If you attend the NO mass, what is causing the lack of faith?

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jmcrae said:
Right - but then as soon as the priest starts demanding that they keep a half hour of silence before the start of Mass, get the gum out of their mouths, and dress like they’re coming to Church, etc., they all leave for a “better parish.” He has a very tricky job - it’s hard for him to know when to speak up, and when to just grin and bear it.
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Another Amen! Every time a priest tries to restore decorum, or simply teach orthodoxy, he comes under fire for being ‘authoritarian’, ‘reactionary’ or ‘untra-conservative’. 🤷
jmcrae said:
Also, people either don’t listen, or don’t understand that it applies to them, too. When we put out a dress code for Confirmation last year, the girls were fine (and so were the boys, of course), but some of the Moms turned up in sleeveless beach dresses. The Bishop didn’t know where to look. 😊 I have suggested that we have a supply of kimonos or shawls or something to put on them for next year.
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I attend a very small parish. A few months back, a lector’s wife in the front row just bared it all and began breast feeding during the mass. :eek:

Do you remember the TV actor who played Fr. Guido Sarducci? On Saturday Night Live in the 80s, he did a spoof commercial for the movie “The man who loved women”, entitled “The man who loved swimmin”. In clerical garb he was beside a pool. Each time a bathing suited woman passed by, he got a very nervous expression on his face and jumped into the pool.
 
jmcrae said:
Yes, but without parishioners, there is no parish.
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Better to have an empty church then a church full of demons according to St. Pio.

What good is a parish if it does not fulfil its purpose but instead becomes a place where God is offended in His own Temple?

Do you think Christ worried about this when He drove the money lenders out of the Temple?

Is your parish really so bad that everyone would stop going if the priest actually asked them to act more like Catholics?
 
Milesius said:
Its not a case of anyone been holier than thou it is a case of laymen recognising their limits and responsibilities. Laymen primarily are responsible for their own family, that is their sphere of governance and responsibility.

The Father of the Parish, the priest is responsible for all the souls of the parish, not any individual layman, if things are wrong in the parish it is he who must fix it, no layman has the authority or the power to do it.

If something is wrong in my family it is my fault and I must fix it, if there is somethign wrong in the parish family then it is the priests fault and he must do something to remedy it.

Same goes for diocese with the Bishop.
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And what if you are the one with the Holier then thou attitude that drives other people away???
 
I think the lack of faith/lack of belief is because no one is challenged.

As long as we can go to Mass for, say, a year, and not get called out on shorts and sandals, not going to confession, Artificial Birth control, etc, there will be no change.

The Priests are afraid to lead because they are afraid people will stop coming. Well, if they don’t believe, you’re not doing them any favors by not challenging them.
 
Milesius said:
It should not matter how the people react as far as the priest is concerned, only that what he tells them is right, he must tell them whether they like it or not, sanctification is painful if they want to run away rather than accept it that is their problem the priest must do his job without paing any heed to human respect.

And he needs to persevere in telling them all his life till they get the message, they may never get the message but as long as it is not for his want of trying he will not be found guilty of their sins, he will be if he picks the easy path and turns a blind eye to them.
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you think being a priest is EASY???

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
 
Milesius said:
Excuse me?
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I meant in general. I think it’s a question everyone needs to ask themselves. Sometimes the answer might be yes. We might be the reason. But we sure like to blame it on someone or something else.

But…you gotta admit…I got your attention:D
 
Annabelle_Marie said:
I meant in general. I think it’s a question everyone needs to ask themselves. Sometimes the answer might be yes. We might be the reason. But we sure like to blame it on someone or something else.

But…you gotta admit…I got your attention:D
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Its no great achievement.
 
Annabelle_Marie said:
And what if you are the one with the Holier then thou attitude that drives other people away???
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First of all, this “holier than though attitude” that you’re talking about is not an objective reality. It’s *always *entirely in your head and it’s how *you *perceive other people. It’s how *you *are judging them.

