23 Ways to Identify a Faithful Parish

[spathariossa]

My university parish doesn't have those either.

[StPiusVPrayForUs]

#4, #7, #9, #11 apply to the local parish near me that I hardly attend.

IMO I think my diocese appears to be in schism anyway (I can make no dogmatic judgments as I have no authority, but many things that go on here aren't Catholic); too many altar girls, too many extradordinary ministers, one church uses a touch of Latin (depsite many pof these priests full well know Latin and know that our holy Father wants more Latin), there are no traditional high altars, priests soliciting prostitutes, priests molesting altar boys, priest "baptizing" a baby Jesus figure, every other language on the earth has a Mass except a majority Latin Mass, etc. Oh yeah, and under our old bishop, the Catechism was BANNED in schools! But clown ministries were and still are rampent.

Thanks to a bishop change due to a retirement, we had several changes for the good but there are still for the most part too many problems.

[popestpiusx]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Jan 17 2005, 03:54 PM'] Wait...you mean my parish is more in line with this than PSPX's parish?

I love scoring a 100%...hehe... [/quote]
How so?

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='popestpiusx' date='Jan 18 2005, 01:33 AM'] How so? [/quote]
Well, I suppose it's not necessarily the case...you just didn't know one way or the other for a couple...

Sorry, I was just messing around. My parish did score a 100% though...I love this diocese. :wub:

[Tony]

[quote name='thedude' date='Jan 17 2005, 08:17 PM'] Sit and stand. Kneelers are on the way. Bishop mandated it. The parish isn't happy about it though...

Man, I can't wait to get out of this place. [/quote]
I cant imagine not kneeling at the consectration.. I love it!

[Scofizzle]

We fit all the criteria except on our sign it says community but on the side of the church that faces the road it says church.......so 22 1/2 out of 23

[BeenaBobba]

1.) Yes, my parish offers daily Mass.

2.) Confession takes place before the Saturday evening Mass [i]and[/i] by appointment.

3.) Yes. The tabernacle is behind the alter and is a bit to the left. There's a gorgeous icon of Our Lady of Czenstochowa above it.

4.) Yes, of course. All Latin churches should have kneelers. Eastern churches, on the other hand, shouldn't.

5.) It's been a while since I saw the sign in front of my church, but I don't think it says anything like that.

6.) Yes, there's not too much talking inside of the church. There's a bit of talking in the narthex before Mass, though.

7.) I don't think this happens too often, no. I'll have to look out for it; I haven't really looked for it.

8.) The Mass is said according to the rubrics most of the time. Not always, though.

9.) I've never heard the Gospel read by anyone other than a priest or a deacon. Nor have I heard a homily by anyone other than a priest or a deacon.

10.) Unfortunately, Latin isn't used too much at my parish. It's used on occasion, but I think it should be used more. It's such a pretty language.

11.) Goodness, no! At least I hope not! I'm pretty sure the right kind of bread is used.

12.) Some songs sung are traditional, whereas others are sort of folkish. I'm really not into folk music, and I think it's ten times cheesier in the Mass. I prefer more traditional stuff. We sing some Protestant songs, too, like "Amazing Grace," and I'm not too pleased about that. (I don't have beef with "Protestant" songs, per se, so long as they're doctrinally sound. "Amazing Grace" is not.)

13.) My parish is somewhat large, and we don't have a deacon, so EMs are used. Fortunately, there aren't too many of them.

14.) The bulletin doesn't mention fidelity at all, which is too bad.

15.) No, groups like that aren't mentioned in our bulletin. I wish they were, but they're not. I visit a parish near my house occasionally, and they offer a Bible study. But it's not my home parish.

16.) YES! We've got an adoration chapel! Hurrah!

17.) I don't think my parish has a pro-life ministry, but I could be wrong. I know that it takes part in prayer in front of abortion mills, though. And it has a flourishing ministry for the poor.

18.) My priest wears lay clothes a lot when he goes out. But I've seen him in his collar outside of church before.

19.) I've never heard my current pastor preach on these things, but he might. I don't always go to Mass at my home parish.

20.) I don't think my parish teaches NFP, which is unfortunate. I could be wrong, as I don't know the state of our marriage preparation.

21.) I don't know what CCD's like at my parish now, but it was [b]great[/b] when I took it. Sadly, it went in one ear and out the other at the time, but I now appreciate the effort and love my teachers put into it. They were quite orthodox and devoted, too.

22.) My church doesn't have a website.

23.) I haven't seen any heretical publications.

So, as you can see, my parish isn't too too bad, but it could certainly be better.

God bless,

Jen

[DemonSlayer]

You don't need kneelers to kneel, especially if the floor is carpeted.

