Fr Corapi's Ministry....

[peary]

I know I will bring down a rain of criticism on myself but I have all kinds of buzzers go off about this priest. He is a good speaker and may be a wonderful person but I just get weird vibes from him. Especially when he spoke of the time he wished some kids in an audience would have to " suffer" - he says he prayed they would suffer - because he felt they weren’t listening to him with proper reverence. After I heard that I decided there is no way a truly loving, humble holy person would ever do something so wicked.
I, also, saw a photo of him on the internet smiling over a huge white bear that he had just killed - it was a bloody nightmare and he was enjoying himself to the hilt. What was the purpose of doing that? I think God’s creatures have a right to live as we do and that we should live in harmony with them except in cases of HAVING to feed oneself or ones family lest they go hungry.
I put no human being on a pedestal and 'think its very naive and foolish to do so - and its a good way to get hurt as they will almost always disappoint you in the end.
Remove the rose colored glasses and see people as they really are - warts and all - no one is as perfect as some of you folks seem to think he is - no one.

**Ever hear of the sport called ‘Hunting’? **

 

[peary]

I have no illusion of his ‘bad sie’…I am pretty ripe in years. And I have read many books of Saints and it would’ve have been wise not to get on their bad side also. Even Fr Groeschel, who comes across as humble and meek, well, I have been to his conference also. And he has nasty side also…

Nonetheless, we paint the Saints’ pictures like they were holy from the get go. St Therese had great emotional problems and depression, St Ignatius was a miserable old coot…but God uses them for the spreading of his kingdom. And when I read the ‘nasty side’ of Saints, it encourages to keep on going as I have my own ‘nasty side’ I need to work. It is the working on that, that makes us Saints. And just some Saints have a nastier side than others…

This does not deter me to point out that Fr corapi is on the path to holiness, if he told these kids this, well, maybe they needed to hear. it The problem today is the political correctness of our priests who do not want to hurt other peoples’ feelings…at the expense of their souls. These priests will have to give an accounting of their bad preaching…the Barney-style tip toe through the tulips style…Popularity counts anymore…

People forget that Christ Himself chose Judas as an apostle, and that Judas spread the Good News, he healed, he forgave sins, etc. even though he ended up being the one who knowingly or unknowingly was the cause of the Lord’s death. It’s amazing when you think about it - God uses sinners to spread His glory!

 

[debraran]

I like Fr. Groechel more than Fr. Corapi, but that’s a personal thing. Fr. Corapi seems to like himself too much, even said once, he KNEW he had a special grace for speaking, that he was sure of…then someone in the room with me said, “hello?, I don’t like your style at all”. Well, to each his own, but 'humble" is not his forte. : ) I didn’t like how he gloated about a wayward teen being hit and in traction in the hospital. He just stood in front of him and gloated…he had no time to do anything now but think or pray. I understood his stand, but thought he gloated and smiled too much…and I couldn’t picture Jesus doing that. That was his human side and he really enjoyed telling it. If the boy ended up okay and better behaved, I’m happy, but it made me very uncomfortable listening to him that day.
Fr.Groechel is right calling some,“dumb Catholics”. I have heard him say that too…we are. We don’t read enough, don’t ask enough questions, do dumb things. We, as a whole, dropped the ball years ago and let our religion grow stale and unorthodox. Fr. Groechel respects other religions very much and has said, truthfully, some Baptists, etc. he knows well are “better Catholics” than some “real ones”. He has Jewish friends, and just about in every other religion and sees how much good we all do as a whole. I like that.