It has no power to drive people away from the Church. Other peoples’ perceived “attitudes” have absolutely no power to drive people away from their faith.

If people leave a particular church or the Church as a whole, they’ve done it because of their own reasons, period.

Secondly…I know it’s long, but I suggest you look through this thread:

Why do so many Catholics act so superior?

If you can’t read the whole thing, then just from a quick look through, I recommend reading post #3, which specifically addresses your concern. And then posts #130 or so to through the end.
 
Annabelle_Marie said:
And what if you are the one with the Holier then thou attitude that drives other people away???
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By the way this is an example of why it has to be the priest leading these things, if someone in the laity tries it they get confronted with this kind of accusation or of been judgemental etc,

The priest has the authority and duty to lead so he must be the one to do it, laity can’t do that to other laity.
 
I think that the Priests see all of the bickering and disagreement in these threads and just give up.
 
Milesius said:
Is your parish really so bad that everyone would stop going if the priest actually asked them to act more like Catholics?
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If he is offensive in the way that he does it, the Bishop removes him from the Diocese before he has a chance to kill the parish - and yes, I know someone who used to work as a priest, who is working now at Walmart, because no Diocese will take him. (He used to lock the doors ten minutes before Mass was to begin, to prevent people from wandering in late.)
 
jmcrae said:
If he is offensive in the way that he does it, the Bishop removes him from the Diocese before he has a chance to kill the parish - and yes, I know someone who used to work as a priest, who is working now at Walmart, because no Diocese will take him. (He used to lock the doors ten minutes before Mass was to begin, to prevent people from wandering in late.)
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Well he is extreme, there is certainly a middle ground between doing nothing and acting like him.
 
jmcrae said:
If he is offensive in the way that he does it, the Bishop removes him from the Diocese before he has a chance to kill the parish - and yes, I know someone who used to work as a priest, who is working now at Walmart, because no Diocese will take him. (He used to lock the doors ten minutes before Mass was to begin, to prevent people from wandering in late.)
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He was failed by whoever was guiding him through priestly formation
 
Milesius said:
By the way this is an example of why it has to be the priest leading these things, if someone in the laity tries it they get confronted with this kind of accusation or of been judgemental etc,

The priest has the authority and duty to lead so he must be the one to do it, laity can’t do that to other laity.
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So…we can’t lead by example? We can’t try to be charitable? Maybe someone doesn’t quite get it…so beating them over the head is going to do it? We ARE responsible on how we act towards others.

And when we act superior then we are responsible for the fruit of that…including the bad fruit. But when we look inside ourselves ALWAYS…in a non-defensive way…with humilty…and think…how did we treat that other person…how did we make them feel…and what would God say about it…well then we come a lot closer to loving our neighbor. And it’s that kind of example that others will follow.

I myself don’t want to tell Jesus…“well, I was waiting for the priest to do it…”

I wonder how my life would have been different if my Grandmother had stopped sticking her nose up at everyone else…and simply explained the faith to me. About why we do things and what they mean. And why you shouldn’t take communion unworthily. She may have thought it was the priest’s job. But the end result was the same. I left…wasn’t a place or people I wanted to be around.

Of course now that I know differently…well it’s my responsiblity. But boy some kindness would have gone a long way…
 
ac_claire said:
First of all, this “holier than though attitude” that you’re talking about is not an objective reality. It’s *always *entirely in your head and it’s how *you *perceive other people. It’s how *you *are judging them.

It has no power to drive people away from the Church. Other peoples’ perceived “attitudes” have absolutely no power to drive people away from their faith.

If people leave a particular church or the Church as a whole, they’ve done it because of their own reasons, period.

Secondly…I know it’s long, but I suggest you look through this thread:

Why do so many Catholics act so superior?

If you can’t read the whole thing, then just from a quick look through, I recommend reading post #3, which specifically addresses your concern. And then posts #130 or so to through the end.
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oh…so we are not responsible for how we act…ok…great…got it…thanks. Now I can act any way I want.👍
 
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