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Catholic Parish Director of Operations |
The nasty parish Director of Operations (DO), a dictatorial woman possessing new-found power, strutting around brandishing her tongue like a whip, demanded that I leave the just open church because evidently I was lethally radio-active with Coronavirus germs, which, as I was sitting praying, gleefully leaped off my infectious body and flew around in the air looking for victims to land on, infect and kill.
From what I can vaguely remember this woman from up North somewhere was hired a few years ago by the Diocese to be the Director of Operations of our parish since apparently no one in the state of Florida was qualified to have that job because all of us backwater Southern hicks are just too stupid.
Churches in Florida have been locked up airtight since March 20th per the draconian orders of Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami so that the filthy disease carrying sheep have not been allowed into the very "sanctuaries that they built and paid for, by the people whose salaries they pay."
Since a few surly bishops across America have begun to reopen our churches I looked at Orlando's diocesan website Tuesday afternoon, May 12th, to see if Archbishop Wenski had given the green light to his quivering Florida bishops. Sure enough, he dictated that as of Monday, May 11th, pastors across Florida could remove the blockades, padlocks and chains and that the unsanitary sheep could enter their parish churches. But not for Sunday Mass. "Yet."
Of course this is a lesson in "never assume anything". I should not have assumed that the church would be open at times actually convenient to the working class who normally have lunch between 12:00 - 1:00. The diocesan website was silent on times that churches would be open during the day, therefore I supposed at least that one tiny decision was left to individual pastors instead of being brutishly dictated from the top down. The parish website likewise had no telling headline announcement. Who knew that it was in the bulletin! I didn't even know bulletins were still being produced! For what purpose? Mass and the Sacraments have been forbidden to the starving sheep for two months now. What could the bulletin possibly have in it that would be pertinent?! "Sheep! Stay away, you filthy beasts, and don't come near this church!" ??
My first opportunity to go inside the church since March 20th was yesterday, May 13th, the 103rd anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal - currently guarded by 3,500 soldiers so that Catholic pilgrims may not enter. I wrongly assumed that the church would be open until 4 pm when the office staff leaves...or at least until 3 pm. I arrived at 12:45. Posted on the church door was a notice stating it was open from 7:30 am - 12:00 pm, yet the door was unlocked, so I went in.
There were 4 women inside, three of them office staffers - two were standing just inside the entrance, one was finishing cleaning the pews - and a sheep who was praying in the pew in front of the altar. The two women at the entrance, whom I assume had finished their portion of cleaning, smiled and, never saying that I had to leave or that the church was closed, kindly informed me that they were cleaning the church and that a lot of Clorox spray was in the air. (One office staffer was cleaning every other pew because every OTHER pew was marked off with yellow and black crime scene tape!)
I never asked if I could come in since I just assumed that the church was still open as long as they were in there. The woman praying got up and left so I sat where she had been, therefore did not contaminate a place already cleaned. The first two women left without telling me to also leave. The one cleaning the pews very kindly asked if I wanted Holy Water and, if so, she would show me where it was. But I had brought my own Holy Water since I knew Holy Water fonts in church buildings are now forbidden to Catholics, so thanked her and started my prayers. She never asked me to leave. When she was finished spraying and wiping down pews, she knelt in prayer across the aisle, then locked the front door, never telling me I also must go. Once again, I assumed that since I was not asked to leave I could stay and talk to God. (Over the years these three women in the parish office have always been extremely gracious and kind.)
Of course this is a lesson in "never assume anything". I should not have assumed that the church would be open at times actually convenient to the working class who normally have lunch between 12:00 - 1:00. The diocesan website was silent on times that churches would be open during the day, therefore I supposed at least that one tiny decision was left to individual pastors instead of being brutishly dictated from the top down. The parish website likewise had no telling headline announcement. Who knew that it was in the bulletin! I didn't even know bulletins were still being produced! For what purpose? Mass and the Sacraments have been forbidden to the starving sheep for two months now. What could the bulletin possibly have in it that would be pertinent?! "Sheep! Stay away, you filthy beasts, and don't come near this church!" ??
My first opportunity to go inside the church since March 20th was yesterday, May 13th, the 103rd anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal - currently guarded by 3,500 soldiers so that Catholic pilgrims may not enter. I wrongly assumed that the church would be open until 4 pm when the office staff leaves...or at least until 3 pm. I arrived at 12:45. Posted on the church door was a notice stating it was open from 7:30 am - 12:00 pm, yet the door was unlocked, so I went in.