 

[peary]

I like Fr. Groechel more than Fr. Corapi, but that’s a personal thing. Fr. Corapi seems to like himself too much, even said once, he KNEW he had a special grace for speaking, that he was sure of…then someone in the room with me said, “hello?, I don’t like your style at all”. Well, to each his own, but 'humble" is not his forte. : ) I didn’t like how he gloated about a wayward teen being hit and in traction in the hospital. He just stood in front of him and gloated…he had no time to do anything now but think or pray. I understood his stand, but thought he gloated and smiled too much…and I couldn’t picture Jesus doing that. That was his human side and he really enjoyed telling it. If the boy ended up okay and better behaved, I’m happy, but it made me very uncomfortable listening to him that day.
Fr.Groechel is right calling some,“dumb Catholics”. I have heard him say that too…we are. We don’t read enough, don’t ask enough questions, do dumb things. We, as a whole, dropped the ball years ago and let our religion grow stale and unorthodox. Fr. Groechel respects other religions very much and has said, truthfully, some Baptists, etc. he knows well are “better Catholics” than some “real ones”. He has Jewish friends, and just about in every other religion and sees how much good we all do as a whole. I like that.

**You TOTALLY missed the point in Fr. Corapi’s talks! For one thing, he said he had been given a special grace for speaking, and he knew it. How else do you explain his lectures and popularity?

And you missed the point about his gloating over a teen who lived his life in reckless abandon. The teen’s mother sent him to Corapi. The boy told the priest that his mother sent him so that Corapi could talk to him. The boy gloated and said that he didn’t believe in God or the Church and believed that life should be lived with gusto and wild abandon. Fr. Corapi told him that he was on the path to disaster and that one day, God would probably stop him flat on his back. Well, when the mother called Corapi, she pleaded with him to go visit her son at the hospital, which the priest did. When he saw the boy there in the bed in traction, he gloated. The shoe was on the other foot now. I’m a man, and I understand where Corapi is coming from. Women don’t resonate with that approach. They want to enable and ‘mother’ their babies all through their life. This is the only country that I know where teenagers are still referred to as ‘children’ and not “young adults.” Then again, look at what we’re turning out into the world.**

 

[debraran]

I didn’t miss the point, I just didn’t like how he laughed and said he just stood there, saying nothing, just gloating that he couldn’t do anything…that is a “guy thing” maybe, a “pay back” thing, but my sensitive nature found it very unappealing. I’m not enabling my children but I couldn’t be cruel. I dont’ think the Mom sent him there to stand in the door and smirk.How childish.
Fr. Corapi appeals to many, I have watched him many times, but many times his audience seems middle-aged and elderly. He’ll joke about it…the grey haired Catholics that keep him going. I’m only 45 (not TOO old) but I think his popularity is that he was different …what did we have before??? Catholics really had nothing for a while, then EWTN came.
I think Father’s ego gets in his way sometimes and I sense, that he doesn’t like people disrespecting HIM not just the priest. His gloating was probably in part, because he felt “dissed” by the teen and this was “pay back”. That is not what we preach. He brags about his degrees, his scores, many times, we all know how many diplomas he has, but he always ends it with, “I didn’t do it myself”. But why bring it up repeatedly anyway?
All I’m saying, is we are all human, with human frailites and egos. We all have different taste. I am too old to idolize. If Father fell, God forbid, a lot of people would be shocked, but you can’t think anyone is above reproach in our world, we are just all a step from sin.

 

[debraran]

I . Especially when he spoke of the time he wished some kids in an audience would have to " suffer" - he says he prayed they would suffer - because he felt they weren’t listening to him with proper reverence. After I heard that I decided there is no way a truly loving, humble holy person would ever do something so wicked.

When did he do this?? For Pete’s sake, I hope this isn’t true.
He did say once in public that he thought twice about becoming a priest when the scandals hit, he was ashamed, he had to carry the burden of his brothers on his shoulders. I felt for him there, but then he said, "I used to be loved, I had it great, everywhere I went people loved me, wrote me letters, all praise, no hate mail,…he went on and on. (I started not to like him then) Then he honestly admitted that when the scandals hit, the mail started to change, the love ebbed, people stared and assumed “he was one of them”. He hated it. The reverence, etc. was taken away. HE missed the point, he’s not here to be idolized and loved, written too and fawned over. Saying he wanted to just be alone is fine, if that’s his true calling, but not because you can’t be popular.
I truely respected his honesty though, you can’t say he doesn’t call it as he sees it even with himself.
I remember telling my husband, he was an honest priest admitting that he missed what drew many in intitially, the doing of God’s work, but also the respect and honor that went with it. Doing it without it, shows true courage though.

