This past week Fr. Pfeiffer and I had some guests from the
diocese for dinner and a meeting. During
dinner the topic of parochial vicars came up, something that I do not like to
think too much on. “Have you given any
thought,” one of the visiting priests asked, “to what you will do if Fr.
Pfeiffer is not replaced.”
“Constantly,” was my reply and quickly changed the subject
for not wanting to talk about it. A
parish not too far from us just lost their associate. Even with an associate we were called upon
every once in a while to help out with their weekend schedule. Upon losing their parochial vicar the pastor
took a chainsaw to the Mass schedule to make it more manageable for one priest.
I thought about sacramental load at St. Sebastian just this
past week. When I first arrived
confessions were rather rare. (It may
have been owing to me being new and people were cautious about confessing their
sins to someone they yet know if they can trust.) I would stand up and stretch, draw designs in
the dust of the lamp shade (which are still there) and generally spend the hour
in my own prayer. Over the years we had
developed a reputation of “three priests!
No waiting.” Three of us would
regularly be busy and often we would go over the time allotted for
confessions. Now our priest in residence
has left and the time remaining for Fr. Pfeiffer is growing short.
So here is the sacramental diary from this past
weekend. There was of course morning
Mass, confessions, an infant funeral (and trip
to the cemetery), a wedding, Saturday night Mass, 9:00 AM Sunday Mass,
Anointing of the Sick, 11:00 AM Mass, two baptisms, and the 1:00PM Mass. This schedule is not unusual (and almost all could possibly be handled by one person if confessions were cut short and somebody else went to the graveyard, but how well would it be accomplished?) and are the
things that cannot be handed off to others.
Of course, there are the things that we did that could be skipped or
handed off to others. There were
appointments and rehearsals and visits to various activities going on around
the parish. Of the appointments one was
a new wedding and TWO were young men considering the priesthood. 
To tell the truth, this parish spent some time with only one
priest. It will survive it once more if
it must I am sure. In the meantime, keep
promoting vocations. I am planning on a
huge influx of young priests to help me in my old age.
Today is the feast of St. Therese. Consider giving a rose to a young lady who
you think should consider the religious life!
Maybe she is just waiting for someone to show that they think she is
worthy.
2 comments:
I have nine granddaughters , ages fifteen to thirty, none married, and I'm talking it up and praying.
rmk
Father, you'll be fine if staff is cut. I tried to post earlier on my lunch break. Don't know if it went through or not as I am new to this blogging bit.
My wife and I see this where we work. Staff is reduced. Workers double and triple their load. It's the American way. No time for family and friends. Watch the game? Not when each of you works two or more jobs and there are kids involved. Kids that you don't see much anyway. I guess our main motivator is private school education. NOT like 99% of our friends--just desperate to stay out of the crumbling and dangerous public schools. We actually want the Catholic education. We actually attend weekly mass. We are not eligible for aid, so we work on. Is it worth it? I'm not sure when 19,000dollars of a fundraiser goes to an outdoor garden. Where our children go to school has become largely run by the haves. They have the income to allow them the leisure time to be at school all the time. But most people there are like us--praying and praying and praying that tuition doesn't go up again. Trying to meet the demands of all of these insane fundraisers. Trying to accomodate the school that says our 10th grader must have an Ipad next year.
We've never owned a new car. We don't vacation. We spend every dollar with our eyes on tuition.
So we understand your own concerns if your staff is cut. Never taking a vacation because you can't afford it or work requires your presence is an exhausting prospect. We know. Like many American workers, we live this each day. And because of our rampantly capitalistic society, we are grateful even to have our collection of jobs.
It's sad that the church suffers in this way. Her children surely pay the price just as ours do when there aren't enough hours in the day to attend to needs.
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