There were 4 women inside, three of them office staffers - two were standing just inside the entrance, one was finishing cleaning the pews - and a sheep who was praying in the pew in front of the altar. The two women at the entrance, whom I assume had finished their portion of cleaning, smiled and, never saying that I had to leave or that the church was closed, kindly informed me that they were cleaning the church and that a lot of Clorox spray was in the air. (One office staffer was cleaning every other pew because every OTHER pew was marked off with yellow and black crime scene tape!)
I never asked if I could come in since I just assumed that the church was still open as long as they were in there. The woman praying got up and left so I sat where she had been, therefore did not contaminate a place already cleaned. The first two women left without telling me to also leave. The one cleaning the pews very kindly asked if I wanted Holy Water and, if so, she would show me where it was. But I had brought my own Holy Water since I knew Holy Water fonts in church buildings are now forbidden to Catholics, so thanked her and started my prayers. She never asked me to leave. When she was finished spraying and wiping down pews, she knelt in prayer across the aisle, then locked the front door, never telling me I also must go. Once again, I assumed that since I was not asked to leave I could stay and talk to God. (Over the years these three women in the parish office have always been extremely gracious and kind.)
I read from my Daily Missal for about 10 minutes. Then I read the seventh chapter of Eucharistic Meditations by Saint John Vianney. Then, since it was Our Lady of Fatima's anniversary, I was about to recite the Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation in her honor and in reparation for sins against her Immaculate Heart. It was about 1:35 by that time. Suddenly someone fumbled at the front door so, knowing that it was locked and thinking someone else wanted to pray, I went and opened the door. No one was there. They had left and soon were at the back door. They unlocked the back door and in came the Director of Operations (DO) and the parish Director of Music.
The haughty DO spied me sitting there saying my prayers, stopped in the aisle beside me and - never whispering or thinking to lower her voice or possibly imagining that I was talking to God - in her bossy more important than thou attitude announced: M'am! You have to LEAVE! The church is CLOSED! We have to clean the church!
Me: The church has just been cleaned and the ladies left awhile ago.
DO: Well, since you're here it has to be cleaned all over again!
Me: So, you're saying since the TWO OF YOU are also here that likewise it has to be cleaned all over again? You know...because YOU are in here also?
DO: We're the ones who clean it!
Me: No. The ladies cleaning it just left. It's clean.
Me: The church has just been cleaned and the ladies left awhile ago.
DO: Well, since you're here it has to be cleaned all over again!
Me: So, you're saying since the TWO OF YOU are also here that likewise it has to be cleaned all over again? You know...because YOU are in here also?
DO: We're the ones who clean it!
Me: No. The ladies cleaning it just left. It's clean.
Apparently I'm a stupid backwater illiterate sheep, not understanding that THEY were CLEAN and I was NOT. I was contaminating the entire church, yet the two of them were not? Hopefully not for one moment did they think that I thought what she said was true, i.e., that they would really disinfect the church all over again. They probably just walked out after fiddling with the Power Point that the DO had dropped or something back in the sacristy....where it was all she could do not to curse when it happened. (I heard that, lol!)
I then had a choice to make and debated with myself. Leave or stay. Obey or not obey. Sit there and have her call the police to drag me out in handcuffs and give me a ticket for praying or leave like the slimy disease ridden filthy sheep I evidently am. Hmmmmm. What to do, whattodo.
Lucky for me - or for her - that I had just the night before read where if we obey we are not held accountable to God unless we're ordered to sin. Then we are not to obey. Since she wasn't ordering me to sin but simply to interrupt God and His Blessed Mother in the middle of our conversation, I decided to leave, however merely to be obstinate I stayed a few minutes more just to irritate her (sorry I'm such a brat, God!) then thought: OK, Lady. Have it your way. Get your boot off my face. I'll leave. You have the power in this situation, but I will post a scathing article on the blog. You just wait.
That is the power of the laity. Lucky for the DO that Mary Ann Kreitzer, Lesfemmes' blog owner, is a much better person than I am. She wisely suggested that I not post the article under its original title.
As another fellow LesFemmes blogger said about the DO - They forget they work for US. WE pay their salary. WE built the place and keep the bills paid, yet they dare to use their position to intimidate people into believing they can tell us what to do.
