When to say something to the Pastor

[Pliny]

I didn’t go to him with the intent to “criticize” but to sort things out, and my concerns were not about a group but about a particular retreat. Instead he took it very personally as if he had very thin skin. But so what if I had? His job is to help me see the light. Losing belief in the Real Presence would be far more important than criticism of a charismatic retreat. He could have explained to me why people fall down, why the speakers shout instead of using normal volume, why when the speakers speak in tongues they seem to be saying the same syllables over and over, why there are never quiet moments of prayer, why it seems to be based on emotions and good feelings, etc. He didn’t try to help me understand and he ended up being a very poor representative of the charismatic movement. Maybe that says something about it. Maybe there’s a reason he’s defensive.

 

[Pliny]

I tried to do that. It didn’t matter. He was already offended and intended to stay that way. At any rate, I expect better of a priest, even if I had had a bad attitude, which I didn’t. He could easily have explained to me what all those things that seemed so foreign and troubling to me really mean.

 

[Pliny]

I had TWO surprises. I didn’t know the retreat was charismatic when I signed up and I didn’t know the priest was charismatic either.

 

[Pliny]

I didn’t say anyone was to judge. I was asking whether that’s something serious enough that I should take to the pastor. After all, equating Protestantism with Catholicism is dangerous. If someone is fallen away from Catholicism, why wouldn’t they come back for the fullness of Christianity instead of only part of it in one of the Protestant churches. It could be because of ignorance or it could be that they have “permission” there to divorce and remarry or use contraception, etc.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The bottom line is, you were there, you heard what he said, and your conscience is what needs to decide whether to say something to the pastor.

What I think about it makes no difference, and since I wasn’t there, you telling me a quote out of context is not enough for me to form a good opinion about whether this was good, bad, indifferent or what you yourself should do. It doesn’t matter whether I say “oh that’s horrible” or “oh that’s nothing”. I wasn’t there and it’s not my priest, I don’t know him, I don’t know the situation.