 

[peary]

**It seems that the women viewers in here find Fr. Corapi’s maleness a threat to them. Why? Too manly? I guess the effeminate male wins out in today’s church. **

 

[punisherthunder]

I like it that Fr. Corapi is a man’s man. Is it just me, or does he sound like Jesse Ventura, the former wrestler?

 

[debraran]

I think Fr. Corapi is a stereotypical “macho” guy, but that’s not threatening, I thought men like “wrestlers” were boorish even when I was young. I saw good people came in all shapes and sizes and good priests can be less “in your face” and bad priests can be “macho”. The look doesn’t matter. I’m sure Jesus wouldn’t have been dipicted as a “super macho guy” in his time. : )

On a slightly different angle, I hate the way some people still think of the way someone looks as “gay” or “macho” or a “real man”. How someone looks or talks doesn’t mean a hill of beans, it’s what is in his soul and heart and how he treats people.
I met, working in a big city and hospital, many men, some gorgeous “macho” looking men, some in sports, some executives, that were gay. They were as “in your face” as Fr. Corapi. I also new some gentle souls that were straight,that wouldn’t hurt a fly, the nerdy, non-confrontational types that would be characterized by some as “weak” or gossiped that they were “gay-like” because they didn’t fit someones stereotype. The church is making a mistake if they start to judge men like that. I’ve never heard “the church” as a whole say it, but I know LOTR used to push the "macho’ angle a lot. How silly,to be so ignorant about what really makes someone what they are.

I do thank God though, there are types for everyone, for the people that learn from Fr.Corapi, great, if you need someone else, that’s okay too. Christopher West and The Pure Love Club drive some up the wall, it grates on their nerves, but there is, if you look, so much more, so many others, that you can hear and learn from. I do like Fr. C, but not a steady diet of it, but as I’ve said, there is so much more out there, no one person is right for everyone except Jesus.

 

[chewchoo]

I have no illusion of his ‘bad sie’…I am pretty ripe in years. And I have read many books of Saints and it would’ve have been wise not to get on their bad side also. Even Fr Groeschel, who comes across as humble and meek, well, I have been to his conference also. And he has nasty side also…

Nonetheless, we paint the Saints’ pictures like they were holy from the get go. St Therese had great emotional problems and depression, St Ignatius was a miserable old coot…but God uses them for the spreading of his kingdom. And when I read the ‘nasty side’ of Saints, it encourages to keep on going as I have my own ‘nasty side’ I need to work. It is the working on that, that makes us Saints. And just some Saints have a nastier side than others…

This does not deter me to point out that Fr corapi is on the path to holiness, if he told these kids this, well, maybe they needed to hear. it The problem today is the political correctness of our priests who do not want to hurt other peoples’ feelings…at the expense of their souls. These priests will have to give an accounting of their bad preaching…the Barney-style tip toe through the tulips style…Popularity counts anymore…

 

[chewchoo]

I didn’t miss the point, I just didn’t like how he laughed and said he just stood there, saying nothing, just gloating that he couldn’t do anything…that is a “guy thing” maybe, a “pay back” thing, but my sensitive nature found it very unappealing. I’m not enabling my children but I couldn’t be cruel. I dont’ think the Mom sent him there to stand in the door and smirk.How childish.

sounds like a case of tough love to me… some people don’t get it no matter how much you talk to them and i’m assuming fr. corapi did a great deal of talking to this teen, and the teen just said bug off.

 

[HOPEFUL_IN_UK]

I can’t read your mind. I was going by what you wrote. The part to which I am referring when I said “shame…” was to your quote right below in bold red. I’ll even put my quote here so you can click to go back to my original post and see it for yourself;

If you can point me to where I said he was a holy priest then I will believe that I said that. No where in any of my posts did I ever say he was a holy priest. I never said he was a holy priest. When I think of “HOLY” I think of Father Benedict Groeschel. He doesn’t think he is holy and that is one of the many reasons I think he’s holy. When I think of Father Corapi the word “holy” does not come to mind. He is bold, yes. He is honest, yes. He cares about us, yes. He prays the rosary every day, yes. But “holy,” no that does not come to mind.

