Image by Annoysius via FlickrI feel drained after the past two weeks of 'parish situation hazards' that taxed my duties in the parish, archdiocese and the seminary.
I have my presence, besides being the usual suspect in the parish, also in the Senate (member), Priestly Life (member), District Priest (Chairman) and assisting in the Engaged Encounter as one of the panel of priests presenters. I have my hands already too full with these 'portfolios' and I certainly do not need any more problems to present itself unnecessary to complicate matters further.
However, as with any parish, there will always be occasions where such matters can make its way into the parish scene whereby I have to go in and fire-fight the situation. Much of the problems that I have dealt thus far, tend to fall into the case of misrepresentation, differences of expectations and lack of communication between two parties. In this case between priests of the parish and parishioners and between ministry members.
They never taught us in the Seminary, the finer details of dealing with people and how to maneuver with difficult persons using necessary PR tools or other related skills. Much of this I picked up by trial and error and through learning by experience. But not all priests have this kind of awareness and have found themselves in the firing line of people's expectations.
Hence I am certainly glad to really take a break from all this when I go for my leave in two weeks time to recover from playing nanny or fire-fighter to all the various ministries under my care. I really wonder if the correct sense of Lent is in the minds and psyche of our people when it comes to areas like prayer, conversion and penance...
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5 comments:
Hello Fr Aloy,
No wonder never see you updating your blog recently. I guess conflicts and differences are parts and parcels of life. When we are in the situation, things or issues may seem to be bigger than ourselves. However, we have God in us who is the Creator. What or who can be greater than God?
When we compare each situation against our whole life, it is just a dot. It's just like when we are in Singapore, Singapore seems to be big. But, when we look at it in the world map, it is only a dot or not even a dot to be seen. I guess if a person is not broken in some ways, he/she wouldn't be in the church. Only the sick needs the physician. Church is ironically the very place where all of us have to hang on to our faith even tighter and never let go and not be influenced adversely by all these nitty gritty matters or difficult people which can be very frustrating at times.
Well, you are not alone. We will stand united and go through the difficult times with you in prayers. Cheer up,man! If not, your white hair can't wait to show up on your head. When you don't feel good, God is always out there to embrace you through the bright and warm sun.
With Love,
God's child
Dear Fr Aloysius
Never mind that they never taught you how to handle this in the seminary ~ you cannot learn how to fight a real war by reading or listening alone anyway. If everything in life can be taught, all the books and minds in this world put together will still be insufficient. While there will always be challenges which are never easy to handle and will bring you out of your comfort level, God will be there to help you find the best way to deal with the situations and people to bring out the best in them and you.
Thanks for all that you have done, for being there for IHM, for hanging in there for us and …… for being you.
If you have not already come across it, below is a poem to cheer you up.
God bless
Cecilia
I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.
But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.
There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.
Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.
I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.
'And why is everyone so quiet,
So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said, 'they're all in shock.
No one thought they'd be seeing you.'
JUDGE NOT!!
Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a
Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.
Every saint has a PAST...
Every sinner has a FUTURE!
hi fr aloy.. no wonder you never post .. for a long time.. MIA hahah..
anyway, we understand yr pastoral duties has to yr 1st priority.. not blogging. as it consumes yr time and brain energy..
Just to share.. problems in ministries are not uncommon.. it cna be quite tacky if it's does not resolve ambicably.. and your are there to fire fight.. do you bring along the "fire extinguisher" just in case..
cheers and god bless
IHM parishioner
Thank you for being there for the parish. We are grateful to be blessed with you and pray that this assignment doesn't wear you out, for we love that special quality that is you. We've been praying for you and will continue to hold you in prayer. Only wish that those in the ministries would take to sincere prayer more!
You deserve a good break.
God bless you!
have fun X3 dun forget to blog where u r X3
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