Name something weird you heard in a homily

[BarbaraTherese]

Quoting SBriton

This idea many Catholics have that Purgatory is a desirable place and their goal in life speaks to their lack of commitment to following Christ. It’s like saying I’ll do the least I have to do to just squeak into Heaven. Sad.

I think probably the majority of Catholics rather view Purgatory as a place to be grateful for, rather than a directly desirable place and a goal in life since this would be directly contrary to The Gospel. We are grateful for Purgatory since we clearly realize just how far short we do fall of following Christ…which does not mean at all that there is not continual and applied effort and striving, trying to follow Him.
Rather our gratitude for Purgatory speaks to a certain humility and insight of a spiritual and theological reality and indeed a human one re human nature. We do ardently desire Heaven and hope actively to be there…while realizing in every probability it is only through God’s Loving Mercy (of which Purgatory is an expression) that we will get there.
Purgatory is not proclaimed by The Church as a gloomy place, it is a place of a certain type of joy since the Holy Souls in Purgatory do know that their final destination is Heaven.

Barb

 

[Elizabeth502]

I’m not sure about in a homily…

There was one time in confession I had the priest say to me

“these are all venial sins - don’t you have any mortal sins? Haven’t you masterbated?”

I was pretty shocked - I couldn’t believe it!..and when I told him honestly that I hadn’t he acted like he didn’t believe me.

I thought that was weird to say the least Was the priest out of line?

I think this is completely & utterly improper – UNLESS the penitent asks for help with a “list” or guidance for all common mortal sins or something. Fr David Richards, in his CD Conefssions, states that he offers penitents the options of “The Questions” if they want those: Thus, “Have you lied? Have you done this, have you done that…etc.” He covers all 10 commandments in those questions, not just sins against the 6th Commandment!

And the fact that the priest acted incredulous is even more improper. I would have been very upset. Not just the nature of the question, but any sin. Thus, if he said out of the blue, “Are you sure you haven’t beaten your children?” (Without any insinuation or prompt from me, inspiring such a question.) That would have made me very upset. It would have been a breach of trust in its implications (‘You liar’), when the atmosphere of the confessional is supposedly to admit of ultimate trust & belief, from both parties.

In my opinion, his question and his response show a fixation or obsession on his part. (Projection, maybe?)

Wow.

Keep in mind that another thing that Fr. Richards says on that CD is that 'There are a lot of screwed-up priests. PLEASE do not worship priests." We had a priest in a local parish recently – a high-profile parish and a high-profile priest because of his clear personality disorder, the destructive path he carved, leaving “bodies” here, there, & everywhere, and the frequency with which his Order moves him around the country. (He’s recently had his 3rd move in 2 yrs.) What characterized his approach toward people, among other memorable features, was his very unfortunate cynicism about human nature. When you talked to him privately, he had a horrible view of people, almost depraved. He also had a sadistic streak in him. I would NEVER have gone to confession to such a priest, but I don’t put it past some priests to bring those attitudes into the confessional. That is a person who has lost his vocation, i.m.o. (Or never had it.)

Now, Fr. Richards admits to disliking intensely hearing routine, poorly prepared confessions from seemingly lukewarm believers. Hardly a rewarding moment for a well-trained, sincere priest. But he does know how to encourage the conscience & applies that in the confessional, to transform the experience & hopefully the penitent. (So the proper response is not cynicism & accusation; the response should be handling the situation creatively, which priests are trained to do.)

 

[Elizabeth502]

LOL, I could actually top kaws’ example, but if I posted this on the forum (it is indeed a true story of a confession experience of mine), no one would believe me: that’s how shocking it is. It is straight from the kind of things that happened in the Middle Ages. It would not be considered believable if submitted as a script.

So, since the original question was about what you heard in a homily, not a confession, I’ll say that probably the weirdest thing was an entire homily from a practicing priest about what a great experience it was to be a gay priest and come out and have a gay lover, & how great he feels about his sexual experiences with his lover, & how he has no intention of changing his lifestyle one bit. That was 10 or 12 yrs. ago (in the same high-profile parish, but a diff. priest) Since that talk was almost simultaneous with the departure of a straight priest who felt bound to actually abstain from sexual activity before leaving to marry, the infamous homily I refer to was the source of enormous anger in the parish, due to the flaunting of gay sex at the expense of straight sex. Not a high point in the Roman Catholic Church.

