Leaving Our Parish

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You didn’t deserve to have this happen to you. Your deacon was way out of line. May God bless you and yours.
 
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havemercy:
Report him to your Bishop. Case closed.
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Not always.
 
I would attend Mass from now on in uniform, and encourage any other service members in your parish to do the same
 
Maybe you could suggest to him that he find another line of work. It sounds like he would make a very good left-wing congressman. Comments like those have no place in a homily.
 
Nichevo,

Thank you for your service. 👍 I too would attend in uniform.

Contact your Priest, then your Bishop. You should not have to put up with this. :mad:
 
First thanks for all of your responses, and Mea Culpa on the use of the Gaelicized expletive while it may have violated the rules, it was the most clear means to express the content of his homily. Insofar as contacting our Pastor, I received a reply two weeks after I sent him a letter; it was an e-mail telling me that I didn’t hear to homily the same way he heard it. That was all. Never mind the fact that it wasn’t what one would call a homily at all. (i.e. no exegesis, no hermeneutic, no mention of the Gospel whatsoever.)

I should have added that this was the straw that broke the camels back. This Deacon has made numerous homilies of a political nature in the past and, combined with the progressive agenda of others in the parish, it has become quite an inhospitable place. My wife summed it up best, she goes to Mass to feel loved and uplifted, she left that day feeling unloved and unwanted.

I’m sorry that part of this thread turned into a political debate. I know that there are strong opinions here. What I was trying to do was draw attention to the fact that there is a very politicized element to our clergy who seem to have focused on an agenda and forgotten about their flock.
 
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Nichevo:
First thanks for all of your responses, and Mea Culpa on the use of the Gaelicized expletive while it may have violated the rules, it was the most clear means to express the content of his homily. Insofar as contacting our Pastor, I received a reply two weeks after I sent him a letter; it was an e-mail telling me that I didn’t hear to homily the same way he heard it. That was all. Never mind the fact that it wasn’t what one would call a homily at all. (i.e. no exegesis, no hermeneutic, no mention of the Gospel whatsoever.)
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Why am I not surprised! :rolleyes:
I should have added that this was the straw that broke the camels back. This Deacon has made numerous homilies of a political nature in the past and, combined with the progressive agenda of others in the parish, it has become quite an inhospitable place. My wife summed it up best, she goes to Mass to feel loved and uplifted, she left that day feeling unloved and unwanted.
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This is so ironic considering that modernists in the Church just love to fawn all over people to make them feel loved and wanted more than they want to preach the plain old Gospel. You are well out of that parish. But I do hope you aren’t giving up on the Church because of this. 😦 There must be another parish close enough for you to attend that isn’t infested with leaders like your current parish.
I’m sorry that part of this thread turned into a political debate. I know that there are strong opinions here. What I was trying to do was draw attention to the fact that there is a very politicized element to our clergy who seem to have focused on an agenda and forgotten about their flock.
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We have been known to turn almost any thread into a political debate here, so don’t worry about it. 😉 😃

Yes, there is a very policitized element that is more in love with the spirit of the age than with Christ and his Church. But, there are truly wonderful priests and deacons out there, too. You may have to do a bit of parish hopping to find them, but believe me they’re there. God bless you and your family! 👍
 
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Nichevo:
So we’ve decided to leave our parish. This all stems from a homily made a few weeks ago by one of the Deacons assigned to our parish. Deacon ___ is pretty well known for his anti-Bush anti-war stance. In other homilies he has been critical of the war. This time though he went beyond the pale. He opened his homily by telling the story of the strong nationalism in Argentina prior to the Falkland Islands war with the United Kingdom in 1982. He went on to talk about how much nicer and less nationalistic Argentina was after they lost the war. It was easy to see the not-so-subtle comparison he was trying to make. Once the US stops being so mean and full of nationalism, jingoism, and xenophobia, the world will be happy and we will have learned an important lesson. What a crock EDIT

He then went on to insult those of us in uniform by offering juvenile psychoanalysis of those who join the military attributing their motivation to “dreams of glory.” His basis for this judgement is that this was the reason he joined the military. He then expressed remorse and hoped that anyone he shot at when he was in the military wasn’t harmed by his bullets.

The arrogance of this man is amazing. He knows nothing about me or anyone else who is presently serving. he knows nothing of our motivations so he makes broad sweeping judgements. First, if I were in a unit with him, I’d do my best to get him sent elsewhere. No one wants a glory hound nearby, they tend to attract bullets. Second, every single Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Coast-Guardsman, etc, comes to the service with their own story and their own reasons. Finally, while he may feel remorse for sending rounds downrange, I doubt highly that his opponents had or have similar feelings of remorse. His harangue should have been given from a couch to his therapist not from a pulpit to a congregation.

