the one chance for listeners to get their thoughts talked about in the podcast, and no one is taking it.
my advice to the new pastor, to steal a line from the supreme pastor, is to never tire of forgiving, i.e. proclaiming God's mercy in the sacrament of penance
Advice to the new Pastor: We hunger for the Sacraments. If the Sacraments are the center of life at the parish, everything else follows. God bless you Father!
Find lay employees you trust to do the good work the laity can do in the parish and keep the majority of your time for the things only you can do. You likely didn’t feel called to the priesthood to be the CEO of a multi-million dollar non-profit, but you are. But the lay staff can help you with those functions; they can’t help you with the sacraments, the pastoral care, the spiritual direction of the community. But they can run a budget under your vision.
For the new pastor: Don't skimp on confession times. Make sure the sacrament is offered frequently (i.e. more than just on Saturday morning -- DURING Sunday Masses if at all possible, as Pope St John Paul II explicitly recommended when there are available priests!). The difficulty of getting to confession is a huge obstacle for many of the faithful.
For the new pastor: be the spiritual father of your parish. Dads can get caught up in working too much in the name of providing for their family and neglect spending time with their family - do not let yourself get caught up in the operations of your parish or the expectations of the chancery; you should spend more time at your parishioners dinner tables then they spend in your office or email inbox. Dads are at the family table every night - you need to make the sacraments available every day. Dads lead by example - the single best thing you can do for your parish is ensure your own personal holiness. Dads can be awkward, insensitive, impatient, have weird quirks, and be otherwise flawed, but kids forgive all of that when they know their dad cares about them - care about your people and they will forgive your human faults. Dads deal with unreasonable toddlers and teenagers by teaching them what is right and waiting for them to grow up - you'll have to do the same with 65 year old women. Dads end the day exhausted only to look forward to a night of interrupted sleep and doing it all again the next day - don't let your celibacy serve to entirely insulate you from similar sufferings. Your bishop may undermine your fatherhood every 6 years and pretend it is transferable from one family to another, and I am sorry you need to carry that cross - try to not close off your heart in response to that.
Advice for new pastors: Listen, don't make drastic changes the first 6mos-year then make changes gradually. If you don't already, set up regular therapy checkins with a licensed therapist. Your stress levels are going to skyrocket. Let your lay employees do their jobs and rely on their institutional knowledge so you don't have 50 little old ladies in the parish looking to raise the stake and light the pyre....
Another piece of advice: Learn how to apologize and own your mistakes. Too many priests "if" and "but" their way threw apologizing and do far more harm then good when they do it.
Probably the best advice I got when I first became a pastor was: be patient with yourself, in the way that God is infinitely patient with each of us. And, don’t think you’re gonna ever be able to please everyone, you won’t.
For the new Pastor - take a class in effective speaking. After a lifetime of listening to priests give homilies and a lifetime of listening to teaching conferences, there are a lot of things a priest could do better to get the point across - not saying entertaining, saying effective. Not very effective if parishioners fall asleep or zone out. Also, in homilies, be real about sin, temptation, etc. Can't remember last time I heard a priest talk about sin, especially in terms of current society.
We are going to go to the Eucharistic Conference in Indianapolis and if you were to do a live show, we would be there! Please let us be on/at your live show!
- Subscribe to Cardinal Stafford's recent exhortation (from your podcast) to make prayer an essential part of the parish.
- Weave Confession and Adoration into the very fabric of the parish as well, so parishioners can see, hear, feel the threads of each in the life of the parish.
- Pastors are charged with caring for all the souls within a parish, almost like a foster parent tending Jesus' sheep (from Sunday's Gospel!) Remember that charge in listening to the Holy Spirit when drafting homilies ... and when forming the mission of the parish. (mission is more "BE" than "Do" a la, Cardinal Stafford!)
- If you're eventually doing 80/20 Administrative/Pastoral, you're probably pastoring incorrectly.
- Don't shy away from asking questions. (the new pastor is on his way by asking you both for input with his question!)
- If not certain, don't be afraid to say "I don't know" ... especially on matters not doctrinal.
- Listen to the Holy Spirit ... - When in doubt and tired and uncertain ... listen for the Holy Spirit.
JD, I assume the new cat acquisition is in response to your recent unwanted house guests. If TV cartoons have taught me anything, it’s that this exact scenario does not end well for the cat. Those conniving little rodents will constantly elude, torment and frame your cat for misdemeanours not of its doing, leading to Mrs Flynn reading it the riot act. And if a young kangaroo manages to escape from a travelling circus that happens to be passing through town…
the one chance for listeners to get their thoughts talked about in the podcast, and no one is taking it.
my advice to the new pastor, to steal a line from the supreme pastor, is to never tire of forgiving, i.e. proclaiming God's mercy in the sacrament of penance
Advice to new pastor: Find a way to get to know names of parishioners and a way for parishioners to meet each other.
