Supper/Dinner Conversations with Your Priest, A Religious Sister, Brother, etc

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My mom brought this to my attention when we were invited for supper at the Sisters of the Child Jesus.

The supper was excellent but the conversation well that’s another story.

While we were driving home my mom told me “I don’t know what to talk about with the Sisters.”

I would like to know what are some good supper/dinner conversations starters?

After you invited your Priest, Religious Sister, Brother, etc. for supper did you become friends?

We would like to invite our Priest and the Sisters for supper. Maybe different days of course.
 
I think a good question to ask would be “What made you decide to become a priest/brother/nun/sister?”, etc.

Ask them how the holidays went and what they did.

We have a religious brother come to breakfast with us every Sunday and he’s really fun. He’s like family to us.
 
As a religious myself, I can tell you that we love to visit people and just talk the normal every day stuff, like family, sports, things that are happening in the commuinity. One of the worse questions that anyone can ask us is “Why did you become a religious?”

It’s a great question, but not for a fun night. That question changes the whole tone of the evening. It turns it very serious. It’s like asking someone why they chose to marry their wife or husband. It’s not the kind of question that you really want to answer when you go out planning to have fun with friends. It’s very personal, very deep and requires a serious and clear explanation. People usually ask other questions as you explain, such as: “What did your parents say?” or “Did you have a girl friend?” or “Was it difficult to make up your mind?”

If you invite a religious or a priest to your home for a conversation over tea and cookies, make sure that he or she knows that you want to discuss something with him/her. He or she will come over in a working mode. But if you invite them over to relax and enjoy your family, make sure that you keep it relaxed.

One thing that we religious like to talk about and people rarely ask about, is our family. We dealy love our families. But in our daily work, there is not much time to talk about them. I always feel very blessed when someone says, “Brother did you have a nice Christmas?” followed by “Did you have a chance to enjoy your family?” There are some who know that I was married and have children. They are always so kind when they ask, “Brother, how are your children?”

Another thing that we enjoy very much is family anecdotes. We love hearing about your families and some of the funny things that happen in your families. Remember, that when you come to us, you usually talk to us about the problems in your life, your family, your marriage and so forth. You rarely come to us to share your pictures of your parents, your grandchildren, your new cat or dog. We don’t get to see that side of you too often. We love to see family albums.

One more good tip, we love learning new things. If you have hobby, we really enjoy hearing about it or seeing your stuff.

I hope this helps.

Have a blessed new year!

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
Having been blessed to experience a meal so many times with two different priests, well, the subject goes everywhere…from A to Z. Whatever is on the news, whatever book one is reading, the latest joke, dreams, etc etc etc. The list is endless. What Brother said is true! They just want to relax on the whole and sometimes just listen and observe.

My priest serves a group of us supper at different times. Like this past american thanksgiving. he loves to cook and entertain. Tonight he is having the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and a social gathering after with nibblies. I cannot go as I have family to go to. But we are his close friends, so close we are like his family! A great honor for sure! And we spoil him! 🙂 So blessed are we!

I cannot have him here as my husband would not like that at all, but I join others when they have him in town. We are all one big family!
 
I haven’t had my priest over for a meal, but I do chat with him semi-regularly. We have a couple of common interests… one is fishing. He loves fishing and so do I so we discuss where are good places to fish, etc. Also he’s a good cook and a couple of times has given me recipes to try out, then I report back how I did. I’m not such a great cook myself! 😛 Sometimes we talk about movies or TV shows too. Recently he’s had a minor but annoying illness so I’ve been asking him how he’s feeling. Just everyday things really. Same with the Sisters I know in the parish… we talk about a variety of topics. I don’t usually talk about really “serious” topics with my priest or the Sisters unless I’m seeing them in the office for counselling or catechism (in the case of the Sister who is preparing me for Confirmation currently).
 
I and a group of friends have had our campus chaplain over three times, and all times were really fun. He is quite a bit older than us so it seemed natural to kind of let him direct the conversation. He told lots of stories from when he was in school (we were in college at the time), told us about traveling, about movies he had seen, and asked us about our families and our studies, our plans for the summer. Sort of like small talk but so much better because we all really care about each other.

So I would just go in there ready to show them some love and have some fun. Don’t push any certain topic too hard and just be natural. Good luck, let us know how it goes!
 
JReducation said:
As a religious myself, I can tell you that we love to visit people and just talk the normal every day stuff, like family, sports, things that are happening in the commuinity. One of the worse questions that anyone can ask us is “Why did you become a religious?”

It’s a great question, but not for a fun night. That question changes the whole tone of the evening. It turns it very serious. It’s like asking someone why they chose to marry their wife or husband. It’s not the kind of question that you really want to answer when you go out planning to have fun with friends. It’s very personal, very deep and requires a serious and clear explanation. People usually ask other questions as you explain, such as: “What did your parents say?” or “Did you have a girl friend?” or “Was it difficult to make up your mind?”

