What sort of interaction do you typically have with your pastor/parochial vicar at Sunday Mass?

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Ostiarius

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What sort of interaction do you typically have with your pastor/parochial vicar at Sunday Mass?
  • Quite a bit. I’m involved with a liturgical ministry and have the opportunity to personally interact with him most Sundays.
  • A bit. I like to try to hang around the sacristy and chat with him before and/or after Mass.
  • Not much. I might receive communion from him or quickly shake his hand while in line after Mass at the church exit but that’s it.
  • Little to none. I try to quietly avoid the pastor of my parish at Sunday Mass.
  • None. I make it a point to avoid the pastor of my parish.
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I have little to no interaction, but I am not avoiding him. He just has “his people” and doesn’t interact much with anyone else. He’s just (in his words) “too busy.”

They need to do SOMETHING to get these poor guys more support or something. It’s hard not to take it personally after a while… (and yes, I am involved in a liturgical ministry)
 
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I’m the director of youth ministry at my parish and volunteer in some other ministries so I have quite a bit of interaction with our priests.
 
Quite a bit, though I’m not involved with any liturgical ministry…anymore. I was the head sacristan until I stepped down six weeks ago. I do have the opportunity to personally interact with whichever of the parish’s five priests celebrates the Saturday evening Mass, but so does anyone who desires it.

On Sundays I attend Mass at the ICRSS parish, where I have never been involved in any ministry. I usually have the opportunity to personally interact with any of their canons.

To be honest, I’ve rarely had difficulty being able to converse with priests before or after Mass if I wish to, even in parishes I’m only visiting. :woman_shrugging:t2:
 
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There does not seem to be an option for stopping to speak to the priest for a few minutes on the way out of mass.
 
I do much of my interacting with our priests on days other than Sunday. I feel I know them fairly well.
 
I would like there to be more a little more interaction, but the man truly is very busy. I’m still new to the parish. Over time I feel a deeper personal interaction will develop.
 
Yeah may be a location thing. I am sure both our stories aren’t the norm. At least, I hope so.
 
Guess it depends - your relationship with the priest or who you are in the parish.

Sunday mass is just an obligation which, as parishioners, we have to attend and that’s it. After that we go back, maybe having brunch with the family or something, but if you have some roles in the parish, you may want to be involved more than just attending mass. Sometimes, that may be a meeting with the priest, officially or maybe a private one or even personal and family meetings like having him for dinner.

Parish life is interesting but it depends on how we want it to be.
 
Ostiarius said:
My parish has a huge, entranched lay staff. Many have suggested that managing the resultant bureaucracy takes more effort than if our priests simply did more of the work (catechetics, lay minister formation, etc.) themselves.
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I’m guessing you’ve never worked for a parish. We don’t have a “huge” lay staff, but we all work hard to keep things going. Our pastor is the hardest working of all. So many people really do not see the day to day work of parish priests. In addition to all the visible work, Masses, confessions, funerals, weddings and so on, there is so much more done in the office many people never see. Hours spent on the phone, hours spent planning, hours spent in appointments with parishioners.

Sundays are not always to best time to have significant interaction with priests in a parish. Don’t blame the priest for that, Sunday is a busy day. If you want to have significant interaction with your parish priest, invite him to lunch or dinner.
 
I don’t have a lot of interaction with our priest at Sunday Mass. I think Sunday is probably one day it would be most difficult to have interaction with him. When shaking his hand as you leave after Mass is not the most appropriate time to raise any issue with him. We have one priest looking after two churches in what is now one parish but covers what used to be three (one of the churches, the ones my parents married in was demolished). I wouldn’t presume to bring anything up with him on a Sunday.
 
Ostiarius said:
you would struggle to find 40 hours/week.
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I would be very interested to know how you work that out. I don’t think we often know what a priest is doing and he often puts in more hours than people realise. I remember a parish which wasn’t overly sad to see a priest go. They didn’t particularly want him to go but had no great desire for him to stay. However, he was sorely missed when he’d gone. It was only when he’d gone and what he did wasn’t done that he was missed. For example, he was missed by a lot of elderly people who had almost daily visits from him to ensure they were OK, had food in, were warm, etc. No one noticed what he was doing until he was gone and no one else did what he had.
 
Since I volunteer at the parish I see him every week and don’t need to have any interaction with him on Sunday.
 
@Ostiarius,

Just curious why you are polling about our interactions with our priest Sundays? What spurs this curiosity?
Thank you. ✌️
 
Horton said:
I’m guessing you’ve never worked for a parish.
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You guessed wrong. Although it would be more accurate to say I volunteered, as I was not paid. One of the staffers keeps the pastor’s schedule so it’s very well known. With the last pastor, the 1 or 2 days/week plus Sunday Masses became a source of bitter humor for many.

The belief/excuse that the pastor of my parish (or his predecessors) puts in a lot of hours simply isn’t true.
 
Not a lot on Sundays unless I have some special reason to speak to him. He does often interact with the choir as a whole before Mass because he loves music and has been good friends with our choir director since they met at another parish 25 years ago. But the music group itself numbers between 50-60 people so there’s not a lot of opportunity for individual communication.

Our pastor always invites parish visitors to see him on the steps of the parish after Mass. Of course there are plenty of regular parishioners who want to speak to him too. We usually refrain from seeking him out after Mass to allow time for the visitors and those who have a specific need to speak to him.
 
OP, So one of the staffers felt the need to share the pastor’s schedule with the volunteers and you all used that as fodder for your humor? How nice. And then you start a thread so you can tell the whole world your pastor doesn’t do enough work when really, you have no real knowledge of what he or any priest does with their days.
 
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My interaction with the local pastor/parochial vicar is so strong that I don’t even know who they are.
 
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