I’ll look up to see if the priest that delivered the shameful homily is still validly practicing.

 

[kaws]

LOL, I could actually top kaws’ example, but if I posted this on the forum (it is indeed a true story of a confession experience of mine), no one would believe me: that’s how shocking it is. It is straight from the kind of things that happened in the Middle Ages. It would not be considered believable if submitted as a script.

OK. I’m curious now.

And the fact that the priest acted incredulous is even more improper. I would have been very upset. Not just the nature of the question, but any sin. Thus, if he said out of the blue, “Are you sure you haven’t beaten your children?” (Without any insinuation or prompt from me, inspiring such a question.) That would have made me very upset. It would have been a breach of trust in its implications (‘You liar’), when the atmosphere of the confessional is supposedly to admit of ultimate trust & belief, from both parties.

I don’t think I said anything in the confession to prompt the question., and no I didn’t ask the priest durig the confession for a list of sins or help reviewing my conscience. I did try to give a serious and legit review of my conscience before going into the confessional. It did kind of seem to me like masturbation was his “pet peeve” sin. It did strike me out of the blue as much as if he had asked about beating my children (and no I don’t do that either ). Giving the benefit of the doubt to the priest it was right before Easter and there had been a big line so maybe he had heard lots of people confess the sin of masturbation that day or something. He also at the time had been going through some personal turmoil dealing with the death of his nephew, so I suppose that could have thrown him off. I had been very bothered by this one time event until WithWind had made some good points. Still I think the approach should have been handled differently and much more tactfully!

I’ll say that probably the weirdest thing was an entire homily from a practicing priest about what a great experience it was to be a gay priest and come out and have a gay lover, & how great he feels about his sexual experiences with his lover, & how he has no intention of changing his lifestyle one bit.

Priests are to be celibate whether they are sexually oriented towards heterosexuality or homosexuality. If he admitted to having a homosexual orientation that would not necessarily be wrong in my opinion as long as he remained celibate and didn’t intentionally misrepresent or condone disobeying the church’s stance on homosexual sex from the pulpit. I can’t believe he would have the nerve to be so brazenly outspoken and proud of contradicting the position of the Catholic Church from the pulpit! Why even become a Catholic priest?

Even if it were a sermon from a married straight preacher at a protestant church, I don’t think it is appropriate and wouldn’t really want to hear anyone, straight or gay, give a sermon about their great sex life

 

[Elizabeth502]

as long as he remained celibate and didn’t intentionally misrepresent or condone disobeying the church’s stance on homosexual sex from the pulpit. I can’t believe he would have the nerve to be so brazenly outspoken and proud of contradicting the position of the Catholic Church from the pulpit! Why even become a Catholic priest?

The bolded words would be “wrong” to me if there was no context for them. Let’s take it out of homosexuality for a moment. If a straight priest were to provide an entire homily about his sex life even prior to the priesthood, it would not be relevant without a context. This homily of the reported priest was simply grandstanding. There was no “event” that day, that week, that month, pertaining to the congregation as a whole, such as, “Well, folks, World AIDS days is coming up. Please remember not to persecute your fellow gays. We are all one in Christ, & as some of you may know or may have guessed, I myself am gay, though naturally I am, just like heterosexual priests, bound by complete abstinence – not only in physical relations, but in exclusive romantic attachments, which violate the inclusive spirit of celibacy.”

But this was not the context, kaws, and without a context, your “personal story” is inappropriate when it (1) causes scandal (2) confuses the listeners or (3) is off-topic from any spiritual message indicated by the feast, the readings, or events which call for a Christian response.

The priests at this parish (the good ones, the prayerful ones – & there have been several) have from time to time woven mini-testimonials into their homilies to emphasize or illustrate their central theme in the homily. But never have those moments of self-revelation descended into inappropriate intimacies.

