The great majority of our parishes have a group of miserable women who run everything.
The bear gives a great example of how they conduct themselves:
Convert mom. Two kids. She brings doughnuts. One of the old people (who make up the bulk of the Bear's dying parish) bitches at her, saying, "It's not doughnut Sunday."
The oldest kid says, "Why don't we go to the Vine. People are nice there and they have doughnuts every Sunday."
Good question. They have better music, better sermons, you never hear a word about global warming, everybody's friendly and they have freaking doughnuts every freaking Sunday. And most of their congregation does not consist of old jerks.
Doughnuts every Sunday? The Bear's so there.
This has nothing to do with doctrine, Vatican II or Pope Francis, It has everything to do with a dysfunctional parish driving people to a Protestant chain congregation. The Bear's parish is so hollow and so doomed. And the Bear does not care. The future does not lie with the Laurence Welk generation.
Anyone who wants to help is, frankly, abused. They don't want help. They want to sit in their sand castle as the tide rolls in.
BOOM!
A shining example of why young families don't feel comfortable or welcome.
14 comments:
Thanks! Love your title.
Good title. Funny story. Sorry mess.
We have donuts, or the equivalent, every Sunday. And a hot meal for the attendees at the 11:30, who want it. And we love kids, 'cause our young people breed like rabbits.
But, alas, we also have the Modesty Police, a couple of older ladies who will pounce on the innocent sleeveless visitor.
The Fathers try hard to eradicate this behavior- the dress code is in the bulletin for future reference and we assume our attendees are literate- but it's like nutgrass. These
one or two old bidies just can't let it alone. 'Cause zeal, or something.
So we get the perrenial reminder- had one just last Sunday, if fact- that this is not our purview. So, stop.
Other than that, we're good.
You won't like this, Carol, but I will say it, anyway. Few Catholics who regularly go to church, whether priests or laity, really have the Holy Spirit inside them, let alone embody the virtues described in Galatians 5: 22-23. I will wager very few of them know what the Gospel is or entails. Part of that reflects deficient theological training within the clergy, which gets transmitted to the laity. Part of it also reflects the Church's headlong rush into intellectual fashion, as exemplified by this Pope. Unfortunately, it also reflects a kind of institutional arrogance that substitutes blind group identity for faith. The Pharisees weren't the only ones who were "old wineskins," as it were.
Hey,
I am from the tail end of the LAWRENCE WELK generation.....EASY DOES IT!
I am not quite ready for the GLUE FACTORY yet. Even though I am celibate,
I like a nice leg. But modesty is a good thing, let us not marginalize it.
I try to live the virtues mentioned in Galations, speaking of them, frequently,
at work and practicing them in front of many, even bringing some of them to
notice it, because they tell me they hear it and see it in my bevavior.
Some of us oldies are real goodies! And, along those lines...today is the
80th anniversary of the great rock and roll singer, BUDDY HOLLY, born today
in 1936. Perhaps, say a prayer for him and those who perished with him, on
THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED, in Feb 1959, when this old codger was a mere 4
years of age.
Not sure I would still be Catholic were it not for his musical influence in my
life. It kept me on the straight and narrow.
God bless.
Karl
No, no- not against modesty by any means!
(And I'm an old biddy, myself.)
Just against being ugly to innocent visitors who aren't
up to code.
Sal, I was floored that there are modesty rules about sleeveless dresses. Seriously, what nerve people have inspecting people's clothing to that degree and then approaching them about it. Asinine! It would somewhat be justified if a woman came to Church in a low cut short dress to approach, but if anyone ever approached a young couple to complain about seeing their arms, I would take a quick inventory to pick out something ugly or objectionable and loudly voice it in reply! I'd line up three or four people to approach her every week to complain about something she's worn or something ugly about her. After a month of it, she'd stop dead in her tracks!
Karl, I had no idea Buddy Holly was even Catholic--amazing.
Sorry that it took so long for me to respond but my cellphone internet would not let me post here a,d I was at work, which does not allow me to post using its computers.
Buddy was not Catholic. I believe that he was a Baptist, but I am not certain.
What I meant was that my love for his music had such a profound effect that I devoted a bunch of my time learning it and learning how to play it on my guitar. But, the general wholesomeness that I saw in his life, tended to keep me on the straight and narrow, as I was growing up in the late 60's and throughout the 70's. There were drugs all around me and it was the "make love not war" generation that I was the tail end of, but I avoided it or perhaps, it passed me by, reasonably intact.
My daughter was actually born on August 15th, which as well as being the Feast of the Assumption, was also the 22nd wedding anniversary of Buddy and his wife, Maria. As a consequence, my daughter is Holly. She has been a singular blessing in my life.
So, please forgive me for not making things clearer. I apologize.
This is one thing that I read somewhere about Buddy Holly that touched me. I believe that this was related by Little Richard, somewhere.
There was a show in Lubbock, Texas, at which Little Richard appeared and in which, I think Buddy played in his very early days before stardom. After the show, as I recall, Buddy invited Little Richard to his parent's home. I believe that Little Richard was, somewhat, skeptical, being black and in the south. But he chose to take Buddy up on his offer. I believe that Buddy's family treated Little Richard like an old friend and made him very much at home. Remember, this was in the middle 1950's.
Perhaps I am naive, but such behavior, when one considers that black acts usually could not even travel in the same bus as the white acts, in those days and often had to stay at different motels/places than the white acts, told me about the character of this very young man, when I, myself, was a very young man.
One day, God willing, I hope to visit Lubbock and pray at Buddy's grave, along with my daughter, Holly. I was at Clear Lake in the late 1980's, at the sight of the plane crash.
Thank you.
Karl
Karl, no apology necessary!
Great post and story. Love the name Holly!
Anon @ 3:47 - fantastic post!
You are right on the money here. The other that I have noticed is when "Pillar of the Church" Lady A runs down "Pillar of the Church Lady" B who runs down the guy who supplies the school bus. And these are folks who can do genuinely marvelous things. Disorienting as s convert. -Learning
And I see this in the blogsphere to. (I know I have been guilty of being quick to click on the critcal article of one blogger about another) It is like we are tearing each other apart. So Conservative Catholic site A is slamming those people over thee, who are slamming two other commenters. It is getting freaky. What is going on? Jesus tells us to go in private, and then in private with witnesses and only then, if the wrong continues to go further? We are tearing each other apart. -Learning
But at other parishes it seems like unless you are young and have a kid in the parish school you don't matter at all.
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