I left the church - probably never to return for a very long time, if at all - and ended up praying the Chaplet of Reparation under the huge statue of Our Lady in front of the church.
PS - Just so the DO will know - I am an "at risk" person and yet have worked with the public every day and seen thousands of people since this fake virus began and I am still alive. If Coronavirus were as lethal as people are whipped up and frightened into believing by the media for a wicked agenda, I would be dead by now.
PS - Just so the DO will know - I am an "at risk" person and yet have worked with the public every day and seen thousands of people since this fake virus began and I am still alive. If Coronavirus were as lethal as people are whipped up and frightened into believing by the media for a wicked agenda, I would be dead by now.
As you were writing this, Susan, I was sidewalk counseling during a red rose rescue in D.C. The police had arrived and were inside talking with and getting ready to arrest Fr. Fidelis and Will and Joan. Think of the parallels here. You were in a church talking to Jesus in the tabernacle where he imprisons Himself for us. At the abortuary, the three rescuers were there to witness to the women who carry in their bodies the image of God, "imprisoned" there under their hearts.
ReplyDeleteWe were there to protect and defend the least of God's little ones. Your officious woman was there to drag out anyone who dared to worship at the wrong time. She "aborted" the gift of a servant there to worship God. How many have much to answer for during this evil time? It's heart-breaking to think of the bishops who are so terrified of a virus that they have closed and locked our churches and deprived us of the grace of the Mass. May God forgive them.
As she spoke to me, I'm afraid I may have at that moment come down with a coughing fit. I may have then babbled off some words in a foreign language only I could translate. And I may have sneezed a few times with great gusto. I might have read aloud to her from my prayer book, since it was Scripture alone that Christ used in His defense against Satan in the desert. I may have requested to see her papers and asked her by what authority did she give a Catholic on her knees in front of an altar orders to leave. I might have demanded to speak to her manager. I might have made a total fool of myself and I might have been arrested too. But I know, for a VARIETY of reasons I would not have done any of that. But I can say emphatically I admire your courage to do what you did, on the spur of the moment, putting probably more than a little bit of fear in this DO who thinks the mere sound of her voice is enough to subdue and defeat the faithful.
ReplyDeleteThere is a reason women are not to be heard inside our churches and this woman is a prime example.
Every parish has at least one. They're generally found among the "busy people"; the folks who work in the office, the handyman guy, the church ladies who take care of the church. It's universal, too......it's like this all over the world, in every country I've ever lived or visited.
ReplyDeleteSusan, you missed your opportunity.
ReplyDeleteThe moment you heard, "M'am, you have to LEAVE," your immediate response should have been:
Excuse me?? Did you call me ma'am? Ma'am?? Why are you referring to me as a ma'am? You have no idea how I identify.
Are you transphobic???
Is this a transphobic parish? Is this place run by transphobes? Maybe people need to know that.
Tell me: Are you transphobic?
Where do you get off calling me "ma'am"?
I'm sure that would have ruffled a few feathers.
I am reminded, once again, of I Cor 13.
ReplyDelete1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Perhaps, (if I may) as a human analogy to these verses, connected to the modern ecumenical times of fear driven by the absence of Almighty God who drives out ALL FEAR ....
(Aqua paraphrase) And though I cleanse the Temple of all human filth and disease; all vectors of viral death and Covid based mass murder; though I elevate the Covid god above all gods and cleanse the Temple of all traces of human presence that might offend him and cause an illness - if I have not Charity, that is, Love that passeth all understanding - Faith, Hope then Love - the sparkling pews and Ajax incense will profit me nothing on that dreadful day of Judgement before whom every knee will bow - even the Parish Director of Operations (!?!).
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (I John 4:18)
Good for you for sending your post to the bishop, Susan. His reply as you describe it to me privately was very disappointing. You wonder why he would send a reply without "actively listening" to how the DO made you feel. Had he done that instead of rushing to dismiss you, he might have learned something.
ReplyDeleteHe could have said, "I can tell this experience was very upsetting to you and I sympathize with your perception. I recognize that people are in a lot of pain over the loss of what we all love, the togetherness of our parish family. All of us, staff in particular, need to bear this suffering in mind when approaching people so desperate for a smile and a kind word."
Thanks for the belly laugh, DJR. Susan would have done that so well too. Take notes for the next time, Susan.
ReplyDelete