This priest spent his entire assignment at that church “living out” his personal Coming Out. That is about as non-ministerial as it can get, being an abuse of the priesthood. I could see him choosing a gay ministry in or out of the parish as a constructive personal vehicle, while simultaneously ministering to the entire congregation about non-sexual and universal issues.

I.m.o, the reason he did not have a vocation was not he was not, at least during the time I was acquainted with him in this parish, oriented toward service of others – unless it was one narrow segment of the population. (And this was/is NOT a church with a large gay component.)

I checked, did a search, and cannot find him as a priest with a current assignment beyond the time period I’m referring to, so perhaps he saw the light & realized that he has not a vocation on 2 counts: he’s not prepared to be an inclusive minister; he is not prepared to honor his promise of celibacy. He also, by the way, is very in-your-face toward authority, so that would be the 3rd disqualifier for priesthood.

 

[Elizabeth502]

^^ …or another possibility is that he was shown the door, but I have no information about that.

Unfortunately, because of recent priest shortages over the last 15 years, too many inappropriate vocations have been allowed to subsist merely to 'fill the ranks." It has backfired, as it has spawned a greater exodus in many cases, of priests who are more fit for the priesthood & have been discouraged by the numerous double-standards. (Hey, if you have personality disorders which cripple you from ministering to others, no problem: we’ll put you in a high-profile spot. If you are physically acting out your “gay priesthood,” no problem. BUT, if you are straight & want a woman, just suppress your appetites & deal with it.)

 

[kaws]

Let’s take it out of homosexuality for a moment. If a straight priest were to provide an entire homily about his sex life even prior to the priesthood, it would not be relevant without a context. This homily of the reported priest was simply grandstanding. There was no “event” that day, that week, that month, pertaining to the congregation as a whole, such as, “Well, folks, World AIDS days is coming up. Please remember not to persecute your fellow gays. We are all one in Christ, & as some of you may know or may have guessed, I myself am gay, though naturally I am, just like heterosexual priests, bound by complete abstinence – not only in physical relations, but in exclusive romantic attachments, which violate the inclusive spirit of celibacy.”

But this was not the context, kaws, and without a context, your “personal story” is inappropriate when it (1) causes scandal (2) confuses the listeners or (3) is off-topic from any spiritual message indicated by the feast, the readings, or events which call for a Christian response.

The priests at this parish (the good ones, the prayerful ones – & there have been several) have from time to time woven mini-testimonials into their homilies to emphasize or illustrate their central theme in the homily. But never have those moments of self-revelation descended into inappropriate intimacies.

I agree that it should be within a context. I see nothing wrong or contradictory to Church teaching with your hypothetical example of a sermon, although I suspect that there may be more than a few people people that would find even it to be scandalous or confusing because it leans to much towards “tolerance”. (Note: I would not share this view).

Our priest often uses personal examples as illustrations and I think it makes his sermons much better and more relevant, but they are always relevant and appropriate.

I agree that this priest you mentioned was WAY OUT OF LINE!

I could see him choosing a gay ministry in or out of the parish as a constructive personal vehicle, while simultaneously ministering to the entire congregation about non-sexual and universal issues.

Gay ministry might have been a good personal outreach, but on the other hand might have been more difficult by putting himself directly in the path of temptation…Either way yes it is important for him to care for the needs of all of the congregation.

 

[joe_clark]

I think that the only thing that Masons have in common with Communists is that they don’t like us.

I vent my frustrations with you folks, but I stick with my parish. It’s not fair that a priest’s misbehavior turns sour my masses, but maybe that’s what I need to build my Christian character.

