I'm against church shopping

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Jimsdun said:
As a “commuter Catholic” myself, I suppose I could explain and justify some of the reasons for that:
  1. Parish boundaries are arbitrary.
  2. Most of the parishioners in my “local” parish are commuters from other parts of town.
  3. Not comfortable with the evangelical megachurch worship style of my “local” parish…
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Ditto on all accounts. I actually attend my nearest parish, in another city. It was the best decision I could have made.
 
Joe_5859 said:
I’m disappointed no one responded to my earlier point. 😦 😉

Sometimes, remaining in your “local” parish can foster a “protestant” attitude as well. People become so entrenched in their parish that, if it should need to close (as many parishes will continue to do in the coming years), those people are at a loss. For them, their parish is THE Church. Sadly, I’ve seen many such people simply stop attending Mass because they lost thier parish. It’s important to realize that the Church is bigger than one parish.
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I think you have a very good point. I think sometimes we forget that parishes are not in competition with each other.

Personally, that is one of the great joys of being Catholic, being part of a worldwide universal church. I spent the last year living in Korea, and even though I couldn’t understand a word that the priest was saying, I still felt that I was “going home” at every Mass, since it is all one Catholic church.
 
I wouldn’t be as spiritual as I am now if I stayed at my previous hippie parish. :cool:
 
jay29 said:
I wouldn’t be as spiritual as I am now if I stayed at my previous hippie parish. :cool:
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👍
For nearly a year, I attended 2 different parishes and observed which one should I be a member of. I finally picked one and the parish has helped me so much with my spirituality. That is SaintWilliams.org
 
Wait a minute.

How can THE guy who is all about following HMC and NEVER substituting his own opinions over the teaching of HMC be against something HMC says is OK?

Also, Ethelzguy, the other thread got pulled because I called you a fruitloop and a nutbag, not for any content reasons.

You still have the burden of explaining yourself on that score, and I don’t mean explaining yourself to anyone on the internet.
 
😃 I love church shopping. I keep searching until I can get a real deal. last time out I found a “buy 1 get 1 free” deal…can you believe it??? ok, so I don’t need 2 chruches, who does, but it’s nice to have a spare and I did give the 2nd one away to a friend who did not have one.

So I say, “YES!” to church shopping.😃
 
I’ll admit here, I’ve never seen some of the weird things people here describe that goes on in some Masses. I wasn’t really talking about that when I posted my thread.

I was talking about the more petty reasons that I’ve seen people haul their family long distances to go to church.
 
Howard_Roark said:
How can THE guy who is all about following HMC and NEVER substituting his own opinions over the teaching of HMC be against something HMC says is OK?

**I am not accusing a priest of abuse or being excommunicated, nor am I accusing a bishop of being indifferent, nor am I calling the Pope a heretic, as seems to be the custom on many TC threads.

We’re discussing the OP “I’m against Church Shopping”. Yes, church shopping is allowed. We are discussing the pros and cons, not complaining or calling the Church or her clergy names.

It appears that we have concluded that on one hand it can cause division, while on the other it can be fruitful to the spiritual nurturing of some.

Unless, of course, you are trying to hijack the thread here?**

Also, Ethelzguy, the other thread got pulled because I called you a fruitloop and a nutbag, not for any content reasons.

As I am not a moderator, I can’t speak to the specific reason that it was pulled, and besides it’s against forum rules.
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ethelzguy said:
And that, friends, is the definition of Church Shopping. 👍
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You know, I think church shopping is when you duck in for Mass once and decide the music or the architecture isn’t good enough for you, or hear one or two misguided homilies and conclude the parish has a “bad” priest…you get the picture. The other Catholics who attend there are too rich or too poor or wear crucifixes in public or don’t, drive the wrong kind of cars, don’t dress the way you like, have the wrong politics, or whatever.

