Did your priest preach on the Ascension today? Or was it business as usual?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lepanto
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Yes, he did…unfortunately, he said that the Father had passed the baton to Jesus and that Jesus, at His Ascension, had passed it to us. I got stuck on a horrible mental image of the God the Father, God the Son, and the Apostles running a relay race around a track to the theme of “Chariots of Fire.” I wish I was kidding. Other than that, it was one Reader’s Digest anectdote after another…I think he gets his homilies off a website or something.
 
JKirkLVNV said:
Yes, he did…unfortunately, he said that the Father had passed the baton to Jesus and that Jesus, at His Ascension, had passed it to us. I got stuck on a horrible mental image of the God the Father, God the Son, and the Apostles running a relay race around a track to the theme of “Chariots of Fire.” I wish I was kidding. Other than that, it was one Reader’s Digest anectdote after another…I think he gets his homilies off a website or something.
Click to expand...
That was baaaaad. :eek:
 
Yes, the priest at my English-language parish preached on the Ascension, and it was so personally meaningful to me that I knew the Holy Spirit must have led me to attend that Mass instead of the Latin Mass downtown (my other parish!) on this particular Sunday.

~~ the phoenix
 
Our pastor was out of town, but the substitute priest did indeed speak on the Ascension- although he went around Paddy Murphy’s barn to do it! Poor old fella, he was all over the map.
 
benedictgal said:
That was baaaaad. :eek:
Click to expand...
Can’t help it. It started out with a story about a little girl whose dog died, then the sermon kind of passed out momentarily, was recesitated, bounced like a rock over a pond for a while, then boom: The Ascension, with the baton thing.
 
JKirkLVNV said:
Yes, he did…unfortunately, he said that the Father had passed the baton to Jesus and that Jesus, at His Ascension, had passed it to us. I got stuck on a horrible mental image of the God the Father, God the Son, and the Apostles running a relay race around a track to the theme of “Chariots of Fire.” I wish I was kidding. Other than that, it was one Reader’s Digest anectdote after another…I think he gets his homilies off a website or something.
Click to expand...
Our associate gets his homilies off a website and stands there and reads it to us.
 
PBP said:
Our associate gets his homilies off a website and stands there and reads it to us.
Click to expand...
It is my understanding that this is common practice all over these days…I guess priests don’t spend their Saturdays writing their homilies and hearing confessions…😃
 
ethelzguy said:
It is my understanding that this is common practice all over these days…I guess priests don’t spend their Saturdays writing their homilies and hearing confessions…😃
Click to expand...
It seems to me more priests today are career oriented instead of ministers to the needs of their flock. I understand their humanity but the day my pastor says to the RCIA team not to hold him on a pedestal, I couldnt believe it. Who then am I to refer to as an example in my parish ? 🤷
 
PBP said:
the day my pastor says to the RCIA team not to hold him on a pedestal, I couldnt believe it. Who then am I to refer to as an example in my parish ? 🤷
Click to expand...
While most won’t agree with me, I somewhat agree with that priest. Years ago, we held our priests on a very high pedestal. But, things were different. The respect level among all other people was much higher, and the difference between Average Joe and Father Ned wasn’t that much…as far as pedestal height.

Today, Average Joe has virtually no pedestal. People don’t respect themselves, much less anyone else. So, the gap between Father Ned’s pedestal and everyone elses can be overwhelming to Father Ned to try and live up to.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t hold our preists up as examples, but the differences today versus yesterday can be more than they can live up to. We should ask ourselves what standard we hold ourselves to, before we place expectations on our priests that are so high they will never be able to measure up.

Ok, pile on…:rolleyes:
 
ethelzguy said:
It is my understanding that this is common practice all over these days…I guess priests don’t spend their Saturdays writing their homilies and hearing confessions…😃
Click to expand...
I don’t know a good homilist who consistently waits until Saturday! I think our deacon said he sometimes starts thinking about what he might say 2-3 weeks in advance!

BTW, our best homilist almost never “writes” his homily. He studies and reflects all week, or longer, has a theme in mind, and he just gets up and does it. No notes. I’ve been at the parish for all three Masses, and it is interesting how his homily evolves.

He’s been a priest for a long time, too. One of my favorite things about his homilies is how he knows by now not just how this Gospel fits into the rest of the entire Gospel being read that year, and how this set of Scriptures fit into last week’s, but how the Advent readings relate to the Church’s choices for Lent, and so on. The task of breaking open the Scriptures has obviously not become a boring one for him. It isn’t exactly the rule, but this not unusual among the older priests I know.

BTW, I wouldn’t get on the backs of clergy over how hard they work. A lot of them are filling a position (with lay help) that used to be shared with 2-3 other priests. That’s a big drop in support.
 
EasterJoy said:
BTW, I wouldn’t get on the backs of clergy over how hard they work. A lot of them are filling a position (with lay help) that used to be shared with 2-3 other priests. That’s a big drop in support.
Click to expand...
Thus my comment above. They simply don’t have the available time and energy to be “the model” that some ask of them, as they have so much more workload than they used to.

Three priests at a parish used to be the norm. Now you’re lucky if you have ONE that you don’t have to share.

Those priests that do “wing it” on their sermons are indeed fascinating. You wonder how they keep it all together in their heads.
 
ethelzguy said:
Those priests that do “wing it” on their sermons are indeed fascinating. You wonder how they keep it all together in their heads.
Click to expand...
The one I’ve asked says that it is the Holy Spirit that does it. That would at least account for the quality!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top