Should I invite my parish priest over for dinner?

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Hello everyone,
I’ve said before in posts that I’m fairly new to Catholicism, so bear with me.
My husband and I very much like our parish priest. He’s a gentle, smart and funny man. I would really like to invite him to the house for dinner with us one night. I would like to get to know him better.
On the one hand, I hear people talking about how lonely the priesthood is, and if our wonderful priest is lonely, well, I could help fix that, and serve up some cornbread and fried chicken to boot!
On the other hand, I hear everyone saying how busy priests are, and, knowing what I already know about this priest, even if he’s too busy to come to our house for dinner, he might agree to it anyway, just because I think he would have trouble saying no to a welcoming invitation. That’s just my impression of him, I could be totally wrong.
I guess my question is - is it normal to invite the priest over to your house? I DO consider him like a friend of the family. If you are a religious, would you accept or decline the offer? I just don’t want to put him in an awkward position. 😊
 
Yes, it is perfectly alright to invite your priest over for dinner. I’ve had many a family gathering where a priest family friend was present (including Christmas 2008). It’s a great way to get to know him and vice versa. 🙂

You might want to ask him to do a blessing of the house and your household crucifix(es) while he’s there. 😉
 
From experience I have found that priests welcome a dinner invite. I would also have a friend over. With all the abuse fall out, priests are reluctant to be anywhere alone with someone-except in the confessional.🙂
 
Both wonderful ideas!
Actually, we are good friends with another couple from church, who have a son the same age as our girls. They would love to come over especially if father were here! Thanks so much for the advice!!
 
OH HONEY! INVITE THAT MAN OVER!

Our Deacon and his wife are godparents to our (almost here!) baby daughter, they are such good friends! And our Parish Priest is truly the busiest man on the planet but makes time to come to our house for dinner.

The priesthood is one of the most demanding, lonely and underappreciated jobs in the world and many are separated from their families because of the parishes they’ve been assigned to.

They need caring parishioners like you! Most of the interaction Priests get is with people who are complaining, disobedient or dying. It wears on a man! Some home-cooking and hospitality is something they are never too busy for. Trust me!
 
Yes, invite your parish priest!

Last summer, our parish had a visiting priest filling in while the pastor was on vacation. In his first homily, he introduced himself and told a little bit about where he was from (the MidWest). Then, he said, he’d like to get to know as many people as possible while he was here and if anyone invited him to dinner, he wouldn’t say no! And, he said, don’t worry, I have GPS, I’ll find you. 🙂

I heard from a couple of people who did indeed invite him over that he was great. Very interesting, learned, wonderful sense of humor. So, go for it!
 
YES! By all means, invite your priest over! As many have said, priests are busy, but they are also lonely sometimes. You inviting your priest over for supper may do more to support him than you will ever know!

My parish priest that went on Sabbatical last July was very distant. He was not exactly a ‘social person’ by any means. I had him to my house and out to eat several times. The poor man struggled so hard with his vocation and his place in this world; but for an hour he could be himself and relax. He had someone to support him and know that they cared for him. I continue to pray for him every day.

I know of another priest who struggles with alcoholism. If only parishioners would invite him over or take him out to eat more often, it may help him not feel the need to drink as much… it also might not make one ounce of difference, but there is the chance that it may.

Please, support your priest and all priests. They desperately need it!

Our current pastor is very ill and is away receiving treatments. The diocese was unable to send a replacement priest for this weekend, so we are without the sacraments at our parish this weekend. It is about 30 miles to the next parish with a priest available, and it is snowing and the roads are very slippery… let me tell you how much I appreciate our priests now and how vital the sacraments are!

Know that when our pastor returns, he WILL be coming over to eat with us at LEAST once a week if possible! I want him to know how valued he is!
 
Absolutely!!! It’s nearly a given that you and he will have a wonderful time.

My husband and I also like to invite our parish priest out for coffee and bagels and to a movie a few times a year. I try to steer away from all-Catholic discussions, as any priest can get plenty of that anytime, anywhere. What we usually talk about is local news, books and movies, people we know, places we’ve been, rather than Canon Law. 😉 My husband and I just enjoy his company thoroughly and a good time is had by all.

One word of caution: If you’re a good cook and make a dish he enjoys a lot, he may ask you to prepare it for the next 500 pot luck suppers. I know this from experience. 😛
 
My parish is currently without a parish priest:(, but we have had some very wonderful priests filling in each weekend. So far, we have only had one weekend where we were not able to have Mass.

That said, this weekend we had the retired abbot from the local Benedictine abbey. He was here Ash Wednesday as well, so it was that evening that I invited him to supper Saturday evening after the vigil mass in our mission parish. He graciously accepted and came over. We had a WONDERFUL meal and a great time.

Very little of our conversation was ecclesiastical and we enjoyed conversation and good time. The meal my wife and I prepared was delicious. We made porkchops baked in cream of mushroom soup. Father Hillenbrand LOVED it, as did we!

So yes, invite your priests over. They don’t need to be your best friend for this and it is okay for several families to invite the priest over frequently. when you are able, go for it! In fact, he may become a great family friend in the end! 😃
 
Great story. I agree the sad part is the weekend you had no priest. Many are sleepwalking and do not realize that there are parishes without regular Sunday Mass and it is getting worse. We are called to pray for vocations and to get involved in the various ministries to the shut-ins, the sick, those in prison Etc. There are not enough priests for Mass in some areas so the “Least of our brothers and sisters” need our help now more than ever!
 
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