Have you ever had your priest over for dinner?

[whatevergirl]

My husband would like to have our home blessed by our parish priest…since we’re new in the area, etc…thought it would be a great idea as well, to invite him for dinner, or go out for breakfast. Something to get to know him, on a more intimate level. Anyone ever have his/her priest over for dinner? Take him out for a meal?

Could u share your stories…advice? Thank you.

 

[Orionthehunter]

My husband would like to have our home blessed by our parish priest…since we’re new in the area, etc…thought it would be a great idea as well, to invite him for dinner, or go out for breakfast. Something to get to know him, on a more intimate level. Anyone ever have his/her priest over for dinner? Take him out for a meal?

Could u share your stories…advice? Thank you.

Since I was a small child, I can remember various Pastors and Associates over for dinner. In many ways, it is just another friend of the family and I think they always appreciate being welcomed as family or friend and not a dignitary (although the house is cleaner and the meal is a little more elaborate than normal).

My main advice is to ask him what he likes. If he demurs, ask his housekeeper (or his mother is she is near by) what he seems to like. If he likes wine with his meal, get his favorite win. If he likes to relax on the deck in the evening, encourage him to dress casual. However, since you want him to bless your home, he might choose to wear his clerics. Don’t use the evening for you to vent about the Church, parish or anything work related. He would rather spend the evening relaxing and getting to know your family or just talking about other issues. And the better he knows your family, the better Pastor he can be for you. None of us like those business dinners and he will appreciate if you don’t turn it into one for him.

 

[blessedstar]

No and I don’t think it is right for a Priest to have partiality like that. A Priest is a shepherd over all of the people and he must not go to one above another and as he cannot go to all places he should not go to one.

Alot of jealousy exists in parishes and this kind of thing can only add to it.

Now a Priest may find good friendship with a male parishioner and this is a good and whole thing but the Priest must be careful not to show favour.

It happens that someone with money and good standing in a place may be favoured by the Priest, this happens often whilst someone with no money and no standing is less favoured, you see the troubles it may cause.

Unless the Priest can go all places, then the Priest should not favour any place, though indeed a Priest may have those in a Parish he favours because he likes them and who can help having those they like more than others, still for the sake of the flock it is better to keep impartiality.

In my Living Prayer of life.

 

[PatienceAndLove]

I would have to disagree with the above post.

Some of my fondest memories, when I was young, are of Fr. Paul coming over for dinner.
He loved ribs, and my mother made bbq spare ribs. I can still see him in his blacks with a napkin tucked in, bbq sauce in his beard and sticky fingers

I think it would very appropriate. Too often, people see father as someone other than human. Invite him over

 

[whatevergirl]

No and I don’t think it is right for a Priest to have partiality like that. A Priest is a shepherd over all of the people and he must not go to one above another and as he cannot go to all places he should not go to one.

Alot of jealousy exists in parishes and this kind of thing can only add to it.

Now a Priest may find good friendship with a male parishioner and this is a good and whole thing but the Priest must be careful not to show favour.

It happens that someone with money and good standing in a place may be favoured by the Priest, this happens often whilst someone with no money and no standing is less favoured, you see the troubles it may cause.

Unless the Priest can go all places, then the Priest should not favour any place, though indeed a Priest may have those in a Parish he favours because he likes them and who can help having those they like more than others, still for the sake of the flock it is better to keep impartiality.

In my Living Prayer of life.

didn’t the Apostles stay at people’s homes…overnight??

 

[whatevergirl]

No and I don’t think it is right for a Priest to have partiality like that. A Priest is a shepherd over all of the people and he must not go to one above another and as he cannot go to all places he should not go to one.

Alot of jealousy exists in parishes and this kind of thing can only add to it.

Now a Priest may find good friendship with a male parishioner and this is a good and whole thing but the Priest must be careful not to show favour.

It happens that someone with money and good standing in a place may be favoured by the Priest, this happens often whilst someone with no money and no standing is less favoured, you see the troubles it may cause.

Unless the Priest can go all places, then the Priest should not favour any place, though indeed a Priest may have those in a Parish he favours because he likes them and who can help having those they like more than others, still for the sake of the flock it is better to keep impartiality.

In my Living Prayer of life.

Isn’t jealousy something that we as parishioners should work at not having…if I’m jealous because a priest is having dinner with another parishioner…that sounds like my problem, not theirs?

