This is a case of mistaken identity, for sure.
It has become the sub-title of the Catholic Church that bills itself as a "RECONCILING MULTICULTURAL CHURCH." The upper case is not mine, it is part of the parish logo. This is the same church, "animated by the GOOD NEWS of Christ" where the pastor bills himself as the "Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions." Are we, the faithful congregation of this church to understand that "One Dream, One Future" is the everlasting kingdom of heaven, or something else? Is this guy a Pastor or a Foreman? This Kurmujjin thinks of him more as a secular foreman than a Pastor/Priest. Besides, we recently got a graphic answer to the question. There were three grainy pictures in the parish bulletin of the church buildings in progressive states of change, from past to desired future. Plus, over the last two years we have seen highly qualified professionals in ministerial roles be side-stepped, blind-sided and/or terminated from
service or kept, but with slashed wages. The reason is always that the parish cannot afford the expense. It is rather difficult to participate in the regularly scheduled liturgies without having the offertory basket passed around. A decision has also been taken to request weekly donations from catechumens. Everywhere and at every moment there is the spore of the pastor around statues, pictures, fences, benches, carpets, paint, tile, name-boards on the buildings, sound system, computerized internal camera system inside the church and a dozen other material embellishments of questionable spiritual import.
Over the time of his reign, we have witnessed the ascendancy of a group who are focused on keeping the "Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions" occupied with money raising projects. Keeping true to form, these are not high powered, professional "developers" or "producers". They are volunteers who are seeking to make a mark for themselves in the eyes of someone that they perceive to be an important and powerful person in charge of a large community.
Furthermore, there is but small effort from the resident clerics to assure the progress of the community towards being reconciled to its multicultural reality. Through it all, not a single one of the residents of the rectory (parsonage) has made the slightest effort to learn the mother tongue of 80 percent of the faithful who make up the community (Spanish). These same Spanish deprived sloths keep dunning the Hispanic community for more money. This is what happened this evening at the end of the 7:00 PM Mass.
"Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions" who had muddled his way through this Spanish language liturgy by reading the texts in his miserable Spanish devoted 15 minutes of "Post-Mass Altar time" to drum up the troops for generous donations to the "One Dream, One Future" drive. The first five minutes were occupied by a Spanish language spokesman haranguing the congregation to get them to buy raffle tickets, 11 for $10.00 (such a deal!). Then the "Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions" got up, called forth his interpreter and began his part of the snake-oil pitch, in English, of course. "This is my third year here and I have renewed and refurbished many things. I am here tonight to make you a promise, in no uncertain terms, I will not stop working at making this property better. I will continue to add, to refurbish and re-organize the plant." At this point, I left. I am not Hispanic, but I feel insulted for them because of this donkey's total insensitivity to the reality that he is manipulating. When I came back onsite after about 7 minutes, he was still at it. In 21st century, IM language, I guess I should be ROTFLMAO, but instead I turn to God and ask, "Can't you find someone to shepherd the spiritual needs of the faithful in this parish?"
You priest huggers reading this are saying, "respect the priest. If you don't like it, do something about it." I got you there "goodie-two-shoes", I am doing something about it. I and my wife spend hours and dollars doing things that the "Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions" and his two incompetent wing men can't or won't do while they are dunning people through an interpreter.
Due to the spending of at least a quarter of a million dollars on material things and the resistance of the ordained ministers to acculturate themselves to the community over the last six years, lay people with higher levels of education and broader and deeper real-life ministerial experience are alienated from the ministry because the clerics insist on calling all the shots. Many "management" decisions are made in the absence of those who are the designated lay leaders, even in religious areas about which these same clerics know precious little. The clerics make sure that the lay help is sycophantic and always willing to bow and acquiesce with a "reverent, 'yes, father'" for everything.
In this church, the "Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions" is the Emperor and the laity, the vassals. The assistant pastors are Princes and the ONE DREAM, ONE FUTURE financial drive gets everlasting pulpit, PowerPoint and behind-the-altar time for months on end while spiritual realities are relegated to small print in the weekly parish bulletin.
This parish is in dire need of a conversion to "Weren't our hearts burning within us as He was explaining the Scripture to us?" (Luke 13; 32) "Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions" has to take heed of the words of the Master, "Foolish man, this very night your soul will be required of you."
(Luke, 12:20)
That would be a fitting event for the "Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions" who seems to be building his own heavenly reward in the memories of the faithful who will remember him when they frequent the house that the "Priest Moderator of Service and Temporalities Commissions" built.
