[ceejay]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Only lately have some church communities become more.........sociable at Mass. That depends a lot on the pastor.

...and the assistant priests.

I was, at one time, a very devout Catholic. I was involved in the Church in many ways (lector, eucharistic minister, cofirmation advisor, parish council). My favorite position was working with the teens of the parish as a CYO advisor. We started with a group of 8 teens and grew to a membership of almost 100. We sponsored dances and a lot of activities that involved the youth of the parish. They were excited about becoming an important part of the church and many went on to become lectors and ministers.

That all changed the day that Father Joe was transferred to our parish. He was a young guy (early 40's) and we really thought he would be an asset to our youth community. He became our priest moderator and we thought that he would establish some great relationships with our kids.

Well, that all changed after he attended his first CYO dance and caught a young couple kissing on the dance floor...GOD FORBID! His comment was "Don't they know they can catch diseases from that???".

That was the beginning of the end. He banned all dances and youth activities and in just a few short months, the kids lost interest and stopped coming to our meetings. We lost most of them.

Long story short...I removed myself from my parish roles because I was so upset and disappointed in the way that Church was no longer evolving. His masses were all sermons and money pleas...I couldn't even attend when he was saying Mass. He came to me one day and asked why I was no longer involved. I told him the truth, that I felt like a hypocrite when I was there during his masses, that I disliked him that much and that I resented the fact that he drove away all the kids. When he suggested that I start attending Mass at a different parish, I told him that I was there first and that when he left, I would come back to MY Church. (I could hear my mom groaning and rolling over and over in her grave when I said that!)

Anyway, we attend Fairway Christian Church. The music is great, the ministers are REAL people and the sense of community is very strong.

Thanks for listening.