 

[KCT]

Go ahead and invite him . I’m sure he will appreciate it.

Our pastor got a sick call just after he arrived at our house! It was not an emergency, so he did eat with us. He just couldn’t stay and visit afterwards. —KCT

 

[whatevergirl]

Since I was a small child, I can remember various Pastors and Associates over for dinner. In many ways, it is just another friend of the family and I think they always appreciate being welcomed as family or friend and not a dignitary (although the house is cleaner and the meal is a little more elaborate than normal).

My main advice is to ask him what he likes. If he demurs, ask his housekeeper (or his mother is she is near by) what he seems to like. If he likes wine with his meal, get his favorite win. If he likes to relax on the deck in the evening, encourage him to dress casual. However, since you want him to bless your home, he might choose to wear his clerics. Don’t use the evening for you to vent about the Church, parish or anything work related. He would rather spend the evening relaxing and getting to know your family or just talking about other issues. And the better he knows your family, the better Pastor he can be for you. None of us like those business dinners and he will appreciate if you don’t turn it into one for him.

I really appreciate your tips for inviting him over…I might not have thought of all those!!!:hug1:

 

[freudmacher]

My husband would like to have our home blessed by our parish priest…since we’re new in the area, etc…thought it would be a great idea as well, to invite him for dinner, or go out for breakfast. Something to get to know him, on a more intimate level. Anyone ever have his/her priest over for dinner? Take him out for a meal?

Could u share your stories…advice? Thank you.

I know nothing about that crazy stuff with a priest can’t favor something stuff

My priest and I go out to dinner or lunch almost once a week, I travel for work so not every week. I always have a great time with him. Just one thing he mentioned to me really stands out when we meet. He said the reason he likes going to eat with me is cause he doesn’t have to talk about religious things. He said, I am a person too that has a lot of other interests, and its nice to talk to someone about them. So, unless he brings something up about the church, even though I am discerning,I don’t talk about it. Nor do I really have to, I get a lot through prayer and the Mass. The few times I had to talk to him about it, letter of recomendation stuff, I called and made an appointment.

Seth

 

[adrift]

When are new priest arrived two years ago, the first thing he announced is he couldn’t cook and expected to be invited to have meals with the parishioners.

He has just been transfered but we did have him over for two meals.

He was a great guess and we will miss him. We have decided to keep the tradition going and will invite are new priest.

 

[whatevergirl]

Interesting Seth. Thanks for your post.

 

[whatevergirl]

When are new priest arrived two years ago, the first thing he announced is he couldn’t cook and expected to be invited to have meals with the parishioners.

He has just been transfered but we did have him over for two meals.

He was a great guess and we will miss him. We have decided to keep the tradition going and will invite are new priest.

Our parish priest is leaving too…and I just got to know him. (we’re new in our parish) He was a great Confessor. I’ll miss him.

 

[TraditionalCath]

i think alot of people overlook the fact that they can invite their priest over for dinner it is nice to have a priest over for supper. we had one here twice and it was nice it really was. the priest is very holy. very.
i think priests are just holy. if our priest couldn’t cook dinner, he would be at all the parishioners home for supper, he probably is anyways because all the parishioners ask him to come anyways

 

[whatevergirl]

i think alot of people overlook the fact that they can invite their priest over for dinner it is nice to have a priest over for supper. we had one here twice and it was nice it really was. the priest is very holy. very.
i think priests are just holy. if our priest couldn’t cook dinner, he would be at all the parishioners home for supper, he probably is anyways because all the parishioners ask him to come anyways

I think part of that reason is that (for me anyways I say this) a)they are too busy now with being spread thinner between parishes b) they will say no because they don’t want to favor one over another c) I might be timid to ask

But…after serious thought…and my husband’s urging…we both think it would be great to have him over.

 

[Mirror_Mirror]

No and I don’t think it is right for a Priest to have partiality like that. A Priest is a shepherd over all of the people and he must not go to one above another and as he cannot go to all places he should not go to one.

Alot of jealousy exists in parishes and this kind of thing can only add to it.

Now a Priest may find good friendship with a male parishioner and this is a good and whole thing but the Priest must be careful not to show favour.

It happens that someone with money and good standing in a place may be favoured by the Priest, this happens often whilst someone with no money and no standing is less favoured, you see the troubles it may cause.

Unless the Priest can go all places, then the Priest should not favour any place, though indeed a Priest may have those in a Parish he favours because he likes them and who can help having those they like more than others, still for the sake of the flock it is better to keep impartiality.

