Church bullies

  • Thread starter Thread starter RedBasket
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Not a big fan of the hand holding until… Back in February I had a pretty nasty cut on my index finger, wrapping in gauze, but still a little weepy. I held it up to the guy next to me to show I didn’t want to join hands ( I even deliberately sit at the end of the pew to limit it!

Well, this little girl in te pew ahead of me suddenly reaches up and very gingerly grabs my ring and little finger, showing me her bandaid encased index finger! Ever since then I have happliy joined hands during the Our Father! …from the mouths and hands of babes…
 
We dont hold hands in my parish. Must just be an individual parish thing?
 
She is probably the bane of everyone else in the church - the priest included. And she is probably disliked by most.

Might I suggest that you take her on as some sort of project. This doesn’t sound very Christian but experiment and see just how much you can achieve in her growth toward Christ and your own growth.

Try this and then try that. Keep a sense of humor about all of this. She is a challenge for sure and you might have this challenge for years.

P.S. Analyze some of your prayers. Perhaps you have prayed for patience and God is answering your prayer by giving you someone to help you learn.
 
We had a pastor, years ago, who told everyone to hold hands during The Lord’s Prayer as a sign of unity–even spreading out across aisles to do so. I heard tales of individuals using this as an opportunity to flirt, even to stalk.

There was a group, possibly a family, who would sit at the front during Mass and hold hands at the Lord’s Prayer as if to set an example for us stubborn traditionalists.

Our local Catholic radio host once reported he manages to catch a sneeze at the right moment and it’s a moot point after that.
 
When in church ,my dad , when forced to shake hands had this weird ability to shake hands using only 2. Fingers , he had a thing about other peoples Hygine ,:rolleyes:
He had no time for Bullies ,would just ignor them talking over the top of them as if they were not there,
 
I met a Catholic somewhat like that many many years ago**, an Irish woman.** Unfortunately I’m not very good at handling people like this. Perhaps you can chalk it up to not being of the same culture and ethnicity, but still, I think back to it and I still wouldn’t really know.
Reminds me of a joke my old pastor used in one of his sermons years ago.

There were two Irish ladies who’d been having a running argument for days.

One day, one of them said something, but most unusually got no response. She tried again, and still no response. And a third time. This time she did get a response …

“You’re lucky, Maisie O’Donnell!” cried Mary O’Reilly, “It’s Sunday and I’ve just got home from mass! I’m in grace!!”

“But just you wait till Monday, Maisie O’Donnell!” cried Mary O’Reilly, “I won’t be in grace then!!”
 
Bearing in mind, we’re not all bullies, lol…I FIGHT bullies. I’m a softie. When I see someone cry, I cry!!
Reminds me of a joke my old pastor used in one of his sermons years ago.

There were two Irish ladies who’d been having a running argument for days.

One day, one of them said something, but most unusually got no response. She tried again, and still no response. And a third time. This time she did get a response …

“You’re lucky, Maisie O’Donnell!” cried Mary O’Reilly, “It’s Sunday and I’ve just got home from mass! I’m in grace!!”

“But just you wait till Monday, Maisie O’Donnell!” cried Mary O’Reilly, “I won’t be in grace then!!”
 
If you can just remember a bullies remarks say more about THEM than about you, you have won the battle
 
If you can just remember a bullies remarks say more about THEM than about you, you have won the battle
It may say more about them, but when you are the target, that doesn’t really matter, does it? No one should have to be the target of someone else’s angry, condescending, controlling or rude words, no matter how much we may know it’s really all about THEM.
 
I was once pushed by a woman with child while at Sunday Mass. During the Gloria, and while standing near a side aisle. She expected me to stop in mid-prayer and move. That’s when I got assaulted. I left the pew, walked up the center aisle and entered one of several vacant pews. Hope I wasn’t being rude.:confused:
 
When we lost our pastor and then became part of a parish cluster, the neighboring pastor would mock those of us who clasp hands to pray. “No one prayed like that in the early Church”, promoting the “Orans” posture throughout the Eucharistic Prayer. The irony here is that the message was conveyed via wireless microphone, under electric lights, on a carpeted floor, in a room heated by a gas-fired boiler–none of which were available during the early Church.

All the Orans posture did was to distiguish for us, those visitors from elsewhere in the parish cluster.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top