On Following Diocesan Policies

For reasons which should be obvious to all by now, it is highly important that our faith communities follow diocesan policies. If these policies, based on laws of the Catholic church, are not being followed, you should wonder why, and question whether some serious wrongdoings are taking place. Perhaps appointing an Ombudsman to investigate fidelity to diocesan policies would be beneficial. Such an Ombudsman would consult the priest-pastor (Fr. Paul) on any negligences, and inform the Bishop or proper chancery official if serious deficiencies are not corrected at once. I have been informed that for years, St. Mark’s, Holy Trinity, and the two missions did not have a finance council to oversee all parish income and expenditures.  We must be sure that such negligence does not happen again. Parishioners need to be properly informed and protective of the goods of the parishes.

For example, an operating parish council is recommended in canon law, but not required; a functioning finance council is mandatory for a parish, not only by diocesan policy, but by the laws of the Catholic church. To comply with these important laws, I immediately formed a finance council at St. Mark’s, which includes members from our four faith communities. (Holy Trinity, as a separate parish, may request a separate finance council meeting with me, should their two representatives ever wish to do so.) A typical reason for having an Ombudsman who knows the policies and insists on their enforcement occurred in the case of Holy Trinity, which had not been informed years ago that a priest does not receive a salary from each community he serves. Rather, each priest, pastor, or parish administrator according to diocesan policy receives one pay check monthly, with the amount completely regulated by diocesan policy. A priest with multiple parishes or missions does not receive any extra payment for this duty, as a priest with a very large parish does not receive extra payment, either. Parishioners, or at least finance council/Ombudsman, such know these policies and assure that they are faithfully followed. Furthermore, the claim that the pastor is underpaid, and therefore in need of “supplemental income” from his parishes is simply false.  In addition to our annual salary, we receive housing, a food allowance, and payment of 90% of our auto expenses--if and only if we document all expenses with receipts. Without proof of expenditures, the priest must pay for food, gasoline, or repairs out of pocket.  

According to diocesan policy, accurate records must be kept. It is clearly a serious violation for a priest to destroy, or ask others to destroy, parish records. Our finance records prior to January 2011 have never been found.  As some of Holy Trinity’s Sacramental records seem to have been in the same closet with their financial records, these records, too, disappeared several years ago, during the transition between priests. We are obliged to maintain and to protect Sacramental and financial records. 

Prayer Book of the Church

 Prayer is the life-breath of a Christian’s spiritual life. Without a genuine effort to keep in close contact with God our life, we contract into ourselves.  A self-enclosed, self-contained life soon yields to disordered passions, anxiety, depression, restlessness, mindless TV stupor, endless pursuit of entertainment, and so on. Prayer grounds us in divine Presence, in the reality that says to those who listen, “I AM your salvation.”  Prayer opens us up to the truth of reality.

When I was a young man I asked a friend who had been a Carthusian monk, “What is the prayer book of the Church?” For I was seeking a good collection of Catholic-Christian prayers. His ready reply was: “The Psalms.”  I immediately felt disappointed, because I had often prayed the psalms of the Bible, but thought that Christians could have better prayers than this collection of Israelite and Jewish (Old Testament) songs, hymns, laments.  Over time I came to learn that the Psalms do indeed form the skeleton of prayer life in the Church, especially for Catholic religious and clergy, and as a Benedictine, I have prayed most of the psalms literally thousands of times, using different translations. On the other hand, there are also magnificent prayers composed by devout Christians over the centuries, and some collections may be available. A few of these Christian prayers are known by many, such as the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Memorare. One project I have long desired to accomplish is to make readily available to our faithful in parishes a very good collection of Christian prayers. That work awaits me. 

Still, however, the Psalms are indeed the Prayer Book of the Church, used and approved by two thousand years of praying by the faithful. I encourage our faithful to pray the psalms often. One can usefully begin with Psalm 1, and read up to Psalm 150. I have found it beneficial to read the psalms in the order in which we find them in our bibles, an order developed centuries before Christ by Jewish priests and scholars. Over time, one should discover favorite psalms which you “read, mark, and inwardly digest,” using Luther’s apt phrase. In the past, I have listed psalms I especially recommend, and I hope that some parishioners have prayed them. Remember: Jesus prayed the Psalms, and so has the Church over centuries.

There are truly psalms for all sorts of spiritual needs, feelings, problems of life, occasions of thanksgiving. Some of these prayers express joy in God, some are cries from hurting hearts. Many are mixed, often moving from desperate need to thankfulness for the LORD’s tender mercies. The point is: Pray. “Pray as you can, do not try to pray as you can’t.” Spiritual laziness leads to emptiness of spirit and a troubled mind. Pray. If any of you asks me, “Can you recommend a psalm or two for me?” I should be glad to do so.  It would be one way to give you a little practical help in your spiritual life, your desire to grow closer to the God in whom “we live, and move, and have our being.”

(Click here for a collection of previously recommended psalms by Fr. Paul).