From what I’ve read on the subject this may not be true because someone along the way decided that the Masons were anti-Catholic. Just a note: There are Catholics that are Masons, some that I know in my church. From what I have learned to become a Mason, you must believe in God. Nothing scary here?
Aren’t the Knights of Columbus a direct response and a mirror of the Masons? Just want to know what others think:shrug:

 

[happymommy]

Wow, mine is not that good after reading all of these…the only thing different I’ve ever heard in church came from a priest that would fill in for us from time to time. He was a short, rather round fellow and he referred to himself as the “Pillsbury Padre” and when he would get to the front of the church before he would start the service he would go “HEHE” like the Pillsbury dough boy does…,one time, at the end of Mass, he pulled out a Terrible Towel and waved it back and forth the whole way up the aisle, we are about an hour north of Pittsburgh and the Steelers were playing that day…he liked to make people laugh. I guess some would have a problem with that. I always thought he was a sweet old priest. Very kind and very happy…“HEHE”

 

[distracted]

All women are tabernacles toward whom men should genuflect.

are you being sarcastic or facetious?

What about women like Jezebel?

or the Mayflower Madam (etc, etc.)?

 

[distracted]

I’m not sure about in a homily…

There was one time in confession I had the priest say to me

“these are all venial sins - don’t you have any mortal sins? Haven’t you masterbated?”

I was pretty shocked - I couldn’t believe it!..and when I told him honestly that I hadn’t he acted like he didn’t believe me.

I thought that was weird to say the least Was the priest out of line?

i don’t think the priest was out of line, unless he had some weird angry tone of voice or something…

Self-gratification (my word for that m- thing ) is a common sin that NO ONE wants to admit to… God made us sexual beings so it stands to reason that those who aren’t married would have this weakness… and even some who ARe…

anyway… I do think it was out of line for him to question you when you said you weren’t guilty of that one…

Also: I wish everyone would admit that such a thing really IS a mortal sin… I have told people this & (most Protestants) don’t seem to think its a “big one”… I think even that guy who runs Focus on the Family said it was not that big a deal… but … well, he’s Protestant…

 

[KCT]

The priest told this joke . . .

“Someone asked me once if it’s OK to have sex before Mass. I told them yes, as long as they don’t block the isle.”

That, along w/ many other off the wall comments, helped us decide to find another parish.

 

[kaws]

i don’t think the priest was out of line, unless he had some weird angry tone of voice or something…

Self-gratification (my word for that m- thing ) is a common sin that NO ONE wants to admit to… God made us sexual beings so it stands to reason that those who aren’t married would have this weakness… and even some who ARe…

anyway… I do think it was out of line for him to question you when you said you weren’t guilty of that one…

Also: I wish everyone would admit that such a thing really IS a mortal sin… I have told people this & (most Protestants) don’t seem to think its a “big one”… I think even that guy who runs Focus on the Family said it was not that big a deal… but … well, he’s Protestant…

I wasn’t meaning to imply that self-gratification is not a sin.

 

[phil8888]

Wow, mine is not that good after reading all of these…the only thing different I’ve ever heard in church came from a priest that would fill in for us from time to time. He was a short, rather round fellow and he referred to himself as the “Pillsbury Padre” and when he would get to the front of the church before he would start the service he would go “HEHE” like the Pillsbury dough boy does…,one time, at the end of Mass, he pulled out a Terrible Towel and waved it back and forth the whole way up the aisle, we are about an hour north of Pittsburgh and the Steelers were playing that day…he liked to make people laugh. I guess some would have a problem with that. I always thought he was a sweet old priest. Very kind and very happy…“HEHE”

hahaha, that’s really funny

 

[kimaz]

Generally speaking my priest gives great homilies so the strangest thing I’ve heard would be one of the many stories he as told. Apparently at one point during his life before the priesthood he rode around the country on a salmon colored (not pink!) bike for a year or so. Don’t recall what the homily was about…though the story was totally relevant. I just found it funny…he’s got quite a lot of stories especially considering he’s really not that old.

 

[nilofc]

Years ago, when I was a teenager, my parents had a cabin in the Poconos. When we were there we would go to the local parish for Mass. Before each Mass the priest would stand before the congregation, microphone in hand, and tell a couple of jokes like he was doing a stand-up routine. As far as I can remember, the jokes were always light-hearted and funny, and Catholic-related. He would then exit to the sacristy and Mass would begin as normal.

I didn’t think much about it at the time, but looking back it seems a bit strange.