The homily had absolutely nothing to do with the Gospel, not that it seems ___ would let something as minor as the Gospel interfere with what was really important, expressing his opinion. The intentions were also a piece of work as we only prayed for those servicemen and women who asked for our prayers, not for all of them. Way to be inclusive ____! If I recall correctly, Jesus was moved by the faith of the Centurion yet, if it were up to ___ and other clergy like him, they would have instead lectured the Centurion on being a part of the oppressive, imperialist, colonial occupiers of Judea and sent him on his way.
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Niether priest nor deacon would try this in our parish–it’s a military town – besides two of the three deacons are retired military!!
Micki
 
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Confiteor:
You’ve probably heard this before. Some find corny, but mostly because it is SO true:

"It is the soldier, not the theologian, who has secured our freedom of religion.

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has secured our freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the protestor, who has secured our freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the judge or the lawyer, who has secured our judicial system.

It is the soldier, not the entrepreneur, who has secured our economic opportunity.

It is the soldier, whose coffin is draped in the flag, who has secured freedom for those who wish to burn the flag.

Without those who have been willing to sacrifice for the cause of liberty, none of the freedoms mentioned above would be possible."

Ditto for clergy who mouth off at the ambo…
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Cool!
 
Della,

Not to worry, we’ve no intention of abandoning our Faith. We will be attending a nearby Parish that has already made us feel welcome. The Pastor there is Fr. Ken Brighenti, one of the co-authors, along with Fr. John Trigilio, of Catholicism for Dummies.
 
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Nichevo:
Della,

Not to worry, we’ve no intention of abandoning our Faith. We will be attending a nearby Parish that has already made us feel welcome. The Pastor there is Fr. Ken Brighenti, one of the co-authors, along with Fr. John Trigilio, of Catholicism for Dummies.
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Now I’m envious! Good thing I’m going to confession this evening! 😃
 
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Nichevo:
First thanks for all of your responses, and Mea Culpa on the use of the Gaelicized expletive while it may have violated the rules, it was the most clear means to express the content of his homily. Insofar as contacting our Pastor, I received a reply two weeks after I sent him a letter; it was an e-mail telling me that I didn’t hear to homily the same way he heard it. That was all. Never mind the fact that it wasn’t what one would call a homily at all. (i.e. no exegesis, no hermeneutic, no mention of the Gospel whatsoever.)
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There is always a chance we could hear things wrong, but homilists should be mindful of that- particularly when discussing such sensitive issues. No doubt the deacon knew there must be people in the parish who are in the military or have been in it, and support the military. Condemning the military to protest the war- whether it is just or not- is not the way to go. If a soldier refuses to go to war, he gets cort marshalled and likely put in prison. I hope the bishop is more sympathetic than the pastor was.
I should have added that this was the straw that broke the camels back. This Deacon has made numerous homilies of a political nature in the past and, combined with the progressive agenda of others in the parish, it has become quite an inhospitable place. My wife summed it up best, she goes to Mass to feel loved and uplifted, she left that day feeling unloved and unwanted.
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While you should not go to Mass because of what you get out of it, this does not sound like a good parish for any Catholic who takes their faith seriously and loves the teachings of the Church as they are- without the need to change them.
I’m sorry that part of this thread turned into a political debate. I know that there are strong opinions here. What I was trying to do was draw attention to the fact that there is a very politicized element to our clergy who seem to have focused on an agenda and forgotten about their flock.
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I agree. The Church is neither liberal nor conservative. It simply is the Church. There are some teachings that some conservatives may think are too liberal, and there are some that some liberals may think are too conservative. Priests who try to push a political agenda- of either type- are not helping anybody and are hurting many.
 
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Nichevo:
I should have added that this was the straw that broke the camels back. This Deacon has made numerous homilies of a political nature in the past and, combined with the progressive agenda of others in the parish, it has become quite an inhospitable place. My wife summed it up best, she goes to Mass to feel loved and uplifted, she left that day feeling unloved and unwanted.

I’m sorry that part of this thread turned into a political debate. I know that there are strong opinions here. What I was trying to do was draw attention to the fact that there is a very politicized element to our clergy who seem to have focused on an agenda and forgotten about their flock.
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It’s worse than forgetting about the flock - it’s forgetting about God. The purpose of Mass is to offer worship to God; to enter into communion with God. To the extent there is instruction it is to draw the congregation into a deeper relationship with God. Despite the views of many on these threads, politics, IMHO, rarely has much of anything to do with God. Another fruit of the “Spirit of VII” I’m afraid.
 
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