you are not welcome here...

[dang71]

for the past few years, we have had a “traditionalist” pastor (we have had an NO mass followed by a TLM every Sunday for decades). our parish is very conservative, but he has made some changes that have driven away some members of the church, and when they complained to the bishop, our traditionalist priest got up in a homily and said “shame on you” and totally railed against the people who complained. this past Sunday he was speaking about pro-abortion politicians and those that support them, and while i agree that they are in a serious state of sin, he said they “were not welcome at this communion rail”. i am conservative, but i am not a fan of the EF or traditionalism in general, and i find his attitude very disturbing. Christ came to reconcile the world to Himself, and this traditionalist priest follows the same attitude i see from almost all traditionalists i have ever met, the “holier/better than thou”, “we don’t want your kind around here” attitude which only acts to separate people. how can he stand up there and say that some people are not welcome? these people who support abortion should refrain from communion, sure, but how can he say they are not welcome? why not invite them to confession, invite them to informational meetings, invite them back to Christ and a state of grace? invite them to anything, but don’t shut the door on them! this kind of attitude only drives people AWAY from Christ. shame on him, and i pray that Christ doesn’t say to him “you are not welcome here” when his time comes.

 

[lintpick1]

The priest is protecting the Eucharist from sacrilige and is to be commended for that. Did he point specific people and call them by name? If not, all he did was say if you support abortion then you are in a state of mortal sin and should not go up for Communion. That is his duty as Pastor. When people aren’t allowed to recieve Communion then they should realize the change that needs to take place in their lives. Their lives should revolve around Christ and not the other way around.

 

[latinmass]

I would love to go to this parish. Where is it? You are blessed.

 

[jam070406]

Sounds like your priest is trying to save souls (that’s his job) as opposed to worrying whether or not he’s hurting people’s feelings. If a priest told me I couldn’t recieve it would seriously make me rethink how I was living my life. It’s sound more like a call to repentance than a “holier than thou” attitude. Hats off to him.

 

[GladCatholic]

“were not welcome at this communion rail”

He didn’t say they weren’t welcomed at the church…like someone else said I think, “Sign me up.” I fail to see how anyone would complain about a priest being totally upfront about a teaching of the church. If you are pro-abortion and in the spotlight about it like these politicians (and Nancy Pelosi is a good example on how watchers can be led astray because she speaks ignorant of doctrine and people actually believe what she says), you should refrain from the Eucharist. That’s that.

Glad

 

[bilop]

I’ll join the chorus, your pastor is 100% correct.

Anyone who supports abortion is in a state of serious sin and should not receive Communion.

He didn’t say they weren’t welcome in Church, just not at the Communion rail.

Also, unless they change their position on abortion, simple confession will do no good. A sin can not be absolved if you intend to continue committing it.

God Bless

 

[maurin]

for the past few years, we have had a “traditionalist” pastor (we have had an NO mass followed by a TLM every Sunday for decades).

That’s interesting. I just fled from a Parish whose Pastor was so liberal he proudly proclaimed himself an anti-traditionalist.

our parish is very conservative, but he has made some changes that have driven away some members of the church, and when they complained to the bishop, our traditionalist priest got up in a homily and said “shame on you” and totally railed against the people who complained.

that same Parish proclaimed itself very conservative. This Pastor also made some changes: removing any image of the Crucified Lord from the Sanctuary, even placing the Processional Crucifix behind a wall at the back of the Sanctuary. In my searching for another Parish in another town I met many ex-members of this same Parish. When we wrote the Bishop about the ‘goings-on’ at the Parish we were met with silence. The Pastor made it very clear in his homilies that the old ways will remain dead and in the past while he is Pastor. He invited anyone unhappy with the Parish to find another.

this past Sunday he was speaking about pro-abortion politicians and those that support them, and while i agree that they are in a serious state of sin, he said they “were not welcome at this communion rail”. i am conservative, but i am not a fan of the EF or traditionalism in general, and i find his attitude very disturbing.

I found this Pastor’s counselling in his homilies to follow one’s conscience in the matters of Morals not only disturbing, but contrary to the Church’s teachings.

Christ came to reconcile the world to Himself, and this traditionalist priest follows the same attitude i see from almost all traditionalists i have ever met, the “holier/better than thou”, “we don’t want your kind around here” attitude which only acts to separate people.

funny, I got the same treatment from the progressive Pastor.

how can he stand up there and say that some people are not welcome?

