And, as top leaders of some Christian churches use their high positions and energies to spread toxic lies designed to assist a particular group of political leaders (and designed to inflict pain and suffering on fellow human beings), pastors within those same churches who are doing what the gospel tells them to do--feeding the hungry, proclaiming the good news, etc.--can find this happening to them:
As Robert McClory reported at National Catholic Reporter two days ago, Bishop Edward Braxton of Belleville, IL, has just forced the resignation of a 72-year old priest, Fr. Bill Rowe. Fr. Rowe's infraction? For 20 years, as he has celebrated the liturgy, he has inserted personal reflections at various moments in the liturgical celebration.
Fr. Rowe is a retired Air Force chaplain who has not taken a salary from the diocese, but has lived on his service pension.
Bishop Braxton gave Fr. Rowe his walking papers three days after the following happened: at a recent Sunday liturgy whose gospel focused on Jesus's healing of a man with a troubled spirit, when the designated opening prayer read, "Lord our God that we may honor you with all our mind and love everyone in truth of heart," Fr. Rowe prayed, instead, "We thank you, God, for giving us Jesus who helped us to be healed in mind and heart and proclaim his love to others."
Though he's been removed from ministry, Fr. Rowe tells reporters he'd still like to work in a soup kitchen somewhere. (And, throughout the years before I could no longer stomach the ugliness of the Catholic hierarchy at this point in history, I attended many liturgies in which priests embellished the liturgy to communicate the gospel message to the community. I've attended liturgies at which this happened in many places in the world. In some conservative and staunchly Catholic regions of the world, parish priests have always felt free to interject observations designed to make the liturgy more meaningful to their parishioners, as they celebrate liturgy.)
(Thanks to Coolmom for pointing me to McClory's story about this at NCR).
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