PRIEST OF THE WEEK

Father Roderick Vonhogen

Diocese of Utrecht, Nederlands.

Known to many listeners across the world for his podcasting, I would like to nominate Father Roderick for an award.

His SQPN organisation is reaching out to people all over the world and injects a Christian Perspective where people might otherwise be surprised to find the Church - in reviewing Movies, TV (he recently appeared on a Reality Show!), Music and the rest.

For me, it is his Daily Breakfast Podcast that makes him stand out. Through it we get to see an insight into the life of a Priest. We learn of his pastoral work. We get to know what makes him laugh and how he "hangs out" like the rest of us (duties allowing), but we also get some straight forward explanation about the Church, Catholics, the Sacraments, God, the Saints and apologetics in a way which isn't rammed down anyone's throat, but, doesn't shy away from the topic either.

He is reaching out to the Catholic and Non-Catholic alike through new media, yet remains humble, down to earth and doesn't carry himself over as some sort of new media Superstar!

I have no doubt the Lord is using him to draw souls to his Church and maybe even the Priesthood.

Thank You, Father Roderick!

From JF

(Ed - folks, please do leave a comment about this award - why not tell us what you like or love about Father Roderick! You can find out more about Father Roderick by clicking HERE)

AWARD - Corpus Christi Parish - Orange County, CA, USA

Watch this… and tell me what you think. I suppose this qualifies as a “noisy” parish… not to mention that church needs to be shut down & reconsecrated for the sacrilege that went on inside it’s walls.

K

(Parish website HERE)

Ed - The views reflected in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Admin. If you have a comment, why not leave one?

New look awards!

From now on, we're doing away with the old star rating system for Noisy Parishes. The feedback has been that it's off-putting when people are considering emailing us a nomination.

Let us know what you think!

AWARD - St. Raphael's Parish - Englewood, Florida.

I must nominate St Raphael's Parish in Englewood Florida.

Although the current pastor has made numerous attempts at making announcements after Mass; his pleas for peace have fallen on deaf ears.

Confession begins at 3pm (while the vigil Mass on Saturday begins at 5pm) and the whole while people arrive at church; not to go to confession but to talk. And to talk loudly! This is predominantly an older parish and I assume the people are terribly lonely to do such a thing but I've asked them why they can't meet at home or go out for coffee, instead of coming to Mass 2 hours early only to catch up on the latest gossip? Also, they continue to talk at Mass! When someone they know arrives to attend Mass; they simply HAVE to fill them in on all the gossip they just spent 2 hours sharing with everyone else. But come the sign of peace?..you can barely get these people to acknowledge you are alive!

I have asked gently of these people what it is they hope to get out of Mass, why do they attend at all, and why must they insist on making the church a convention center and without fail; I have met with the oddest looks as if I were off my rocker. I also find it terribly sad that when the situation gets so out of control and the pastor is forced to beg from the altar that these people behave more respectfully ; they spend the next month at least, gossiping about how terrible the pastor is for accusing them of such a thing.

Luckily, I have moved and no longer have to deal with these poor people who have no sense of the Holy..and sad to say, are old enough to know better! :)

I cry more at Mass than I used to.



(Ed - The views reflected in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Admin. If you have a comment, why not leave one?)

Updates...

10/10 and a gold star for those who have emailed us to say that they can't find the messageboard.

We've removed it as we had recieved some comments that it was slow to load and made the site slow in general - which indeed was true. So it's been dumped.

The Noisy Parish Forum awaits you now. Registration is free and only takes a few minutes (seconds?) to join. If you have something to say in reply to one of our posts, then why not speak your mind and leave a message in it?

If you's like to get in touch with us direct then SKYPE users can do just that. Press the "Call Me" button on the toolbar on the right of the page.

WE NEED TO HEAR ABOUT SOME NOISY PARISHES! GET IN TOUCH NOW!

NEW - PRIEST OF THE WEEK

Yes, it's about time we recognised and thanked all the Great Priests in our Parishes.

The ones with a love of the Sacraments and a more than casual acquaintance with the GIRM. The ones who know Rubric is not the name of a Scientist who invented a cube puzzle in the 1980's.

Tell us about your Priest or one you know of.

Tell us all about him.

He might just become the recipient of the Award.

Click HERE to email your Priest nomination

AWARD - St. Mary, Star of the Sea Parish - Oceanside, California CA, USA

I am writing about my beloved church, St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church, in Oceanside, California.

I love my church and all eight or so fine priests that we've had over the past eight years.

I am not sure if this is a new thing or not, but two years ago our parish began a very odd practice of playing very loud music during confession time. It consists of classical Christian music pieces on a CD that keeps repeated once it has played all the way through. It appears to be piped into the church's speaker system. Our church is small and old, with hardwood floors, high-beam ceilings and plaster walls; any sound is greatly amplified. The music would be beautiful if one heard it anywhere outside of church. But because the music is played, and loudly so, during a most solemn and important time when one needs to be praying and examining conscience, it ends up being the most irritating, distracting, and obnoxious sound possible.

I had twice mentioned (prior to saying my confession in the confessional) to the associate pastor that the music was very distracting, and also sent an anonymous note (since I didn't want to be confrontational or appear disrespectful) to the pastor explaining my experience.

Nothing changed, and in fact, the pastor got really angry about the anonymous note, even posting a notice in the bulletin that he does not respond to such letters nor does he appreciate receiving them. I felt awful about that.

I guess the current pastor thinks the music is a good idea also, as he continues to play it as well.

God bless them both (and all the good people trying to pray during confession).

Not complaining so much as just relaying my experience.

D




(Ed - The views reflected in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by the Admin. If you have a comment, why not leave one?)

We're on the look out!

It's time to give out some more Awards!

The Noisy Parish backlog is clearing and we are now needing some more nominations ASAP!

If you feel you have a Parish to nominate, then click on the link on the right hand side of the page (or HERE).

If you need some advice or help in submitting a nomination, then, just get in touch with us!