Need opinions

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engdlyzp

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I went to mass on Sunday and I was making some observations to which made me have some concerns. Now I’m just wanting to say what I saw and get opinions from other people.
  1. The Priest at that church usually ask us to pray for other people and on Sunday he asked us to pray for him. What seems weird to me is that he asks us all to raise our right hand (similar to the iconic Nazi hand raising with the exception that the palm is facing the person and not the fingers) and point it to the people we are blessing. I don’t know why but it seems as something we should not do, but no one questions it and everyone follows. I’ve been to many catholic churches and this has never happened.
  2. The Priest talked a little bit about the new Pope and he said that the new Pope was different since he was a Pope toward the poor. The Priest then proceeded to say that there were some people in the churches parking lot that were selling snacks without the church’s permission. He said we should not buy from them since they don’t have permission. He also said “If you want to buy snacks you should buy from us since that money is for the Church” a few seconds later he said “If you are going to spend money buying from the people on the parking lots, offer it to us and put it in the basket when the basket is passed out to collect offerings”.
In my eyes, what the priest said was bad. Am I wrong to believe that? Or does anyone else agree with me.

Also, I usually view priest to see whom I get a “good vibe” from, and I don’t get a good vibe from him. He looks mad or tired of church. He doesn’t speak much. He lets the Deacon speak instead of him. I understand that in a way I am judging since I don’t actually know him, but its just a gut feeling. With what happened last Sunday it makes me even more skeptical about him.
 
I live in Portland, Oregon, just across the Columbia River from Vancouver, WA (not Vancouver, BC). We are closer to many Vancouver Parishes than we are to Portland Parishes within our own Diocese. For various scheduling reasons, our family occasionally attends Mass in Vancouver, WA.

I have not observed anything like what you describe. I suggest you raise your concerns with a letter to the Seattle Chancery Office. Your Archbishop (Peter Sartain) would surely take your objections under consideration (as my own Archbishop did when I raised concerns over a layperson preaching a Sunday homily).

Your Archbishop happens to have been appointed by the Holy See to enforce orthodox Catholic doctrine upon dissident US Catholic nuns. God save Archbishop Sartain in this task. Reining in dissident priests in his own Diocese is easy, compared to this task.

You should communicate with your Bishop. Nobody here can help you. Your Bishop is actually your servant.
 
My opinion is that you are right…you ARE judging him and you should not.

Peace
James
 
engdlyzp said:
I went to mass on Sunday and I was making some observations to which made me have some concerns. Now I’m just wanting to say what I saw and get opinions from other people.
  1. The Priest at that church usually ask us to pray for other people and on Sunday he asked us to pray for him. That’s the same thing the pope did during his first blessing on the crowd, asked them to pray for him. What seems weird to me is that he asks us all to raise our right hand (similar to the iconic Nazi hand raising with the exception that the palm is facing the person and not the fingers) and point it to the people we are blessing. Similar to how the bishop prays over someone when they are being confirmed. It is called the laying on of hands. At a distance, of course, you cannot actually lay on the hands. But praying for someone using a laying on of hands is common at or after a healing mass. I don’t know why but it seems as something we should not do, but no one questions it and everyone follows. I’ve been to many catholic churches and this has never happened.
  2. The Priest talked a little bit about the new Pope and he said that the new Pope was different since he was a Pope toward the poor. It was for this reason that the Pope took the name Francis, he wished to emphasize the Church’s work with and for the poor. The Priest then proceeded to say that there were some people in the churches parking lot that were selling snacks without the church’s permission. He said we should not buy from them since they don’t have permission. He also said “If you want to buy snacks you should buy from us since that money is for the Church” a few seconds later he said “If you are going to spend money buying from the people on the parking lots, offer it to us and put it in the basket when the basket is passed out to collect offerings”. People selling on Church property, should get permission from the parish. Don’t encourage them or soon you will find people in the parking lot trying to ‘save’ Catholics.
In my eyes, what the priest said was bad. Am I wrong to believe that? Or does anyone else agree with me.

Also, I usually view priest to see whom I get a “good vibe” from, and I don’t get a good vibe from him. He looks mad or tired of church. He doesn’t speak much. He lets the Deacon speak instead of him. I understand that in a way I am judging since I don’t actually know him, but its just a gut feeling. With what happened last Sunday it makes me even more skeptical about him.
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You seem to be overly judgemental. The Deacon has the charism of preaching the Gospel. That is why he is given the Book of the Gospels at his ordination. Perhaps this priest is not a good speaker or comfortable speaking before crowds.
 
DavidFilmer said:
I live in Portland, Oregon, just across the Columbia River from Vancouver, WA (not Vancouver, BC). We are closer to many Vancouver Parishes than we are to Portland Parishes within our own Diocese. For various scheduling reasons, our family occasionally attends Mass in Vancouver, WA.

