Priests and Collars

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pollynova said:
I think people need to see that priests need time to themselves too and to do things like go out to eat or just relax, for their own mental health.

When you see a priest at the grocery store, that’s really not the time to ask for spiritual guidance.
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Ah…but so many people do…or want to see what Fr. is buying…oh Fr. why do you have cookies in your cart? Oh Fr. come over and bless this that and the other thing immediately. No wonder we have priest burn out with those that think they are not entitled to a few minutes to themselves! Highly uncharitable in my opinion.

Even Jesus would escape the crowds to get away by himself for awhile…
 
Being “branded” as a priest (or, in my case, as a seminarian) is never easy. I’m reminded however of a story told by Cardinal Dolan who said he was once in an airport lounge wearing clericals when a man wearing ordinary clothes came up and introduced himself as a priest. The priest explained that he didn’t wear clericals as it lead to people coming up to him all the time and asking questions, etc. Dolan replied “funny, that’s exactly why I wear it”.

I can appreciate though the need for time to oneself especially - to use the example of the priest going to the store - when time is not in abundance, or when it’s a priest’s day off (and yes they do need them).

I have no problem respecting other’s opinions (full disclosure: as I type this, I’m wearing shorts, sneakers and a t-shirt) but I do take issue with the suggestion that US$209 for a cassock is affordable for most priests. I’ll be honest and say that it’s not out of the affordable range for me but there are others in my seminary for whom it would simply not be an option - especially considering that more than one would be required.

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pollynova said:
I think people need to see that priests need time to themselves too and to do things like go out to eat or just relax, for their own mental health.

When you see a priest at the grocery store, that’s really not the time to ask for spiritual guidance.
Click to expand...
I agree with you that priests need time to themselves and a chance to relax. It’s a hard life. But it is the life that God has called them to. They are called to the priesthood and the trappings of the priesthood is a prominent position within the community. In an ideal world it would be the prominent position in the community.

Yes priests need “downtime”. This can be facilitated by retreats and vacations.

But I am not going to ignore the laity’s role. We shouldn’t be pestering a priest whilst he’s collecting milk. I love our priests but quite frankly I’m not going to ask him for his views on Molinism as we stand in the dairy isle. 😛 I’ll pause to say hello out of politeness and respect and inquire after him. But I wouldn’t want to harass him and sadly many people do. The answer is not that priests should ditch their clerics; laymen just need to learn some common courtesy. Indeed, priests should also be able to relax around laymen and have “downtime”. I’ve knocked back far too much whisky than I care to count with priests who had no compulsion about wearing their clerics whilst doing so. 😉 And I’ve never yet experienced a Polish priest that would let the collar halt the copious amounts of alcohol going down his throat as he enlightens you on the finer aspects of his old pastor back in the forests that spent more timing out hunting than saying Mass!

Priests are men and need time to just be normal guys watching the football, sharing drinks and conversation or watching Star Trek marathons (that particular priestly-friend is a bit of a nerd. :p). But they can do all of that whilst wearing their ecclesiastical garb.
InThePew said:
I have no problem respecting other’s opinions (full disclosure: as I type this, I’m wearing shorts, sneakers and a t-shirt) but I do take issue with the suggestion that US$209 for a cassock is affordable for most priests. I’ll be honest and say that it’s not out of the affordable range for me but there are others in my seminary for whom it would simply not be an option - especially considering that more than one would be required.
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I would like to note again that I am not saying that priests need to wear a cassock at all times. Certainly it’s desirable and I would like to see every priest wearing one even if the diocese needs to fund it. But they should still wear clothes identifying them as clergy whether that is a cassock or a shirt and collar with slacks. Say a priest needs three cassocks. That’s US$628. He doesn’t need to buy them all at once. I’m sure a priest could comfortably save up for that over a period of time.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!
Prie-dieu.
 
Prie_dieu said:
I agree with you that priests need time to themselves and a chance to relax. It’s a hard life. But it is the life that God has called them to. They are called to the priesthood and the trappings of the priesthood is a prominent position within the community. In an ideal world it would be the prominent position in the community.

Yes priests need “downtime”. This can be facilitated by retreats and vacations.

But I am not going to ignore the laity’s role. We shouldn’t be pestering a priest whilst he’s collecting milk. I love our priests but quite frankly I’m not going to ask him for his views on Molinism as we stand in the dairy isle. 😛 I’ll pause to say hello out of politeness and respect and inquire after him. But I wouldn’t want to harass him and sadly many people do. The answer is not that priests should ditch their clerics; laymen just need to learn some common courtesy. Indeed, priests should also be able to relax around laymen and have “downtime”. I’ve knocked back far too much whisky than I care to count with priests who had no compulsion about wearing their clerics whilst doing so. 😉 And I’ve never yet experienced a Polish priest that would let the collar halt the copious amounts of alcohol going down his throat as he enlightens you on the finer aspects of his old pastor back in the forests that spent more timing out hunting than saying Mass!

Priests are men and need time to just be normal guys watching the football, sharing drinks and conversation or watching Star Trek marathons (that particular priestly-friend is a bit of a nerd. :p). But they can do all of that whilst wearing their ecclesiastical garb.

I would like to note again that I am not saying that priests need to wear a cassock at all times. Certainly it’s desirable and I would like to see every priest wearing one even if the diocese needs to fund it. But they should still wear clothes identifying them as clergy whether that is a cassock or a shirt and collar with slacks. Say a priest needs three cassocks. That’s US$628. He doesn’t need to buy them all at once. I’m sure a priest could comfortably save up for that over a period of time.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!
Prie-dieu.
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Now our priest friend comes over for dinner…usually in his shirt/collar and he’s been in the airport in the same. Most of the time he’s in that. But on his days off in the grocery store…jeans/no collar–because most of the laity does not do the polite thing. Me–I go the other way…I don’t want to end up in a homily!
 
This conversation has made me think of dear Saint John Vianney who spent as much as seventeen hours a day in the confessional. Then at night he was annoyed by Satan interrupting his sleep. God sent him to do the overwhelming job of righting things in Ars, France and he did a marvelous job. The saint was very tired and tried to leave many times, but he always went back and did his “job.” That man is the patron saint of priests.
 
Wow I had no idea that this thread would become so popular. In my humble opinion, what a priest wears doesn’t determine his holiness. Man only looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at what is within.
 
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