Anonymous February 4, 2014 at 12:50 PM
Tim is correct. I am in the NCW on Guam and i remember reading this letter however we don't practice some of the instructions.
On #5 I remember Fr. Pius saying at the annual convivance that something about the receiving of the Eucharist was still being worked on. However this big change that was implemented was to stand when the priest approaches your seat. whereas we'd sit originally. Clearly we don't follow the instructions as written or was this the negotiated agreement Pius was mentioning between the Holy See and NCW. I don't know.
On #1 i joke with my spouse repeatedly about this, because the communities have never, ever, en masse celebrated with the parish on Sunday. The only exceptions i've witnessed is attending the feast day of the patron saint and this is usually on a saturday afternoon.
Few years later a letter From Pope Benedict, saying that the ultimately when one's faith has been restored through being in the Way, he encourages us to return to the Parish. This too i've joked with my spouse when i don't feel like coming in on a Saturday night.
On this point i remember Monsignor Bibi reiterating the letter. To come back to the St. Anthony parish. Fr. Bibi i can see is sensitive to us as we are part of the Tamuning parish however i can see the strain it has caused. No priests from Tamuning parish celebrate Neo masses anymore.
On another note, the newly ordained priests, i can see their loyalty and i admire them for that. One priest during Eucharist commented, "I follow St. Peter." Which means i follow the Pope. Which means i follow the Bishop." However faulty our Archbishop is, this priest, at least in public draws his lines. If Fr. Paul is just in the merits of his case, then the more power to him as right makes might.
I've grown up seeing the Archbishop on the island. I was in the color guard standing over Archbishop Flores during his burial at the Cathedral. I remember seeing our new Bishop celebrating a mass at our school and at the time i remember his fellow Capuchin brothers joking to us about how he drives a new camry, albeit a gift from the Apuron family. I respect our Archbishop but i acknowledge that he too is just a man and i've made many many many mistakes, some have acknowledged, and suffered for them. He should too.
I'd like to say though that the NCW at the individual community level is great. the brothers talk about their problems, share, network business, etc. like any other social group but centered on personal faith. when the big impositions come...go out and do two by twos, etc, etc, give 10% of your gross...give 10% of your gross and there is only a verbal report of what will go where....something itches at you. our cathechist will tell us that is the devil working, hmm. maybe..
It is also true that the Archbishop takes orders or parlays with the NCW. Fr. Aurelio, one of the newly ordained priests from RM, said to us during his homily. .."The Bishop pulled me aside and said i am going to Asia. They've given me a seminary, (and other that i don't recall), now i have to give them something back. So i have to send you to Asia."
" . . . and there is only a verbal report of what will go where....something itches at you. our cathechist will tell us that is the devil working, hmm. maybe.."
ReplyDeleteActually, the devil is in the details . . . of the reporting. Nobody in their right mind should be submitting to the grossly incorrect interpretation of Mat 6:3 that seemingly mandates ignorance of use of funds. I have heard this rationalization constantly and am amazed that nobody bothers to cry foul!
The accounting is needed because, as holy as the act your catechist claims it is, those collecting and using these funds are vulnerable to mistakes, error, temptation and sin as is any human being.
Mat 6:3 simply, in the context of the Jesus' teachings, is to remain humble, to not announce the amounts you give, and to not struggle so much with the amount to offer. It is not a command or teaching to to those who collect these funds to remain silent or covert on how these funds are utilized. If anyone is automatically telling you to hush or "that's the devil speaking" when you inquire about the reporting is abusing your trust and THEY KNOW IT!