The Pictures have arrived

Congratulations on your big day. You seem like such a good and faithful priests. Why, then, do you not follow the directives of the new G.I.R.M. and Redemptionis Sacramentum? I don't mean to sound like a stickler, but ... the details of the sacred liturgy are eminently important. The precious blood in glass goblets? Your stole over the chasuble?

Hey, I inherited this stuff, along with a huge deficit. If you are willing to donate 12 silver chalices, fine. Otherwise complainers need to put their money where their mouth is.

There is a great deal about this parish that is liturgically not up to par. I am aware of what needs to be done, and I have a plan in place to do it. It will take both time and money.

You failed to mention the absence of a crucifix.

There is not an ambry in the place. The holy oils are kept in a closet with the matches and the charcoal. There are fake candles and fake trees in the sanctuary. There is a fake Easter Candle in the sacristy.

I have already replaced the loose-leaf lectionary with a real one. We have an old book of the Gospels in English, but not one in Spanish.

I realize much of what needs to be done, I simply do not have the money to do it.

The floor is crumbling, and the pews are in bad need of refinishing.

And we need a new church. The Church seats 450 and we have 5600 families at nine masses in 3 languages.

So, when your donation shows up in the mail, you can quibble over liturgical niceties. I think 6 to 10 million might suffice for what we need.

There is an appropriate green vestment that might replace my simple one. I think the catalog listed it at $1200. We do not have it.

ok, rant mode off.

Father Jeff,

I hope you were just having a bad day. Ouch! I am sure that you are tired and that you are facing many problems that are unbeknowst to your parish. May God give you the many graces you will need to face such challenges. It sounds like the battles St. Francis faced. The church was crumbling in structure and spirit. I will pray that all Catholics will answer the call to tithe and to be more generous to their parish and to the Lord both monetarily and with our hearts.

Father Jeff didn't mention this, but I think it's helpful to remember that most of the members of St Edward have bigger hearts than paychecks.

Peace, all.

The "liberal side" wishes to weigh in against Mr Quintero as well, unless he's got a check for a few thousand on the way to California. Liturgical sticklers are generally not a bad sort, necessarily. However, there are higher virtues than stickliness, and good Catholics (not to mention good pastors) are very much aware of them.

Fake trees notwithstanding, the nave looks quite bright, and I'm sure the faith of the people and the earnestness of the new pastor will continue to build faith in this community. Faith is, after all, far more important than mere gold or silver.

With all due respect, Father, I do not think that how the sacred species are treated (glass ciboria as well as glass globlets) should be written off as "liturgical niceties." The whole point, I believe, of the Year of the Eucharist, Mane Nobiscum, Domine, Redemptionis Sacramentum, Ecclesia de Eucharistia and the new General Instruction of the Roman Missal, is to restore reverence to the Sacred Liturgy and to celebrate the Mass well. It's a question of setting priorities. Replacing the fake Christmas tree? That can wait. Treating our Lord with the utmost reverence and respect, that should be the top priority.

Why is it when one simply reminds priests of the need to be unstintingly faithful to the liturgical norms one is written off as a "conservative" or a "stickler?" I just don't understand why priests don't follow the norms when it comes to the liturgy.

And lest I forget, it wouldn't cost you a cent to wear the stole under the chasuble instead of over it, as the norms indicate. How big does the donation have to be to persuade you to start wearing the stole properly?

I simply do not need to be reminded by an absentee landlord about my rsponsibilities for the liturgy.

I am aware of the need to replace the crystal chalices, and it will happen in time.

You have to be kidding about the stole, though. It would have made the liturgy a thing of ridicule. You have no idea how large that stole is and what it would have looked like in a form for which it was not made.

...and those are not Christmas trees. They are there the whole year.

To make you more sensitive to priorities, I have hispanic musicians trying hard to please me by doing a proper "Santo" and "Gloria" even though previous pastors let them do what they please, and I have a parishioner shocked that I would not permit the singing of a popular protestant "Our Father" at Mass.

I do not disagree with your understanding of the various documents. They cannot be accomplished in a month when the parish has been doing many other things for years.

If I had been here three years and you saw these things, complain away. But I am not going to upset an apple cart my first month here. Besides, I have other atrocities in the sacristy I have yet to figure out a solution for.

If you were standing here and had some suggestions, fine. If you were willing to donate to a few new chalices, even better.

I sincerely do not appreciate your casting doubt on an otherwise beautiful day. If you want to be part of the solution, fine. But I will not tolerate your nipping at my heels before I even get started.

Peace, all.

Mr Quintero's second reply points out the general ignorance of liturgy and pastoral ministry especially among the busybody Catholic nitpickers, if not a specific lack in his own approach.

The instant conversion demanded here is rarely something a stickler would apply in her or his own spiritual life. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find it at the Vatican itself.

An interesting question: "How big does the donation have to be ...?"

And my suggestion would be that something in four figures would be a good start.

My other suggestion to the poster: lay off the new pastor and MYOB.