If you invite a religious or a priest to your home for a conversation over tea and cookies, make sure that he or she knows that you want to discuss something with him/her. He or she will come over in a working mode. But if you invite them over to relax and enjoy your family, make sure that you keep it relaxed.

One thing that we religious like to talk about and people rarely ask about, is our family. We dealy love our families. But in our daily work, there is not much time to talk about them. I always feel very blessed when someone says, “Brother did you have a nice Christmas?” followed by “Did you have a chance to enjoy your family?” There are some who know that I was married and have children. They are always so kind when they ask, “Brother, how are your children?”

Another thing that we enjoy very much is family anecdotes. We love hearing about your families and some of the funny things that happen in your families. Remember, that when you come to us, you usually talk to us about the problems in your life, your family, your marriage and so forth. You rarely come to us to share your pictures of your parents, your grandchildren, your new cat or dog. We don’t get to see that side of you too often. We love to see family albums.

One more good tip, we love learning new things. If you have hobby, we really enjoy hearing about it or seeing your stuff.

I hope this helps.

Have a blessed new year!

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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I’m not a religious sister yet but I would have to agree with Brother JR. We really are just normal people with normal hobbies.

JMJ+
~Betsy

Totus tuus Maria!
 
I think priests and religious are like doctors and lawyers and other professionals. When you wish to speak to them in the context of their vocation, you make an appointment and discuss the topic at hand. When it is time to socialize, you socialize, and don’t expect them to be on the job. If they are coming to talk to your confirmation class about vocations, you can ask about their vocation, but it is too private for dinner table conversation. They are people, living in the world, who have the same concerns you do, and probably have shared interests with you. Find out about them as you would for other friends or people you want to know better. Since the good Catholic cannot have at any time topics of conversation or use language inappropriate in the company of a priest or religious, you should have no trouble carrying on a discussion on any topic of general interest.
 
This is a great opportunity. 👍

If a person asks “why you are something” or “why you are doing something” it is a doorway to their world. It is a golden opportunity to give to them. In this case a person can give them insight into their life as a religious.

This past year I bicycled with my dog Star from the Arctic Ocean in Alaska south to Las Vegas. I wanted to go to South America, but God called me home. Along the way if I was asked once I was asked a thousand times,“Why are you doing it?”; “How many miles each day?”; “Where do you sleep at night?”; etc. The 596th person to walk up to me (usually during a meal) had no idea they were the 596th person. To them seeing a man with a dog bicycling so far was a new experience and it excites their imaginations. With humility and patience I would answer the same questions over and over because I then got to talk to them about the spiritual aspect of what I was doing. One of the easy things to discuss was the Wash For Life event I was promoting for the first half of the ride.

Were there time I wished on a personal level I did not have to do something. Yes, but then I would think, “If I do God’s will He will take care of me.” A clear example of this was in Williams Lake, B.C. in Canada. There was a small hill leading up to Sacred Heart. If you know anything of B.C. Geography then you know it tends to be hilly. I was not in the mood to go up even a small hill, but I did. That is where I met Fr. Andrew, a rather young priest in charge of 11 parishes (he does have newly ordained Fr. Clinton to help him). Now all I wanted to do was pass on a simple postcard to promote WFL. I ended up getting an invitation to lunch, an offer of a ride to the south (Fr. Andrew was headed that evening to a wedding of a friend), dinner and during the ride a great exposition of Theology and the Body (I now have a copy to read).

The most significant event came when Fr. Andrew dropped me off at the town of Spences Bridge. Fr. had offered to pay for a room for me. The time was 11:30 p.m. I told Fr. that I could not see spending $118 for me to sleep on the floor for 6 hours. (The sleeping on the floor is inspired by Mother Teresa.) The proprietor of the inn had told us about a free campground down by the river. Fr. Andrew took me to the camp and as we said good-bye he handed me a $100 bill (Canadian). I did not need the money for myself, but it was used to help others along the way.

I do not want to go on too long. My main point is that the opportunity presented is awesome. If I were a priest and for some reason I did not want to delve too deep when someone asked me I would say something to the effect of, “It is a great way to live the Gospel of Jesus. Now let me ask you a question.” Then I would ask them a question.

There are ways to keep it simple and times to do so. Then there are times to go deeper with an answer.

God bless
 
One of the easiest and most direct answers that I give when people ask me why I’m leaving the security of my community and promoting the Franciscan Brothers of Life is this.

Jesus lives in millions of unborn children. I can’t explain why, but I know that he wants me to do this, to preach the Gospel of life to parents who are afraid of their unborn children, to convert those who would take a human life, to make sure that the chronically ill and the elderly live and die according to God’s plan for them. In a nutshell, I can’t believe that I can live any other way. Humanity is the Father’s gift to his Son. Therefore, it’s sacred. The Brothers of Life are brothers to the humanity of Jesus.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
May God reward you and bless you for answering my questions.

God bless,
goforgoal
 
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