Church shopping is like being some sort of wine snob with regards to parishes. It is not about realizing that the pastor is more of an occasion of sin than an occasion of virtue. It is not about realizing that there is a bunch of strife that God is going not asking you to take on single-handedly. It is not about realizing that the place is a danger to the spiritual formation of your children.

IOW, refusing to treat vinegar and wine as the same thing is not snobbish. Neither is realizing that you are vinegar for the other parishioners in the parish you are in.

In spite of my own prejudices, even distracting architecture is a good enough reason to change parishes. It all has to do with whether you change to serve yourself better or change in order to serve God better. There are perfectly good reasons for changing parishes, and the average Catholic is totally capable of discerning what those are. That is why it is allowed without any dispensation.
 
ethelzguy said:
Depends on your point of view. Some think it’s good, others feel differently.

Bottom line, the Church while not promoting it, does allow it.

🙂
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ah, in my case, I believe it is good not only for me but for those whom I serve. My decision on deciding a parish wasn’t easy for few accounts: 1) I was new in town 2) I wasn’t familiar with all prayers in English … but I had decided to go for the parish … it took me some time to learn how to pray the Rosary and other things in English…but it is worth it. 3) few other matters that I don’t need to mention here as the thread might go off topic.

Some people are against switching church but wait until they have to make the same decision … as a few had to…then they have a better understanding.
 
I find a certain irony in the fact that, many of the folks who avidly defend “exercising their right” to “church shop”, are the very same folks who criticize the clergy who “exercise their right” to dispense communion in the hand, utilize EMHCs, allow guitars and drums in Mass, or use the Glory and Praise/Gather hymnals, etc., adnauseum.

:whistle: :whistle: :whistle:
 
lovesMary said:
I agree. If people leave then the local parish weakens. It ends up hurting the community more. I’m philosophically opposed to that. Even if we, ourselves, don’t have the time or tempermant to be a leader towards change, we will be there to follow when a leader arises.
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I agree with you. One thing we all have to remember. It is not about us! We are so Graced to be able to go to Mass period. I understand our human weakness to think about ourselves and what makes US happy. And we forget (including myself) many times, its about the Eucharist. What God did for us,. I believe you are living in your area for a reason seeing your joyful obedience and worship in any parish. Ask for God’s will, not our own. If there is things you don’t agree with in your parish, God sees it too. It is our calling to be the light around others The cross may not always feel comfortable. Remember what it means. Thanks lovesMary…you bring up a great subject.
 
lovesMary said:
I was talking about the more petty reasons that I’ve seen people haul their family long distances to go to church.
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You are right. The reason can make a big difference. If one is in a parish with a recalcitrant priest who is always doing things his way, then** not** supporting him may be what it takes to strengthen a parish. The question should always be how one can be most of service.
 
The other Catholics who attend there are too rich or too poor or wear crucifixes in public or don’t, drive the wrong kind of cars, don’t dress the way you like, have the wrong politics, or whatever. -EasterJoy

I don’t think you have worry about posters on CA “shopping” due to those isues. It’s liturgical and doctrinal.
 
I think we live in dangerous times–dangerous for our souls, that is.

Has it hit you yet? Gay marriage is now legal. My God.

Fifty years ago this would have been unthinkable. Now it’s those of us who are against this law that are “unthinkable.” I’m sure eventually we’ll be locked away as “mentally ill” because we are opposed to gay marriage.

Perhaps in the past we could all be assured that our faith would stand up for an entire lifetime, but now, we are constantly attacked spiritually. Things have changed so much in 50 years. Our kids used to be safe at church or in the home of any Christian or Jew. Now, they face things that I didn’t even know existed until I was almost 18!

So IMO, as long as the Church has declared it OK, we may as well shop around for a parish that will best equip us against these attacks. We need to make it to heaven and use every weapon in our arsenal to ward off Satan and his demons. If going to Parish A is going to help you get there, then for heaven’s sake (literally!) go to Parish A! The Church says it, I believe it, that settles it! (A phrase borrowed and adapted from evangelical Protestantism!)
 
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