What is most appropriate in a situation like this?

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CatholicZ09

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Every Holy Week, I provide an extra set of hands to make the liturgies run smoothly. Last night during the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, I had a unique encounter.

When I went to the bell system to ring the pealing bells during the Gloria, I noticed a man standing in the side entryway of our church. He was almost in the body of the church. Well, I went up to him and asked him if he needed help, and he told me, “I want to buy crackers to celebrate Passover.” I was nice and told him we didn’t have any for sale and had a limited supply with all the liturgies.

Well, he got angry, and at this point, the Gloria was over, so it was relatively quiet. I pulled him away from any area where anyone would hear him. He guilt-tripped me because I didn’t give him anything, but I remained calm and apologized. He continued to be belligerent (not loud at this point—just angry), and I told him that if he didn’t leave, I would call the cops for disruption of a religious ceremony.

We’ve had vadalism happen during Holy Week in the past, so we’re all a little “on guard” this time of year. I honestly hope I didn’t put him off, but I felt that I did the best I could do in the moment.
 
Yes, I forgot to make note that I subtlety alerted the ushers in the back of the church at the main entrance and also the sacristans. I didn’t have time to tell Father, but I’m sure word got around to him.
 
I think you’re fine. Relieved that the incident wasn’t more serious than it was.

Make sure your priest knows this happened. Don’t assume he was told by someone else. It’s important that he’s aware of such occurrences.
 
I see nothing wrong with what you did. I think you were kind to not call the police on the spot and even put yourself in a bit of a dangerous situation to talk to the man. Unfortunately, major holidays bring out a lot of angry people, mentally disturbed people, and even violent people, and in this day and age you can’t be too careful. Definitely let the pastor know.

We had a homily a couple weeks ago at one church where the pastor was talking about how “loving your neighbor” doesn’t mean that you don’t take appropriate action when someone is threatening you. Apparently a person who has a past history of violent behavior appeared on the church grounds looking for a handout or something and the pastor, knowing this person’s history and wanting to keep everybody safe, called the police. One of the parish staff complained that it wasn’t “loving your neighbor” to do that. This parish is also right across a driveway from a public elementary school. I think the pastor did absolutely the right thing.
 
Sounds like you were dealing with a disturbed person. I think you handled it just fine.
 
You did nothing wrong. You should be relieved nothing bad happened. Maybe he was disturbed or was mentally ill, just make sure the priest knows about what happened.
 
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