Do you guys think Pope Francis will come to Indianapolis for the Eucharistic Revival?
Eucharistic Congresses do seem like the type of things popes go to.
Advice to the new Pastor: We hunger for the Sacraments. If the Sacraments are the center of life at the parish, everything else follows. God bless you Father!
Advice for new pastors:
Find lay employees you trust to do the good work the laity can do in the parish and keep the majority of your time for the things only you can do. You likely didn’t feel called to the priesthood to be the CEO of a multi-million dollar non-profit, but you are. But the lay staff can help you with those functions; they can’t help you with the sacraments, the pastoral care, the spiritual direction of the community. But they can run a budget under your vision.
Do a live show at the Saint Paul Seminary.
For the new pastor: Don't skimp on confession times. Make sure the sacrament is offered frequently (i.e. more than just on Saturday morning -- DURING Sunday Masses if at all possible, as Pope St John Paul II explicitly recommended when there are available priests!). The difficulty of getting to confession is a huge obstacle for many of the faithful.
For the new pastor: be the spiritual father of your parish. Dads can get caught up in working too much in the name of providing for their family and neglect spending time with their family - do not let yourself get caught up in the operations of your parish or the expectations of the chancery; you should spend more time at your parishioners dinner tables then they spend in your office or email inbox. Dads are at the family table every night - you need to make the sacraments available every day. Dads lead by example - the single best thing you can do for your parish is ensure your own personal holiness. Dads can be awkward, insensitive, impatient, have weird quirks, and be otherwise flawed, but kids forgive all of that when they know their dad cares about them - care about your people and they will forgive your human faults. Dads deal with unreasonable toddlers and teenagers by teaching them what is right and waiting for them to grow up - you'll have to do the same with 65 year old women. Dads end the day exhausted only to look forward to a night of interrupted sleep and doing it all again the next day - don't let your celibacy serve to entirely insulate you from similar sufferings. Your bishop may undermine your fatherhood every 6 years and pretend it is transferable from one family to another, and I am sorry you need to carry that cross - try to not close off your heart in response to that.
Advice for new pastors: Listen, don't make drastic changes the first 6mos-year then make changes gradually. If you don't already, set up regular therapy checkins with a licensed therapist. Your stress levels are going to skyrocket. Let your lay employees do their jobs and rely on their institutional knowledge so you don't have 50 little old ladies in the parish looking to raise the stake and light the pyre....
Another piece of advice: Learn how to apologize and own your mistakes. Too many priests "if" and "but" their way threw apologizing and do far more harm then good when they do it.
Probably the best advice I got when I first became a pastor was: be patient with yourself, in the way that God is infinitely patient with each of us. And, don’t think you’re gonna ever be able to please everyone, you won’t.
For the new Pastor - take a class in effective speaking. After a lifetime of listening to priests give homilies and a lifetime of listening to teaching conferences, there are a lot of things a priest could do better to get the point across - not saying entertaining, saying effective. Not very effective if parishioners fall asleep or zone out. Also, in homilies, be real about sin, temptation, etc. Can't remember last time I heard a priest talk about sin, especially in terms of current society.
We are going to go to the Eucharistic Conference in Indianapolis and if you were to do a live show, we would be there! Please let us be on/at your live show!
For new Pastor:
- Subscribe to Cardinal Stafford's recent exhortation (from your podcast) to make prayer an essential part of the parish.
- Weave Confession and Adoration into the very fabric of the parish as well, so parishioners can see, hear, feel the threads of each in the life of the parish.
- Pastors are charged with caring for all the souls within a parish, almost like a foster parent tending Jesus' sheep (from Sunday's Gospel!) Remember that charge in listening to the Holy Spirit when drafting homilies ... and when forming the mission of the parish. (mission is more "BE" than "Do" a la, Cardinal Stafford!)
- If you're eventually doing 80/20 Administrative/Pastoral, you're probably pastoring incorrectly.
- Don't shy away from asking questions. (the new pastor is on his way by asking you both for input with his question!)
- If not certain, don't be afraid to say "I don't know" ... especially on matters not doctrinal.
- Listen to the Holy Spirit ... - When in doubt and tired and uncertain ... listen for the Holy Spirit.
- Reflect Joy.
JD, I assume the new cat acquisition is in response to your recent unwanted house guests. If TV cartoons have taught me anything, it’s that this exact scenario does not end well for the cat. Those conniving little rodents will constantly elude, torment and frame your cat for misdemeanours not of its doing, leading to Mrs Flynn reading it the riot act. And if a young kangaroo manages to escape from a travelling circus that happens to be passing through town…