That’s a bit strange. I don’t know why someone will use the altar to do some comedic routines. The altar deserves our utmost respect and reverence. All clergy kisses the altar before the mass.

 

[distracted]

So, since the original question was about what you heard in a homily, not a confession, I’ll say that probably the weirdest thing was an entire homily from a practicing priest about what a great experience it was to be a gay priest and come out and have a gay lover, & how great he feels about his sexual experiences with his lover, & how he has no intention of changing his lifestyle one bit.
I’ll look up to see if the priest that delivered the shameful homily is still validly practicing.

what angers me is that priests seem to be un-fire- able!!

They can do whatever, say wahtever… and the bishop never makes them “step down” or whatever you call it…

 

[distracted]

It did kind of seem to me like masturbation was his “pet peeve” sin.

it is probably the pet peeve sin of all priests because they all are tempted in that sin. How do i know “all”??? because i am female & have lived without any healthy outlet for my sexual feelings for many, many years. No person who has lived alone for many years can tell me s/he isn’t tempted by that sin. I would never buy it. I am not tempted by it nearly as much as in the beginning of my celibacy but whatever…

I don’t believe men have a higher sex drive than women… but assuming that might be the case…(& even if NOT assuming it…) I am sure priests endure this temptation on a regular basis… God made us sexual creatures… that’s why i think a man should be a priest only for a set # of years and then maybe he should be allowed to pursue marriage or something (just a half-baked thought…)…

I don’t think it is appropriate and wouldn’t really want to hear anyone, straight or gay, give a sermon about their great sex life

***FOR SURE!!! ***

 

[kaws]

it is probably the pet peeve sin of all priests because they all are tempted in that sin. How do i know “all”??? because i am female & have lived without any healthy outlet for my sexual feelings for many, many years. No person who has lived alone for many years can tell me s/he isn’t tempted by that sin. I would never buy it. I am not tempted by it nearly as much as in the beginning of my celibacy but whatever…

I don’t believe men have a higher sex drive than women… but assuming that might be the case…(& even if NOT assuming it…) I am sure priests endure this temptation on a regular basis… God made us sexual creatures… that’s why i think a man should be a priest only for a set # of years and then maybe he should be allowed to pursue marriage or something (just a half-baked thought…)… ]

I am sure it is a temptation for many priests and for many single and married people as well. I would be lying if I said it is a sin I’ve never committed:blush: , I’m married, but even when I was single it wasn’t much of a temptation for me most of the time.

I don’t know if it is true that women have a lesser sex drive than men as a generality, but I think I personally have a much lower sex drive than most people of either gender. For me the emotional aspects of sex arouse me much more than physical and I have somewhat negative body image so self-gratification doesn’t really get me there and is more frustrating than it is worth, not to mention sinful, so I honestly am not usually that tempted.

I get your point about priests, but as ordination is a sacramental vocation rather than a job post it makes it harder. Married people don’t just get married for a few years (well OK actually with the divorce rate a lot do just that but it isn’t how it is intended ) I’m sure many priests would not want to quit after a few years. I think there have been some priests who have received a dispensation from their vows allowing them freedom to marry.

I’m not necessarily opposed to the concept of married priests (or female priests for that matter), but the current rules of the church, including celibacy, should be followed if a person wants to become a priest.

 

[NightngaleShane]

Oh WOW, a PRIEST giving a homily about his GAY SEX LIFE?! I sure HOPE he had to take a leave of absence!!

The Pastor at my old church back up in VA mysteriously took a leave of absence. It was later publicized that he was doing his duties in marriage counseling and got a liiiiiiiiittle bit too close to the woman he was supposed to be helping. They ran away to Georgia together and got married. I’m not sure what he is doing now… however, he never, ever discussed it in a homily

One of the priests I once knew always gave his homilies directly from Chicken Soup for the Soul but made it sound like he knew these people personally. I wonder if that would count as plagiarism? Laughs

Another time, a different priest got REALLY fired up about purity and ended up yelling at the congregation and banging on the podium while discussing the subjects of homosexuality, illicit sexual union, and masturbation. His face started turning red with anger and he looked like he was going to tell the entire church to go to hell.