The First Intention Read at Mass tonight was for bush!

:argh:

My church has turned away from the naming of the pres at the special intention reading. I have not heard it for months. Then tonight, Christmas eve, the very first intention is for pretzeldent bush. :grr: I think the pageant lady stuck it in as she ran the whole children's mass and I know she has a screw loose. It was truly depressing. :(

That we will soon get past the horrors of Bush et al.

;)

At a certain point in a Catholic mass there is a "special intentions" reading. Most are pretty generic, peace on earth, etc. or more personal "for the health of a parishoner". During the whole war buildup things got a little too political for my taste and I left the church to attend a less political mass somewhere else. We have had a change in Pastors this year and so I returned and it had been pretty good. Until today. :(

Happy Holidays....

i don't know payers of intention.

the beneficiary intends, and is why I thought she probably was a wrong'un. But God is not mocked, so, as I intimated above, it will be the best intentions for Bush, as viewed by God, not by Bush, himself, that God will interpret the request.

you are praying to, leftchick.

It means you are praying for what will be good for Bush and for mankind, not what Bush and his supporters consider will be good for them. Surely, in God's eyes, what will be good for Bush and for everyone is his and cronies' speedy departure from office, a thorough purging from US politics of the corporatists and their puppets, and a new start for America and the world.

and supporting a less Rethug church. It's better for her blood pressure and it's better for the country.

extent of going to another church, if the insertion of the intercession had been simply a surreptitious effort by a freelance nut.

being partisan like that was frowned upon. We didn't even mention politicians in the intentions.

when bush was installed it seems like everything changed. :(

emperor" occurs in one of St Paul's epistles, I believe, though the context is not without grim humor, since the reason given is, so that they might be left in peace to lead devout lives. Paul seems, though, to have been more concerned with the respectability of Christians in the eyes of others, than Jesus was; which is ironical in a way, as he or maybe James asks the flock in one place, I believe, "Isn't it the high-ranking people in society who have been causing you so much trouble?" And I believe, elsewhere, some villain turned a set of rich, high-ranking women against Paul in one place he was preaching in. I suppose Paul was trying to put off the "evil day", when emperors would turn against them and have them put to death for their faith. Even today - no names, no pack drill - "emperors" would and perhaps do gladly put to death Christians whose very teachings would actually make everyone more peaceful and secure.

It is said that Paul's preaching was to particular churches and communities, i.e. parochial, while Christ's was to all mankind for all time, and it was certain less parochial. Indeed Jesus seemed to spend a lot of his time and energy either warning or furiously inveighing against the rich and powerful generally, advising people, however, that since the Pharisees had appropriated the chair of Moses, to do what they said but not what they did (even though he said that they placed intolerable burdens on people that they would not lift a finger to carry themselves.

This would be like trying to make a claim for respectability because Christians explicitly refused to worship the pagan dieties of the Romans who the Emperor derived his religious legitimacy from.

understand you correctly, on further reflection. I think Paul thought that making nice and not rocking the boat would be perceived as respectable, as it would have in his own country.

anyway, k, just checking.

prophesying is imperfect. To my mind, he tends to see things through a middle-class ecclesial, sometimes paternalistic kind of filter. On the other hand, as regards Paul's congregations, he put up with an awful lot of impossibly pusillanimous nonsense from many quarters with astonishing patience. "Horses for courses", if that doesn't sound irreligious. He'd "been there, done that, himself."

PS: Sorry about the "Ummmm". Sometimes when a person makes a point diffidently though, it can sound as if your taking the rise. Better to speak plainly to me, if it doesn't offend your own sensibilities.

We moved around quite a bit when I was a growing up so I attended a goodly number of Episcopal churches. Never was a politician named in prayer or spoken of in general with the exception of the death of President Kennedy, which was universally met with grief so prayers for his soul and the wellbeing of his family were appropriate. Otherwise, zip zilch nada.

than the moronic, lunatic scrub. I pray he gets a clue, a conscience and resigns.

that the lunatic in the WH will be removed.

let them pray for him. Have them pray that he does no more damage.

Peace and merry Christmas.

to lead the country in the best way possible, we can read it as encouraging him to step down, as thagt would be the best way to lead the US....If it was to be an inspiration or some suchlike, we can think of it as inspiration to be better and not fall into the same entitlement trap as he has. ANd so on. Plenty of ways to twist it to the best of the country. It would be best for Georgie-porgie to for once have to face the consequences of his actions in order to learn about responsibility, for example.

It was some stupid shit about helping pres. bush achieve peace , blah blah. I honestly just tuned it out.

At my church there is sometimes a prayer that "our leaders" make wise decisions. I've never actually heard them say Bush's name.

I'd call the parish office this coming week and ask why they put that in. If you think it's getting out of hand, go to another parish. There are three other Catholic parishes closer to my house than the one I attend.

the president and other world leaders that they may govern wisely. (In the case of Bush, that would be a true miracle, but anyway.)

Well, we Episcopalians have our own saints in addition to the pre-Reformation ones, but we'll take all the help we can get.

I'm not familiar with Catholic customs. The only sacramental service I've ever attended is a Gnostic eucharist. The corresponding prayer is for "the worldly authority of our country, the people and institutions of our land." In other words, it focuses on the office of president, not the individual who happens to hold that office at any given time.

everything changed after Sept. 11. sadly. :(