Did I Go To Far? Or Is This Ok?

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I am back again and this time it is not a confession question, I am sure most of you might be glad about that, I up here a lot and I have read I don’t know how many questions, and answered more than I can count on my fingers. So my situation is.

Being a Catholic Convert, I have undergone a lot of changes, not just Pastors but the instruction of the church, it has been more of a challenge then I thought, I guess that is not a bad thing when God moves you to where he wants and accept without asking why but ask how. However since I have been at my new church I have been seeking help from the pastors there however I go to one more than the other and I have found it very beneficial to my well being, I have to come to have a deep respect and admiration for the Associate Pastor at my parish, my feeling of being help and given instruction has helped me see the other side I did not think was there, and of course I have much deep respect and admiration for the Senior Pastor, however I am not sure if I am crossing a line that I shouldn’t by having admiration and respect for these two men, granted that I have respect for my last Pastor despite what happened with the church. With my last Pastor I kept everything inside and sometimes talking to parents does not cut it however I should have to talked him anyway, but I something about the idea at the time made me feel uncomfortable, and now I am wondering what respect I have for my new Pastors I should have had for my previous Pastor.

Is this okay? or am I crossing a line I don’t know I am crossing?

Have told one of my Pastors how much I respect him and the other Pastor, however I feel uneasy.

Any advice or suggestion would be helpful

if I am paranoid please tell me

Thanks

CatholiCommit:shrug:
 
I don’t really understand. What do you mean by crossing the line?
 
I mean by Crossing a Line of admiring and deeply respecting my Pastors whom I seek for counsel and spiritual guidance
 
Pray for your priests and thank them simply but don’t get personal about your feelings especially if you’re a woman. That you feel uncomfortable means that you are warning yourself and your feeling could become too personal which could communicate to him and has the potential of causing you both problems or at the least, of distracting either of you. Your pastors are there to serve God, and to serve God through care of their people’s spiritual welfare. Don’t focus on your pastors, focus on your faith and God and in being charitable to others.
 
I think this is the OP’s question:
I am wondering what respect I have for my new Pastors I should have had for my previous Pastor.
Click to expand...
 
OP = Original Poster

Haha, these internet terms are funny. I usually have to google them to find out what they mean.

Oh, and the amount of respect or admiration you show for your pastor at your current or last parish doesn’t really matter. The Catholic Church isn’t pastor-centered, but Christ-centered. There’s nothing to feel guilty about if you like your current pastor more than the last.
 
There is nothing wrong with having admiration and respect for a priest. In fact, I think it is nice to write them a card on Father’s Day (or anytime) and tell them something specific that you admire or appreciate about how they perform their duties and live their life as a priest.

OP, if you failed to tell a former pastor that you appreciated them, you could still write them a nice card now. If you are worried about crossing some line of appropriate behavior then ask a parent or a youth leader or even a priest at another parish if something is inappropriate. If you can’t drive to another parish to talk with their priest, you might be able to call and have a conversation with him.

I know from working with our teens at the parish that there is nothing that our priests have not been asked about. Sometimes it is hard to talk with a parent. We are also blessed to have a male and a female on staff who run our high school ministry, so there is always someone else to ask questions that a teen might be too uncomfortable asking a parent.

On our high school retreats we have a break out session where guys go with the priest and the male youth leader and the girls go with the female youth leader and usually some nuns to talk about dating, sex and other issues that teens really want to know the church’s teachings on without having to sit down with Mom and Dad.

It is better to bring a question about faith or morals to a priest or youth leader at church than to remain ignorant or to ask another teen.
 
Actually I am married now, so I just thought i was just out of line. I wish I could be forthcoming but it is a little scary
 
what you may find different is the relationship between the pastor and the congregation in a Catholic parish, vs. a Protestant or Evangelical congregation. For one thing a Catholic parish is usually much larger, and except in confession, it is often hard to even have a one on one conversation with the priest, unless you are involved in some type of ministry or service. For another thing, while priests definitely do come in every possible range of personality type, and many are strong personalities, it is quite often the case that for a Protestant the personality and character of the Pastor are very important to them, even more so in denominations where the congregation “calls” the pastor. And the “style” of pastoring there may depend much more on personal relationships with the pastor, to the extent that someone may be inclined to follow the pastor, rather than the church, the teachings etc., and it can even become a personality cult. Certainly the following many televangelists have depends a large part on their charismatic personality as much as it does on their message.
 
Maybe you could elaborate a little more on your answer, I am having a hard time following what you are saying
 
She’s trying to say that in many Protestant denominations, the pastor’s personality is more important than anything else and often, the “style” of pastoring there may depend much more on personal relationships.

I suppose this has come to be since the pastor is the focal point of many Protestant services where he spends most of his time, talking to the congregation.

http://blog.kir.com/archives/megachurch.jpg

In this picture of a megachurch, the congregation is circled around the focal point - the pastor and the big screens showing him.

http://cac.mcgill.ca/cac/bland/building/pictures/full/7-73.jpg
In this more traditional-styled church, we see the same. The congregation surrounds a pulpit where the pastor speaks.

http://www.saintpetercatholic.com/images/main-church.jpg
Compare this to a Catholic Church. The pulpit for the homily is to the side and the visual imagery directs attention to the Divine. The Tabernacle containing the Body of Christ is kept in a place of prominence.

In the Catholic Church, the priest is not the focal point of the Mass and the Sacraments, God is. The sermon/homily, though important, is not the entire focus of the Mass, the Liturgy of the Eucharist is.

I don’t claim to be an expert on Protestantism, but I know that for my Protestant friends, the church they choose to become a member of is a big deal because it becomes their central religious community.

From my understanding, individual Protestant churches and congregations are each different theologically, doctrinally and stylistically. When one finds a church, they usually stay there for good and adhere to the beliefs of that specific faith community. Often, the pastor and his teachings become the center of life for the community.

As a Catholic, however, I do not feel attached to any particular church or pastor because any parish I go to is part of the Universal Church, headed by the Pope. The Church is the same everywhere and the focus of every parish is the Eucharist and not so much the personality or personal relationship with the pastor.

It is good have a relationship with the parish priest, but there are some differences between the methods of pastoring for Protestants and Catholics.
 
if I understand the concern in your OP you are worried that you may be overstepping some bounds or unwritten rules in your developing relationship with the priests, whom you admire and to whom you are grateful, in your Catholic parish. I speculated that part of your uncertainty may be due to the fact that you are used to a more personal relationship with your former pastor, because you may have been in a smaller congregation where you were able to get to know one another better. I just wanted to point out that if you are looking for some “rules” about pastor-parishioner relationships, you may need to come to terms with differences in dynamics of a typical Catholic parish. Another thing you may experience is that you may see a “lack of fellowship” among your Catholic parishioners, they won’t seem so quick to welcome a newcomer, chat after church, and so forth.
 
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