In my Living Prayer of life.

I am going to have to humbly say :banghead: and

What are you thinking? I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with having your priest over for dinner, NOTHING! It is not showing favoritism or anything like that. I will have to be sure to pass your message along to my uncle that is a priest and let him know that he is showing partiality to his sisters as he comes over for dinner at least once or twice a month if not more.

Anyways, Sharon, dearest Sharon, have no fear! I would invite him over to your house. It may take a while for him to be able to schedule it, but that is a wonderful idea. During your invite to him, if he accepts, simply ask him what he likes to eat and accomodate accordingly.

When we came to our new parish, we invited the priest over to dinner and he was more than happy to come. We just had to schedule it in advance and we asked him what he would like to have…and of course have Pepsi for him!!

It was a great experience, it gave us a chance to get to know him and feel more welcomed into the parish. I like having that relationship with my pastor and the other priests that are serving us at our community. Also, at the time he was the only priest there and grossly overworked. He then blessed our house as well. All in all he was here over 2 hours visiting and getting to know us and out kids.

Go for it!!

 

[freudmacher]

P.S. My priest really likes to talk about his family. I know not all priests would, but that may be a good starting point if you need on.

 

[Orionthehunter]

I really appreciate your tips for inviting him over…I might not have thought of all those!!!:hug1:

But one question they always have seemed to love to answer: “Tell us about how you came to recognize your call.” You will find they talk about it as enthusiastically and nostagically as we talk about how we met our spouse and the courting period. Also, each time they hear the story, my children have listened as if they are hearing a great novel laid out before them. They learn to better understand that they are people just like us, called by God to be His servant, who sometimes don’t hear the call the first time, and struggle with discernment.

Another subject that always seems to open up the dialogue is to just have normal evening family conversation: what everyone did during the day, plans for tomorrow. I’m sure that they miss those family meals they had growing up and we take it too much for granted.

Final comment regarding the post who said this is playing favorites. If none of his parish family invite the Pastor for dinner, imagine how many evenings he would eat alone? Could you imagine eating TV dinners every night? The way I look at it, a Pastor is in a parish about 3,000 evenings. Unless the parish is large (and has associates), there is enough evenings for the entire parish to invite him for dinner at least once.

 

[whatevergirl]

But one question they always have seemed to love to answer: “Tell us about how you came to recognize your call.” You will find they talk about it as enthusiastically and nostagically as we talk about how we met our spouse and the courting period. Also, each time they hear the story, my children have listened as if they are hearing a great novel laid out before them. They learn to better understand that they are people just like us, called by God to be His servant, who sometimes don’t hear the call the first time, and struggle with discernment.

Another subject that always seems to open up the dialogue is to just have normal evening family conversation: what everyone did during the day, plans for tomorrow. I’m sure that they miss those family meals they had growing up and we take it too much for granted.

It would be kind of cool to get a priest’s perspective on daily events, concerns, etc…thank you for your post–I enjoyed it.

 

[whatevergirl]

I am going to have to humbly say :banghead: and

What are you thinking? I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with having your priest over for dinner, NOTHING! It is not showing favoritism or anything like that. I will have to be sure to pass your message along to my uncle that is a priest and let him know that he is showing partiality to his sisters as he comes over for dinner at least once or twice a month if not more.

Anyways, Sharon, dearest Sharon, have no fear! I would invite him over to your house. It may take a while for him to be able to schedule it, but that is a wonderful idea. During your invite to him, if he accepts, simply ask him what he likes to eat and accomodate accordingly.

When we came to our new parish, we invited the priest over to dinner and he was more than happy to come. We just had to schedule it in advance and we asked him what he would like to have…and of course have Pepsi for him!!

It was a great experience, it gave us a chance to get to know him and feel more welcomed into the parish. I like having that relationship with my pastor and the other priests that are serving us at our community. Also, at the time he was the only priest there and grossly overworked. He then blessed our house as well. All in all he was here over 2 hours visiting and getting to know us and out kids.

Go for it!!

I really like your story about this, MM!!! I am hoping that a) he will say yes and b) that it will go well and c) that my kids will act natural (they tend to be a little stiff when they are around priests)

 

[blessedstar]

Priests here have always refused attending homes this way unless there is a reason to visit for this reason I stated earlier in my last post and I can see the reasoning.