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EMPTYING PEWS
Topic Started: Monday, 2. October 2006, 11:21 (1,612 Views)
Joe Valente
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Ned
 
"Confiteor - I sometimes read the Sunday World.

Here is a part of Father Brian D'Arcy's column :-

Quote:
There are many reasons why people stop going to Mass. They are usually personal - such as a breakdown, a bereavement that has left people angry, or depression; pressure of work; or maybe quite simply a doubt about faith.

The biggest reason I hear for people not going to Mass though is 'it's boring'. Young people say they would rather play football or watch television or lie in bed on a Sunday morning. I rarely get a chance to sit in church and listen as a member of the congregation. I hardly ever get a Sunday off now.

When I used to, I invariably went to Mass in the pews. Occasionally, I got something out of it, but mostly I was silently seething. The preaching was less than inspiring. The homily was ill prepared, sometimes inaudible and almost always lacking in any structure or point.

Hardly ever did it show signs of study or that the Gospel came through the preacher in any way. At best it came out of the preacher. For a homilist, that's the great mortal sin.

The Second Vatican Council emphasised the importance of preaching The Word. Other religions do emphasise The Word, however. When I studied in America, an Episcopalian priest who worked in Chicago told me that he had written into his contract, a 10 hour period to prepare for a Sunday sermon.

There was a Baptist Minister who had six hours written into his contract for the same purpose. Very few priests would spend 10 hours preparing. Which is a real pity. I am now 40 years a priest. Almost every Sunday in my life for those 40 years I have had to prepare a sermon.

I still get really anxious about it. I can hardly ever use something I have written before. Each week I would spend at least six hours preparing a sermon. I am not saying I am any better than anybody else. I am saying that even after six hours, I can still get it wrong.

If God's word is that important, then how could I face God without showing respect for his word. At least in my conscience I know I do that. Nowadays, there are readymade homilies for busy priests. I have rarely found anything helpful in them. I much prefer background
material which helps me unlock the scriptures which are read.

Worst of all, more and more priests are beginning to read their homilies. This is the ultimate insult to your congregation and gives the impression they have pulled them off the internet."


"I am not saying that I am better than anyone else" seems to me that he is saying that he is better than a lot of other priests.
I normally am very reluctant to publicly critisize a priest, but I am going to break my rule :
These sentiments from most priests would impress me but in this instance they ring rather hallow to me. This The Fr.Brian Darcy, a Passionist priest, who writes a weekly column for Ireland's equivalent of the News of the World, a paper often referred to as " Billy's Weekly Liar", the same Fr. Darcy who juggles his time between Church, journalism and presenting a weekly Radio Ulster programme, funnily enough on a Sunday morning when most Catholics are at Mass, the same priest who painted a disturbing picture of some of his confreres form his time in Seminary and Novitiate (though it took him over 30 years to decide to do this), the same Fr.Darcy who courted public acclaim by giving Cardinal Daly a rough time on the Late Late Show, the same Fr.Darcy whose greatest claim is his involvement in show business.
Sorry, Ned, right message for me but wrong messenger and wrong publication.
What doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul
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Deleted User
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Joe :respect: and if you have any further tips for priests sermons :rock:
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Rose of York
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Penfold
Monday, 4. May 2009, 21:41
Joe :respect: and if you have any further tips for priests sermons :rock:
Why not? We are here to express opinions, and somewhere we have a thread about standards of preaching. I'll ferret it out.
Keep the Faith!

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:butbutbut: I am very defiantly having a confusing evening :rock: is a sign of positive encouragement, the thumbs up...


or have I missed something
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Rose of York
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Penfold, sorry, I never knew what that meant, until you explained.

Please accept my apologies, I misunderstood you.

I found the link to the preaching thread.

http://s10.zetaboards.com/Catholic_CyberForum/topic/105330/7/#new
Keep the Faith!

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:peace:
but I am off to change heads anyway this one really has't been working to well this evening, I think I breathed in to much incense at Walsingham and the Divils have blown the synaptic circuitry. :jester:
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Joe Valente
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Emptying pews may not be the disaster that it seems to be to some of us.
Perhaps it should be seen as a spring cleaning and an opportunity for renewal.
Unfortunately, in my lifetime especially since the implementaion of V11, the greatest dangers to the Church have come from within it's own ranks.
Many of us may not have agreed with everything that V11 decreed but we accepted it as the will of the Church. Then we had the disidents like those who decided to form SSPX (no doubt causing the body of a great Pope to spin in it's tomb). They decided that they were right and all the rest of us were wrong.
They could have remained within the ranks and quietly and discreetly continued to fight their cause at the higher echelons of Church authority. Instead, in fear of losing their battle and some prestige, their pride forced them to break ranks and attack the Papacy. The only result of this was to add a few more arrows to our enemies quivers.
Then we have the "pick and mix" brigade. Some of them very vocal some less so but equally as misled and damaging. They want the benefits of Mother Church, Mass, Holy Communion, First Communion and Confirmation for their children, married in Church, a Catholic funeral, education in a good Catholic school for their children etc
They don't want the constraints that being Catholic places on them, confession......no need for it. birth control ..........who wants more than 2 children
contraception.............sex is for pleasure
Let us abortion........let us have divorce........let us live with a partner........let us have sexual freedom.......let us settle for Mass once or twice a year
let us have our child baptised even if we do not practice or intend to teach the child up to practice..........leave us free to practice homosexuality if we wish.
Who are you to interfere in our lives ?
Oh, by the way, we demand the right to Holy Communion as there is no such a thing as mortal sin. Such are our "pick and mix" catholics.
The unfortunate result is that young people are growing up under their influence and example. Unfortunately some of our priests have become part of this "pick and mix" brigade. Many other priests are reluctant to speak out and condemn all of these things lest they lose some of their congregation.
This means that there are few who are pointing out these dangers
Our young people need guidance which , at present they are lacking, from Church and family. Someone to show them the examples of other young people like Dominic Savio, John Berchman, Maria Goretti and many others.
Perhaps our beloved Church needs this emptying of the pews as a wake up call to all of us, clergy and laity alike. As an opportunity to renew our faith, our loyalty to Mother Church and the Holy Father, to reinstate the validity of the Commandments of the Church. If the emptying pews lead to this then we will have learned.
Edited by Joe Valente, Tuesday, 5. May 2009, 11:40.
What doth it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul
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Ned

Joe Valente
Monday, 4. May 2009, 21:27
Sorry, Ned, right message for me but wrong messenger and wrong publication.
God sometimes chooses the most unlikely people to be His messenger, amd He doesn't give them any choice. Look at Jonah. :soapbox:
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Ned

Joe Valente
Monday, 4. May 2009, 21:27
This The Fr.Brian Darcy, a Passionist priest, who writes a weekly column for Ireland's equivalent of the News of the World, a paper often referred to as " Billy's Weekly Liar", the same Fr. Darcy who juggles his time between Church, journalism and presenting a weekly Radio Ulster programme, funnily enough on a Sunday morning when most Catholics are at Mass, the same priest who painted a disturbing picture of some of his confreres form his time in Seminary and Novitiate (though it took him over 30 years to decide to do this), the same Fr.Darcy who courted public acclaim by giving Cardinal Daly a rough time on the Late Late Show, the same Fr.Darcy whose greatest claim is his involvement in show business.
:thanks:
No publicity is bad publicity, Joe, but may I add, please, that he also presents Sunday Half-Hour at 8.30pm every Sunday on BBC Radio 2.
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