Yes he does have a charism to preach and that is where his boldness comes in and the fact he does not care what people think of him when he preaches the truth.

The merchandise speaks for itself when you hear it.

Then why go on and on criticizing his website and questioning his motives?

I read every single word you said. Why don’t you read your own posts again?

I have. I think we just have a misunderstanding about what I was saying. At any rate, I have a high opinion of him as a priest. I am just disappointed with his web site. When I talked about the APPEARANCE of his site, I did not say that that is what I actually believe about him, myself.

I think we’re just going to have to agree to disagree because we will not understand one another.

 

[HOPEFUL_IN_UK]

I have no problem with his masculinity. Except, maybe, the fact that I think he’s attractive on some level and I feel weird even saying that. But, I don’t think his macho-ness is in any way a problem.

He’s got a strong personality. He’s going to rub some people the wrong way. He’s going to rub some very good Catholics the wrong way - just because that’s how personalities are. I’m sure he has typical human failings, but I don’t think he’s corrupt or that his ministry is corrupt.

 

[maklavan]

I have always found Fr Corapi to be very entertaining ,if somewhat one dimensional. The problem is that he is preaching to the converted. His audience is full of women of a certain age who are obviously in love with him, and sit in awe as he speaks. The issue is, how does he project his message to the millions of inactive Catholics out there?

 

[Shoshana]

I have always found Fr Corapi to be very entertaining ,if somewhat one dimensional. The problem is that he is preaching to the converted. His audience is full of women of a certain age who are obviously in love with him, and sit in awe as he speaks. The issue is, how does he project his message to the millions of inactive Catholics out there?

As far as talking to a bunch of old ladies, well, Fr Groeschel does that also. This is usually the norm unfortunetly.

 

[peary]

He’s got a strong personality. He’s going to rub some people the wrong way. He’s going to rub some very good Catholics the wrong way - just because that’s how personalities are. .

Yep, and he’s Italian too and reminds me of my uncle LOL

 

[HOPEFUL_IN_UK]

The little old ladies may be the ones buying the tickets and showing up to see him in person, but I think quite a few people of all ages run across him on EWTN and stop and listen.

 

[chewchoo]

I have always found Fr Corapi to be very entertaining ,if somewhat one dimensional. The problem is that he is preaching to the converted. His audience is full of women of a certain age who are obviously in love with him, and sit in awe as he speaks. The issue is, how does he project his message to the millions of inactive Catholics out there?

while i wasn’t a fallen away catholic, i was nominal at best for a long time. then i happened on a catholic radio bumper sticker and “found” fr. corapi. he opened my eyes to my faith and i am a different person because of him. i have never been to one of his seminars and seeing him in person is not a high priority for me.

just because you see a certain population at his seminars doesn’t mean that he isn’t impacting a different population in a different way. God works in mysterious ways.

 

[LilyM]

I have always found Fr Corapi to be very entertaining ,if somewhat one dimensional. The problem is that he is preaching to the converted. His audience is full of women of a certain age who are obviously in love with him, and sit in awe as he speaks. The issue is, how does he project his message to the millions of inactive Catholics out there?

As a woman NOT of a certain age who likes and admires Fr Corapi but certainly isn’t in love with him (the very idea … :nope, or indeed especially awestruck by him, I resent that remark.

 

[MH84]

I have always found Fr Corapi to be very entertaining ,if somewhat one dimensional. The problem is that he is preaching to the converted. His audience is full of women of a certain age who are obviously in love with him, and sit in awe as he speaks. The issue is, how does he project his message to the millions of inactive Catholics out there?

In love with a priest…not a nice suggestion there maklavan :nope: . Coincidently, I saw a telecast of one of his sermons recently (I don’t no how old) and the audience looked very tired , some looked interested, but definately not lovestruck.