Does it worry you when your parish gets a new priest?

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And, I would add, most of the time they are too humble to tell people to get lost. They suffer and try very hard not to be as blunt and prefer to just walk away or stay silent when confronted with spitting anger.

God love them. This is why vocations directors are so particular. It’s a difficult thing to navigate.
Being a Priest in the church is beautiful.
It’s we flawed people that make it hard.
We must learn to be compassionate, and yes, sometimes forgive.
 
I would just like to add that our previous priest of 7 years had a dreadful time, he was rudely snubbed, battled those who believed the owned the parish (he didn’t quite win on all counts) and was not supported a great deal. I wonder whether he was so maltreated, that we did not have the joy of him being the priest he was created to be. Yet when he announced he was leaving, it was as if he was a beloved saint. A bit like the Polish Saint, who was only loved when he left.

The new priest (very opposite and with different gifts and flaws) arrived last autumn and since then has had an even harder time. Yes he has made mistakes, upset some of us and firmly removed all hope from the select few who think the own the Church. Things are all over the place and messy but God is in the middle of it all and good things are starting to happen. The latter is important when you belong to a stagnant dying parish. He is still struggling and it must be so difficult for him.

And yes, I struggled and even got a bit sanctified. At the end of the day, my pride and arrogance took a hefty blow and a few hard lessons had to be relearned - not the fault of the priest but lessons from God. That is the hard thing, to separate God’s lessons and will from the instruments he uses. And I have also done (with God’s help) things I never thought I would or could do. I suspect that God is using our new priest as his instrument to help us - a bit like going to the dentist. Most of us hate going to the dentist, suffering in the chair and feeling miserable afterwards, but in a few days we are generally grateful that the toothache has gone. We don’t like it, but dentistry is necessary for most of us.
 
In the time I’ve been at my current parish, we have had 3 different pastors, and I think 6 different associstes. Each one was quite different from the others. Each one brought something unique, and wonderful to the parish.

As others have said, pray for those wonderful people who are our priests.
 
pianistclare said:
Once daily at minimum here, no clue about Britain.
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Actually if you google the question, and follow the link to the canonlawmadeasy website, it agrees with me - priests are obliged to say the Divine Office every day, but not to say Mass.
 
HA! That’s cool. But someone needs to tell our priests.

They all say Mass daily, even when on vacation and alone.

I guess people interpret this differently:

The Code of Canon Law (#276) in the section entitled “The Obligations and Rights of Clerics” states the following: “In leading their lives, clerics are especially bound to pursue holiness because they are consecrated to God by a new title in the reception of orders as dispensers of God’s mysteries in the service of His people. In order for them to pursue this perfection, …they are to nourish their spiritual life from the two-fold table of Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist; priests are therefore earnestly invited to offer the sacrifice of the Eucharist daily….”

Don’t have a dog in this fight, but I do love it when priests say they pray the Mass daily.
Seems like a very beautiful thing to do, and shoudl be encouraged.
 
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There must be some dispensation, there is an old priest at my last parish who would co-celebrate Mass but for every person he gave communion to the other priest would give three. I guess he was very old and weak because he moved about like that also. I would see him sat at the front of the congregation now instead f saying Mass.
 
Well, people do get frail.
Better then to risk dropping the host repeatedly. God bless him!!!
He served for a long time I am guessing. He’s allowed to retire, and rest. Yes.
 
Priests are allowed but not required to say Mass daily, because if they were required, then this creates the possibility of a situation where a priest would be required to say Mass while in a state of mortal sin. That is, the priest commits a mortal sin, wants to confess, but no confessor is available before said priest in state of mortal sin must comply with daily Mass requirement.

In response to those who will ask the next question, yes, the sacrament is still valid if the priest says Mass while in a state of mortal sin. (But obviously the situation is very bad for the soul of the priest.)
 
I can understand uneasiness when a priest reduces the number of Masses and reduces the availability of Confession. One of the highest duties of a priest is bringing the people the sacraments. Keep praying.
 
canonlawmadeeasy.com

Do Priests Have to Say Mass Every Day?

Q1: My husband and I watched a movie about medieval knights recently, and in it there were some monks who all went to their chapel in the middle of the night to pray and sing together. Is that stil…
canonlawmadeeasy.com

12th paragraph down, starting with “The primary reason…”
 
fine.
But all of them around here do say Mass daily.
They must be very good preexists, LOL
 
Having come from a Protestant background, I understand a lot of the angst a change at the top can cause. In my Protestant experience, it indeed was cause for concern, as success or lack thereof of a Sunday service was determined by how good the sermon was. Now I get to receive Jesus every time I go to Mass. Bad singing, dry uninspired homilies, crying children, it doesn’t matter. Jesus is still fully present in the Eucharist.
 
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We will be getting two new priests this summer and our beloved current priest is moving to another parish. While most of us are very sad to loose our current priest, we are anticipating only good change with the two new priests. They are both know to our parish and have good reputations.

My only concern is they will arrive mid summer and I will have to scramble to implement any changes in the youth program.
 
Augustinian said:
If there aren’t enough people attending a mass, that’s a valid reason to discontinue it.
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My parents’ parish was told that they had to cut a mass if it wasn’t 2/3 full.

They also significantly reduced the seating in the church from what it was when i was growing up.

Generally speaking, both priests and churches should have a single Mass on a given day. There are near-universal dispensations for the multiple Masses we see as the norm today.

I believe the priestly obligation is to “assist” daily, which may or may not involve being a celebrant.

hawk
 
I guess it’s human nature to be anxious about change. I would try to see it as a case of “well at least we are getting a new priest”, sometimes they aren’t able to replace them and the parish has to make do with a visiting priest and reduced masses or no priest and face a parish merger.
 
No, it doesn’t worry me; we have had priests who had accents…sometimes I couldn’t understand them. But in time I got used to it and began to understand more and more. Our priests here are good, and sometimes the laypeople form a clique against them. One lady said she wanted to see Father So and So leave because nobody liked him. I don’t know where she got that information. The gossip had spread like wildfire and they heard about it in other parishes. So I just accept whatever priests are sent and am grateful that priests hang around, because without them there wouldn’t be any Mass or sacraments.
 
Nelka said:
Our priest is retiring in a few months he has been there for many years.

When I was a teenage we had a new priest and he stopped a weekday mass as he said he wants a day off, stopped the Saturday morning mass as he said there weren’t enough people attending it and ended one of the Sunday masses.

What if we get a new priest like this or one that reduces confession time or one that makes me feel I can’t approach him?

I know we will probably get a great priest but I’m not very good with change?

Thanks.
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Maybe your new Priest is destined to become a saint?
 
dochawk said:
My parents’ parish was told that they had to cut a mass if it wasn’t 2/3 full.

They also significantly reduced the seating in the church from what it was when i was growing up.
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I think 2/3 rule is pretty flexible. Usually don’t see that kind of attendance in the massive church I attend. That kind of rule makes more sense in places like the Southlands of the US, where the Catholic population has been exploding and only a limited number of priests being available.
 
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