[spathariossa]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Jan 18 2005, 02:21 AM'] Well, I suppose it's not necessarily the case...you just didn't know one way or the other for a couple...

Sorry, I was just messing around. My parish did score a 100% though...I love this diocese. :wub: [/quote]
Yay for California and zero percent!

[popestpiusx]

[quote name='Raphael' date='Jan 18 2005, 03:21 AM'] Well, I suppose it's not necessarily the case...you just didn't know one way or the other for a couple...

Sorry, I was just messing around. My parish did score a 100% though...I love this diocese. :wub: [/quote]
You may be right, but only on a technicality. I don't know if they have any marriage prep stuff there at all because I'm not sure the Cardinal allows Trid. weddings. Plus, as far as some of the organizational stuff, most people drive long distances to get to this church (I drive over an hour) so there is not as much "community" as you would find in a typical neighborhood parish.

So, on a technicality, I concede defeat. -_-

[toledo_jesus]

[quote name='StPiusVPrayForUs' date='Jan 18 2005, 01:16 AM'] #4, #7, #9, #11 apply to the local parish near me that I hardly attend.

IMO I think my diocese appears to be in schism anyway (I can make no dogmatic judgments as I have no authority, but many things that go on here aren't Catholic); too many altar girls, too many extradordinary ministers, one church uses a touch of Latin (depsite many pof these priests full well know Latin and know that our holy Father wants more Latin), there are no traditional high altars, priests soliciting prostitutes, priests molesting altar boys, priest "baptizing" a baby Jesus figure, every other language on the earth has a Mass except a majority Latin Mass, etc. Oh yeah, and under our old bishop, the Catechism was BANNED in schools! But clown ministries were and still are rampent.

Thanks to a bishop change due to a retirement, we had several changes for the good but there are still for the most part too many problems. [/quote]
Wow, eerily similar to my diocese! You aren't in Richmond are you? I don't know about the Catechism, but that's rough stuff.

[toledo_jesus]

my home parish:

1. nope. We do not have our own pastor, we have a pastoral coordinator, a woman.
2. Confession is offered once a month, 45 minutes before Mass begins...nobody goes. I will say no.
3. Definitely NOT! the worship space of the church is being built now after 14 years of having Mass in what will now be our social hall. There the tabernacle was kept in a back room. In the new building the tabernacle will be again out of site in the bell tower! I brought this point up to my father who is on the planning committee and it did nothing.
4. Nope. No plans for them, if I understand.
5. it does call itself a Catholic church. so yes.
6. Never. People are always talking. LOUDLY. You just can't pray.
7. I have never heard inclusive language from the priest or readers, though some people in the pews omit masculine words and replace them with "God"
8. I will say yes.
9. Gospel never by a lay person, but the homily used to be given once a month by our pastoral coordinator. A WOMAN!
10. Never heard a word of Latin. Though the priest is from Kenya and does the closing prayer in Swahili...
11. It's funny bread. No wafers. Can't be sure what's in it, but it tastes really good.
12. Michael Joncas, Daniel Schutte, you name the bad song where we sing AS God and my parish sings it. Also any song that refers to the Eucharist as a meal but does not reference any other aspect.
13. There are EMs used every single week.
14. No.
15. KoC is around, they recruit but we're not big enough for our own chapter. The others are not present.
16. nope.
17. it may be active but it's not that vocal.
18. yes.
19. no. Though he does a Hail Mary during the beginning prayers.
20. Can't say, but I imagine so. Benefit of the doubt.
21. no. having gone through CCD, it was garbage. touchy and feely.
22. I don't think so. Yes.
23. St. Anthony's Messenger, National Catholic Reporter. No.

So my total is 6/23. Yay!

[Sanvean]

1. 7:30am and 12:05pm(have to leave time for the Angelus, after all)

2. Monday-Friday: 11-11:30am, Saturday 4:30-5:30pm.

3. Yes.

4. Yes.

5. Yes.

6. Yes.

7. Yes.

8. Yes.

9. Yes.

10. Well, Latin is used, but not as much as I would like.

11. Yes.

12. Yes.

13. We use them sometimes, but then again, sometime there are well over 2,000 people in attendance.


14. Yes.

15. Yes. In fact, some of my friends are in the Legion of Mary, and none of my male Catholic friends *aren't* in the KoC.

16. Yes, but not as much as I'd like... there's a perpetual adoration chapel a block away, but we do First Fridays etc.

17. Definitely!

18. Yes.

19. Yes.

20. Yes.

21. Yes... one of the associate pastors runs the program.

22. Yup.

23.

I love my parish