My Parish Preist said

[kenosha]

During an informal meeting in the church tonight between our pastor and some parents and teachers of the religious ed classes . Our pastor said " I swear to God" during his talk. It really bothered me. Am I being overly sensitive? Also when walking past the tabernacle he did not genuflect. this happened a few times during the evening. This bothered me even more.
I pray for him and all of our priest daily and I am very thankful we have him we need our priest. I am just really bothered by what i saw and heard

 

[jwinch2]

I can’t speak to the first part other than to say that I do not think you are supposed to do that.

As for the second, your pastor would be in a position to know whether or not the consecrated host was being reserved in the tabernacle or not at any given time. If it isn’t, that may be why he did not feel the need to genuflect.

 

[kenosha]

As for the second, your pastor would be in a position to know whether or not the consecrated host was being reserved in the tabernacle or not at any given time. If it isn’t, that may be why he did not feel the need to genuflect.

I do not know why our Lord would not of been present, as the door was shut and the light was on.
I do like what you said though ,it is comforting to think the best of our priest

 

[CatholicRaven]

His words were probably unintentional; just a slip of the tongue–or, depending on the talk, he may have been making a point. After all, priests are human beings, too, and they do make mistakes. But if it continues to bother you, perhaps you should mention it to him privately.

As for walking in front of the Tabernacle without genuflecting, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. I would presume that most probably, the Eucharist was not present in it at that time (especially as a meeting was scheduled there), and since he’s the priest, he would be aware of that. But again, if it bothers you, you could simply ask him about it.

Either way, keep praying! Our priests and religious can certainly always use our prayers–they have a very difficult job in guiding us human beings, especially being human themselves.

ETA: I should probably have read the responses before posting, as it seems Jwinch already said this, lol.

 

[Spider42]

It is worth noting that the presence of the Lord is not the only criteria. For example, if your priest was carrying a copy of the Gospels, he is not supposed to genuflect (Ceremonial of Bishops #70).

Yes, “I swear to God” is a practice to be avoided (CCC 2149), but if the use was neither a false oath or an attempt at magic, it wasn’t a direct offense against the 2nd Commandment.

Personally, I follow Jesuit spiritual exercises. By the time I’ve finished the Examen, I’m so busy contemplating my own, always numerous, failures as a Christian for any given day that I seldom worry about those of others. But if you feel compelled in this matter, the Catechism quotes St. Ignatius of Loyola’s advice on how to approach it:

"To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:

<<Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.>>" - CCC 2478, quoting St. Ignatius of Loyola

Priests definitely need our prayers. They carry heavy burdens that we can easily fail to understand. There is a Director of Spiritual Development at a Seminary that I have known quite a few years. A truly passionate and giving member of the ordinary. One day, as luck would have it, he rear ended my car. As I walked back to exchange info, he let out a torrent of abuse and obscenity that would have shamed a sailor. For a moment, my cheeks turned red in anger, but I swallowed it and simply ducked my head down so he could see me clearly and said “Father, it’s me.”

He burst into tears. He had been at the hospital with a family while the husband died of cancer and was late for still another funeral. His car got the worst of it, so we parked it and I drove him. While he was in the Mass, I made arrangements to get his car towed.

Every situation is different, but it occurs to me if your priest is frustrated to the point of explitives and harried enough that he possibly skips formalities of the misal, then perhaps he needs more help with his burdens and prayers of support than spiritual instruction.

Pax Christi

 

[kenosha]

if your priest is frustrated to the point of explitives and harried enough that he possibly skips formalities of the misal, then perhaps he needs more help with his burdens and prayers of support than spiritual instruction.

no it was not even a serious point he was making when he said those words. and I think his failure to genuflect to the Tabernacle is just an example of his very relaxed attitude twards reverence.

Personally, I follow Jesuit spiritual exercises. By the time I’ve finished the Examen, I’m so busy contemplating my own, always numerous, failures as a Christian for any given day that I seldom worry about those of others. But if you feel compelled in this matter, the Catechism quotes St. Ignatius of Loyola’s advice on how to approach it:

Do you have any links to this It would do me good. I find myself very bothered when priest do not show [in my opinion] proper reverence. I do not want to judge. I do want to look to priest to show me how to act though.

 

[Joy2day]

Hey Spider42, what do you think are examples of such heavy burdens that priests carry that we might fail to understand?