I asked the progressive Pastor the same thing… he invited me to find another Parish.

these people who support abortion should refrain from communion, sure, but how can he say they are not welcome?

your statement above is that told the congregation that supporters of abortion were not welcome at the Communion Rail. Supporters of abortion support something the Church teaches against. These people are not in Communion with the Church’s teaching in this particular instance. Your Pastor is right, regardless of whether or not his tactics are agreeable with you.

why not invite them to confession, invite them to informational meetings, invite them back to Christ and a state of grace? invite them to anything, but don’t shut the door on them!

unless there is more to the story than you have told us above, the Pastor has done nothing different, has he? He only told them that they may not receive Communion while in a state of Mortal Sin.

this kind of attitude only drives people AWAY from Christ. shame on him, and i pray that Christ doesn’t say to him “you are not welcome here” when his time comes.

shame on you for allowing yourself to be tricked. Supporting any Mortal Sin certainly does not drive people toward Christ, my friend. It is the blind leading the blind into a pit.

 

[dang71]

ok, maybe i did not explain fully or properly, but it seems you guys are missing the intent of what i was saying. yes, the priest should protect the eucharist, yes pro-abortion people are in a state of sin and need to correct that, yes pro-abortion people should refrain from communion.

my point is his ATTITUDE. Christ wants people to get to heaven, and having the nasty attitude i see this priest displaying is not winning any souls for Christ. when he pro-abortion people come in contact with this type of attitude, the are only driven further away. shouldn’t we act in LOVE and KINDNESS, while still maintaining our Catholic morals? having the “your not welcome here” attitude is not acting out of love.

 

[Rickwood]

for the past few years, we have had a “traditionalist” pastor (we have had an NO mass followed by a TLM every Sunday for decades). our parish is very conservative, but he has made some changes that have driven away some members of the church, and when they complained to the bishop, our traditionalist priest got up in a homily and said “shame on you” and totally railed against the people who complained. this past Sunday he was speaking about pro-abortion politicians and those that support them, and while i agree that they are in a serious state of sin, he said they “were not welcome at this communion rail”. i am conservative, but i am not a fan of the EF or traditionalism in general, and i find his attitude very disturbing. Christ came to reconcile the world to Himself, and this traditionalist priest follows the same attitude i see from almost all traditionalists i have ever met, the “holier/better than thou”, “we don’t want your kind around here” attitude which only acts to separate people. how can he stand up there and say that some people are not welcome? these people who support abortion should refrain from communion, sure, but how can he say they are not welcome? why not invite them to confession, invite them to informational meetings, invite them back to Christ and a state of grace? invite them to anything, but don’t shut the door on them! this kind of attitude only drives people AWAY from Christ. shame on him, and i pray that Christ doesn’t say to him “you are not welcome here” when his time comes.

It all has to do with love and tact. If a priest preaches in a teaching, fatherly way that anyone who supports abortion must refrain from receiving communion until they repent and confess, then that’s wonderful. It’s the right thing to do. On the other hand if a priest is harsh and deliberately antagonistic there is a problem – and it’s with him.

And no, this sort of behavior is not justified by wanting to protect the Blessed Sacrament. That can be done in a tactful manner. The harsh delivery on the other hand just turns people off. Worse it could be a factor in where their souls ultimately end-up.

The “holier/better than thou” attitude seems to be all too common in extremists – both “liberal” and “conservative.”

 

[Rickwood]

ok, maybe i did not explain fully or properly, but it seems you guys are missing the intent of what i was saying. yes, the priest should protect the eucharist, yes pro-abortion people are in a state of sin and need to correct that, yes pro-abortion people should refrain from communion.

my point is his ATTITUDE. Christ wants people to get to heaven, and having the nasty attitude i see this priest displaying is not winning any souls for Christ. when he pro-abortion people come in contact with this type of attitude, the are only driven further away. shouldn’t we act in LOVE and KINDNESS, while still maintaining our Catholic morals? having the “your not welcome here” attitude is not acting out of love.

He sounds VERY immature. Is he in his 20’s perchance?

 

[Rickwood]

I’ll join the chorus, your pastor is 100% correct.

Anyone who supports abortion is in a state of serious sin and should not receive Communion.

He didn’t say they weren’t welcome in Church, just not at the Communion rail.

Also, unless they change their position on abortion, simple confession will do no good. A sin can not be absolved if you intend to continue committing it.

God Bless

That pastor is not “100% correct.”

Teaching/preaching should be done in a tactful manner. Being deliberately harsh or antagonistic not only offends people, it makes them tune-out.

 

[Rickwood]

Sounds like your priest is trying to save souls (that’s his job) as opposed to worrying whether or not he’s hurting people’s feelings. If a priest told me I couldn’t recieve it would seriously make me rethink how I was living my life. It’s sound more like a call to repentance than a “holier than thou” attitude. Hats off to him.

No way! By antagonizing people to the point where they leave, he’s doing nothing except putting souls in jeopardy.

There are some POWERFUL preachers out there like Frs. John Corapi and Bill Casey who do not become offensive or antagonistic.

It sounds like this priest might need to mature a bit.