I have not observed anything like what you describe. I suggest you raise your concerns with a letter to the Seattle Chancery Office. Your Archbishop (Peter Sartain) would surely take your objections under consideration (as my own Archbishop did when I raised concerns over a layperson preaching a Sunday homily).

Your Archbishop happens to have been appointed by the Holy See to enforce orthodox Catholic doctrine upon dissident US Catholic nuns. God save Archbishop Sartain in this task. Reining in dissident priests in his own Diocese is easy, compared to this task.

You should communicate with your Bishop. Nobody here can help you. Your Bishop is actually your servant.
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Hi neighbor! 😃 Nice to hear from people in Oregon or Washington. I will keep an eye out for things that I feel are out of line in my point of view. Although, as others have pointed out, I might be too judgmental (which I don’t deny it) so I hope it was just me.
Evan said:
You seem to be overly judgemental. The Deacon has the charism of preaching the Gospel. That is why he is given the Book of the Gospels at his ordination. Perhaps this priest is not a good speaker or comfortable speaking before crowds.
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The priest does seem different from other priest I have seen, so probably he isn’t a good speaker or comfortable with crowds. I hadn’t thought about that! Maybe what I notice is that he is uncomfortable.
I have seen priest raising their hand towards us, although a priest has never asked us to do that. I recall reading that we should not do that since we don’t know who or what we are blessing, although I might be confused on that.
As for the people on the parking lot. My Dad did also made a comment about what the priest said that day and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. Although, as you stated before, maybe the priest has a hard time talking to a big crown so he didn’t chose the right words to address that issue.
JRKH said:
My opinion is that you are right…you ARE judging him and you should not.

Peace
James
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I do admit that judging is one of my biggest issues. Its a hard thing to let go of, but I will try harder.
 
engdlyzp said:
I do admit that judging is one of my biggest issues.
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That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily wrong. A priest is not allowed to deviate from the Roman Missal and its authorized forms. He cannot add, remove, or change elements of the Mass. The Mass is the Prayer of the Faithful around the world, and should never be “customized” to suit a priest’s (or a congregation’s) preferences.
 
Sometimes a homily can be boring, or disorganized, perhaps irritating, even incorrect in its teaching. I do not think it’s being judgmental to feel that way. I recall a priest at the local parish some twenty-five years ago, who I’m sure suffered from a mild schizophrenic disorder; he could not string two coherent sentences together. I must say that some of the best sleep I’ve gotten has been during homilies. If I’m not getting much out of it, I use it as an opportunity to review the readings and pray. I have prayed that God inspire the priest. As the old-timers said, you don’t go to mass for the priest but for God.
 
engdlyzp said:
I went to mass on Sunday and I was making some observations to which made me have some concerns. Now I’m just wanting to say what I saw and get opinions from other people.
  1. The Priest at that church usually ask us to pray for other people and on Sunday he asked us to pray for him. What seems weird to me is that he asks us all to raise our right hand (similar to the iconic Nazi hand raising with the exception that the palm is facing the person and not the fingers) and point it to the people we are blessing. I don’t know why but it seems as something we should not do, but no one questions it and everyone follows. I’ve been to many catholic churches and this has never happened.
  2. The Priest talked a little bit about the new Pope and he said that the new Pope was different since he was a Pope toward the poor. The Priest then proceeded to say that there were some people in the churches parking lot that were selling snacks without the church’s permission. He said we should not buy from them since they don’t have permission. He also said “If you want to buy snacks you should buy from us since that money is for the Church” a few seconds later he said “If you are going to spend money buying from the people on the parking lots, offer it to us and put it in the basket when the basket is passed out to collect offerings”.
In my eyes, what the priest said was bad. Am I wrong to believe that? Or does anyone else agree with me.

Also, I usually view priest to see whom I get a “good vibe” from, and I don’t get a good vibe from him. He looks mad or tired of church. He doesn’t speak much. He lets the Deacon speak instead of him. I understand that in a way I am judging since I don’t actually know him, but its just a gut feeling. With what happened last Sunday it makes me even more skeptical about him.
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Should anyone be permitted to solicit on Church property?

Should they not have to ask permission from the Church?

Didn’t Jesus get a little bit perturbed, over folks turning ‘His Father’s house’, into a market? (I mean like throwing tables down, perturbed…).

Does your Church not have bills to pay? Do they not have debts to finance?

Are they somehow swimming in the black, with coffers overflowing?

Is not the pool from which they rely on for their financial support, finite?

Don’t they have a percentage allotted for Charitible purposes, AFTER they’ve made their bills?

As for the hands thing–I’ve seen that many times. It is a symbolic gesture of the congregation in unision, blessing whatever or whomever is sought to be blessed (e.g.–when converts are welcomed to the Church in our parish, often times we will be asked to raise our hands to bless them…).

I understand your concerns.

But (with all due respect) you don’t seem to understand your Church’s…
 
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