing this sort of thing on a freewill offering basis.

If one does not have the funds yet wants to spend some time with a celebrity, might I suggest some time in Adoration.

 

[OraLabora]

You said it best, and you brought up a very important point, the cult of personality. This has no place in Catholicism. Most of the truly wonderful and effective priests I know, exercise their ministry in quiet humility, especially those in religious orders.​

I agree with the above statement. What I don’t understand is the last sentence. Are some priests NOT in religious orders?
I’ve heard of Brothers who teach, but all the priests I know have their own parishes. It’s hard work to have a parish and I know that some Catholics watch their priests like hawks
so it must be difficult to live under such scrutiny.
In spite of this, the priests are very wonderful.

Diocesan priests do not belong to religious orders but are attached to the diocese. However in many parishes, especially with priest shortages, various religious orders will loan priests to the diocese, at least the non-cloistered orders. Cloistered orders like the Benedictines may supply priests in rare circumstances but as a rule they try to avoid it as they are a contemplative order that avoids leaving the cloister.

Last year at one of the parishes where our schola sings, a visiting priest from a missionary order presided (I forget which one), to fill in for the absent diocesan priest. He was wonderful, humble, he was an instrument of the Eucharist, not the center of attention, and his homily was excellent, low key but full of teaching.

Of course, if one attends Mass at the conventual chapel of any religious order, one can be exposed to the charism of the order.

 

[Sirach2]

It is truly sad to see the witness of the Catholic Church connected with money. We are well known as the “Bingo” church, the ones who always preach money from the pulpit, etc.

Someone mentioned a Joyce Meyer event. I personally attended one of these in Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, and it was totally free! The only money charged was to sell her books and CD’s during intermission, and they took up a “free will” offering, that I’ll bet was far less than $37.00 per person.

Amazing the difference. Perhaps she makes enough from her viewer support to compensate for free conferences?