 

[fix]

ok, maybe i did not explain fully or properly, but it seems you guys are missing the intent of what i was saying. yes, the priest should protect the eucharist, yes pro-abortion people are in a state of sin and need to correct that, yes pro-abortion people should refrain from communion.

my point is his ATTITUDE. Christ wants people to get to heaven, and having the nasty attitude i see this priest displaying is not winning any souls for Christ. when he pro-abortion people come in contact with this type of attitude, the are only driven further away. shouldn’t we act in LOVE and KINDNESS, while still maintaining our Catholic morals? having the “your not welcome here” attitude is not acting out of love.

But, by what you have related none of it seems unkind or unloving. Is it possible we all are too sensitive and look to be offended every chance we get?

 

[lizaanne]

ok, maybe i did not explain fully or properly, but it seems you guys are missing the intent of what i was saying. yes, the priest should protect the eucharist, yes pro-abortion people are in a state of sin and need to correct that, yes pro-abortion people should refrain from communion.

my point is his ATTITUDE. Christ wants people to get to heaven, and having the nasty attitude i see this priest displaying is not winning any souls for Christ. when he pro-abortion people come in contact with this type of attitude, the are only driven further away. shouldn’t we act in LOVE and KINDNESS, while still maintaining our Catholic morals? having the “your not welcome here” attitude is not acting out of love.

I think that one person’s opinion of “attitude” is another person’s opinion of standing up for the Faith. Without actually hearing him speak I have no way to form an opinion one way or the other.

He sounds VERY immature. Is he in his 20’s perchance?

You have got to be joking me!!?? You are prepared to say this about someone you do not know, have never heard speak, and only know as much as has been said here - by ONE person??!!!

And I must say - I know some 20 year olds who are FAR more articulate and mature speakers than some 50 year olds!!!

~Liza

 

[jam070406]

No way! By antagonizing people to the point where they leave, he’s doing nothing except putting souls in jeopardy.

There are some POWERFUL preachers out there like Frs. John Corapi and Bill Casey who do not become offensive or antagonistic.

It sounds like this priest might need to mature a bit.

First off, you don’t know for a fact that he was being deliberatley antagonizing or deliberately harsh. People are going from what was posted in the original post. I was basing my answer on the fact this priest was standing for truth.

The fact is… we weren’t there and you should refrain from publically judging or possibly scandalizing this priest.

 

[Rickwood]

But, by what you have related none of it seems unkind or unloving. Is it possible we all are too sensitive and look to be offended every chance we get?

It would be interesting how people on this thread would respond if the priest preached strongly against those who question VC2. If he tore into those who deviated from what the Church actually directs – say those who insist on kneeling during the Agnus Dei despite differing directions from the local bishop; those who condemn the practice of proceeding up for a blessing during confession even if the local ordinary allows it; those who condemn the use of any EMsHC, etc. etc.

This priest is playing to the “traditionalist” mindset. Don’t expect an non-skewed group of responses on this forum…

 

[Ceil-1]

1 Corinthians 13:1:

If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass or clanging cymbal.

This man lacks love.

Many of these types believe their supposed zeal covers their behavior, but they are blinded by spiritual pride. It is an interesting dynamic. Someone should do a study on it.

I’ve noticed many of the same people have all kinds of food phobias, and immunization conspiracy theories, and other similar complexes. Anyone who doesn’t completely agree with every thought is an enemy of the True Faith. It must be some form of scrupulosity, maybe even paranoia.

 

[pnewton]

There are some POWERFUL preachers out there like Frs. John Corapi and Bill Casey who do not become offensive or antagonistic…

Fr. Corapi has been accused of the exact same problem. Without hearing such a priest, it is unfair to judge his delivery. His facts are correct.

 

[Rawb]

As others have said, attitude is subjective. What is one person’s “bad attitude” is another’s “firm resolve”.

In my opinion some out there NEED to be offended. Maybe it’ll finally get them to think, and realize that there’s something wrong with their thinking.

True, some people need to be led by the hand and carefully and tactfully given the truth. Others need it given bluntly, for the sake of their soul.

Where is this parish? I’m looking to relocate soon.

 

[Rickwood]

First off, you don’t know for a fact that he was being deliberatley antagonizing or deliberately harsh. People are going from what was posted in the original post. I was basing my answer on the fact this priest was standing for truth.

The fact is… we weren’t there and you should refrain from publically judging or possibly scandalizing this priest.

It sure sounds as if he is based on the OP. In any event you certainly do not know that he is not acting this way.

The fact is we weren’t there and we should refrain from lionizing any priest who is turning people away from his parish. That much HAS been established.

I SERIOUSLY doubt people are actually leaving due to the contents of the message. I would strongly suspect they are leaving due to its delivery and tone.