The Houston cantor was removed this evening. She was commended by the priest for having done a good job. One of the older parishioners and choir members was angered because she added an alleluia tone back. The priest agreed that it was petty and that the man was mean spirited, but to avoid trouble in the church he was made cantor in her place.

Thank you all for your time and energies. I have worked very hard in the last seven years to learn about Byzantine Catholicism and practice it daily. The church "community" here has treated me and family with nothing but spite and disrespect. Pittsburgh has known for years of the problems here and done nothing.

Eastern Catholicism is, apparently, through with us. My family and I have suffered enough at the hands of the parishioners here.

For those of you who think the changes are coming too fast, you've just lost a family for sitting on your hands.

God bless you all. Pray for the few people left here to suffer in this church.

P.S. My wife and I are broken hearted. More than I ever could have dreamed. I have a son to raise and he needs to be educated and have a priest who really cares about his soul.

Steve


p.s. Who is the priest in Houston?

Cizinec,

On another thread you said the Priest was RC. If so was he installed as your Pastor? If not it may put the situation in a different light. If I were you I would not hesitate to contact the Archbishop. In fact I urge you to. Archbishop needs to know this. Please make it clear to him that you are a convert. From what you have said the Priest has no backbone or leadership skills. I'm feel bad about your experience in the Church. But then again it was at your parish our former parishioner was told she wouldn't like it there and she shouldn't come back.

Nicky's Baba

//The Houston cantor was removed this evening.//

I still don't get what she did that was wrong.

//She was commended by the priest for having done a good job.//

How can one commend someone for doing a good job and then fire them?

//One of the older parishioners and choir members was angered because she added an alleluia tone back.//

This is stupid. Really, really stupid. Obviouisly, personal spiritualities have the upper hand in some places rather than Holy Mother Church. Probably why so many parish temples still look good and ready for a Latin Tridentine High Mass.

//The priest agreed that it was petty and that the man was mean spirited, but to avoid trouble in the church he was made cantor in her place.//

I am dismayed at how this was handled and I pray for your family. Will things get better there, you think, when the Fatima shrine gets erected? Fr. Julian told me that he is close with Archbishop Basil, maybe the Metropolitan can intervene and straigten things out? ...... Yeah, right! :rolleyes:

Joe Thur

Fr. Julian Anthony, a personal friend of Archbishop Basil.

I think the WHOLE church should be outraged by the shenanigans going on in Houston.

Cizinec, you don't deserve this. God bless you and you precious family for all the trouble you have endured, it's a form of martyrdom. PLEASE write your eparch and copy the Papal Nuncio and don't lose faith.

Scream like hell, I don't blame you or the (now former) cantor. This parish doesn't deserve you.

I am very hopeful that some of the better connected and faithful people that read this forum will take notice.

Cizinec, if we loose you it will break my heart because believe it or not, you ARE the future of this church.

God bless.
Michael

Dear Cinizec,

I am so sorry to hear of this disappointment. I am always so sad to hear of stories like this one, and wish there was something I could say or do....

But I will remember all those involved in my prayers.

To the disappointed cantor, and family, please pass on all my sympathy.

I have always felt that it is generally a good idea to let superiors (abbots, provincials, bishops, etc.) know what we are thinking and feeling. If we do, they will have all the information that they need to make good decisions. If we do not speak, we cannot blame them for the decisions they make. Even if ultimately they collect all the information, and then decide to act in a way I do not approve and cannot agree with, at least I am comforted to know that I spoke my mind.

Perhaps I shouldn't say anything more, ... but forgive me if I will speak out of turn. I remember being in a spot once, where my ministry was unwanted and dispensed with for reasons I have never been able to understand. I felt quite devasted because my priestly ministry was not needed anywhere. Don't get me wrong, it was very painful indeed, one of the most painful things ever to live through, and at the time, too hard to take or accept.

Today I see the hand of God, in what at the time I only ascribed to human folly and spite. But now it means something altogether different to me. Now, I see that it was important for me to come to know that my own relationship with God, and my own prayer, and my own faith, did not at all depend upon what I was doing, whether my ministry was wanted or repected, or whether I was 'useful' to anyone at all. I had defined my relationship to God in terms of my service as a priest, and when I did, that was taken away rudely! But God wanted to love me, and for me to love him, for who I was simply, and not in terms of service and 'role'. I suppose anything, even my vocation, might be an 'idol' if I let it be. In my life, God has always cast down every idol I have ever fashioned. I had made my vocation one, without even knowing it. Funny thing about idols, ...the disguises they wear. They can be like that famous demon, that dresses like an angel of light.

Please urge the cantor and her family, not to let this hurt and disappointment ultimately get in the way of the one thing that is really important, i.e., their membership in the Church, and their salvation.

with sincere prayers... and very best wishes during this painful time.

Dear Coalesco & Joe,

I am not very informed about any other parish, much less one a thousand miles away....

And I do not mean to diminish in any way the pain or disappointment felt by Cizinec, and by the cantor involved.

But perhaps we should hold fire? Obviously a very painful incident has happened, but we do not know everything, and we weren't there, so perhaps we should not be so harsh on anyone?

Certainly if you have any specific information or facts about 'shenanigans', this should be forward to the correct authority (eg. the Metropolitan), in a way that is straightforward and simple. To paint a broad brush is not quite as helpful, and a forum like this one cannot help in a specific situation. Only the proper authority can.

I have always felt that issues and ideas can well be treated in a forum like this one. I like a good debate about philosophy or general principles, and I find it helps to clarify my own thinking. But individuals, and individual parish problems cannot be really helped by a discussion here. It really has to be brought to the only persons who can help, eg. the parish priest, or the chancery. It is the only useful and constructive place to air outrage or disappointment in situations like this one.

This is truly not an isolated event in our Church that will quietly slip away. These things affect the entire Church community. No parish is an island. No priest is his own Pope.

I agree, no priest is a Pope, and no parish is a law unto itself.

All I suggest, is that I hope those who have something to say, do not merely 'vent' here, and think they have done what is needed... It would be much more constructive (for those with knowledge of the facts) to raise the matter in the proper place (the chancery) at the proper time (soon) to the proper person (the bishop).

Dear Fr. Elias,

Cizinec has made a good number of posts airing the problems of his community on these forums, including this thread. Maybe this thread should be closed?

I do believe the proper means to file a complaint is to take it to the appropriate protopresbyter before taking it to the chancery. I hope this was done.

Let's pray for the Houston community and Cizinec and his family.

Joe

Joe,

I think your suggestion is a good one, and I accept it. I am sorry if I have not been present lately, and have not followed the other discussions or understand the 'context' about this parish. I haven't been able to follow the forum much over the past weeks.

Again, I also hope that helpful information has been forwarded to all those responsible.

Elias