1)ATTN,OLQA PRIESTS CASTING CALL,WANTED: PEOPLE 2 PLAY RICH PARISHIONERS...priests @ olqa (our lady queen of angels,newport beach) wants people to dress perfectly like well-to-do neighborhood people to play church. No poor-looking people need apply. Must also have a disdain for poor-looking people,or disdain for people assigned to play poor,whether theyare actually poor or not. You must have perfected the snobbish rich act,regardless of whether you are actually wealthy or not. At the same time you must verbally & prayerfully express concern for the poor,just not the poor at the olqa parish.2)The PRIESTS @ OLQA are not HOLY BEGGARS,they are highly educated,dedicated persons who are underpaid. But would they do what they do,without any pay at all? How dedicated are they? Would they truly die for their faith? Would they spare a $10 bill for a hungry lady? None of themlook underfed by the way.I forgive OLQA,OR am trying to do soOlqa,our Lady Queen of Angels,newport Beach,And I pray for whatever is the internal issue at the church to be resolved. There are obvious problems.SADLY,I finally have 2 admit there are corrupt catholic priests and/or parishes...after years of defending priests & catholicism,I have finally come to the 1st-hand realization that there actually are some corrupt priests,and the sad correlation is that corrupt priests lead to corrupt parishes.The paradox of parish life is that the priest is,in general,the sole purveyor of "truth".So important is the priest (according to catholic rules) ,only he can conduct the eucharist ritual (or occassionally a deacon,I forget if they are allowed to prepare eucharist) & usually it is the priest who writes the messages in the bulletin,and approves any other submissions.And of course,only the priest can preach a homily (&occassionally a deacon). So,as you see,the priest literally controls "truth" in the parish. If that priest capitulates to sinful tendencies & becomes selfish,self-indulgent,succumbs to human ego issues such as power & control,envy,jealousy,maybe personal prejudices he is or is not aware of,etc, those on the wrong end of the stick are not included in the "truth according to priest x" and thereby become suspect,marginalized,etc.Unfortunately,many parishioners just want to belong & be accepted no matter the cost,& too many of such passive parishioners simply become "chameleons" in order to keep riding the bandwagon.Therefore,if the priest marginalizes person A ,the parish sooner or later,in general,does the same (ie that's the way popularity contests happen in teen cliques. If popular "person A" doesn't like the new kid,person A enlists his or her pals to not like the new kid as well).The priest can marginalize in subtle ways,or even directly thru staring,intimidation,bullying, overtly or covertly,including more invisibly by writing notes,emails,etc (of course any other churches of other traditions can become compromised likewise as well depending on the pastor & their infrastructure,but my most recent negative experience has been at a catholic parish (or two) (see some previous posts).I will be writing more on this...3)LET US PRAY that OLQA Priests (newport beach) aren't becoming TOO SELF-INDULGENT:fr kerry,et al,including the white-haired elderly priest who takes a lot of boat cruises,& also the vietnamese priest who can't say his r's (I think Fr Kerry likes having him around as a "foil" (ie if you are a bit weak or deficient in one way or another,but having a person a bit weaker working next to you,makes you appear to be stronger; its a hollywood scheme).I'm just VERY concerned about the way OLQA is going. They didn't really need a new church building but built one anyways,just because. Now they have a new building but it seems tht attendance is declining, and yet the same group of priests remain. Nothing changed at the annual "priest shift" (ie priests get re-assigned around the end of June every year).Maybe building a new church gets a priest extra points so they get the option of staying in place if they choose. But then also the elderly priest's homily this morning was disturbing. He actually warned the congregation to beware of people who say they "know the Bible". He warned of the danger of "certitude".That's a strange thing to say. People can absolutely have a strong sense of certitude about the Bible,even if they don't know it inside out & upside down. Its not about knowing all the people & places in the Bible. Its about gaining a sense of certainty about the character of God,about His love,His Spirit,His care for His Sheep. That's a certitude we can express without ambivalence or hesitancy or apology whatsoever.Finally,I am concerned about the note that one of the priests or staff taped to the door about "please do not give homeless people money". It bothers me because when I go to OLQA I sit in the outer hall & listen to the service rather than going inside & sitting in the pew.I don't like sitting in view of the priest because they tend to have apiercing,domineering 100-yard-starethat makes me very uncomfortable.Yet I want to come in & pray & recite the liturgy. I want go up for the eucharist because of the way the priests look at me.Thus,now with the sign on the door,when people come in & see me sitting on the bench in the outer hallway at the same time they read this note they think I'm the homeless person,even if I'm NOT homeless,and have never asked for money or a handout.I am a college graduate with honors, & a seminary graduate. I also have done missionary work,among other things.I am currently the CEO of my own ministryand do a lot of online evangelistic blogs,as well as pro-life activism,among other things.I remember when I first came to OLQA,there was an immediate feeling of discomfort I had around Fr Kerry. I felt he was looking "down" upon me,and ever since then it has never gotten better,despite me coming to mass on a periodic basis,well-behaved,properly dressed,etc.I actually believe he feels insecure around me,perhaps due to my masculinity.Anyways,whatever the case may be,the priests will be held accountable by God for how they treat or mistreat parishioners. They have the "bully pulpit" for better or worse.I noticed they also have an adult assistant at the mass with them every morning who also has that 100-yard stare.You can be at the very back of the church & the minute you enter their field of vision,you feel as if you area deer in their rifle scope.Its eery.I pray that the priests will loosen the reigns and allow parishioners to feel a little less burdened.These priests take a lot of nice vacations & cruises, & trips to Israel,etc & shouldn't make the parishioners more burdened than they (we) already are,as if our salvation depends upon it. Shame on these priests.We are ALL feeling the weight of too much gravity @ OLQA. I pray for a new wave of the Holy Spirit,a new awakening @ OLQA.James "Jimmy" Ross4) LET US PRAY FOR THE PRIESTS OF OLQA (our lady queen of angels,newport beach),some who may have come out of POVERTY,...These are not persons who were born-rich,so I am wondering why some of them play the part of "rich snobs" now that they are priests. Ironically,the true rich usually are not snobs. Its the cling-ons who want to be associated with wealth who like to "play rich" and play it wrong by playing the hollywood script of "rich snobs". Its unfair to the true rich,many who are very generous and good-hearted.Ironically,I saw the same phenomenon happen @ Beverly Hills Good Shepherd when the new priest,Fr Tom,arrived,and he assumed we were all rich parishioners in the pews,and he started playing the part of a priest of a rich parish,when what we really wanted was just a priest to bring us all together,not a priest to write a script in which all the parishioners would have to act like rich parishioners for the next two years. Its really,really hard to find people & places that are not opportunists, (unfortunately,including priests & pastors in some cases)IRONICALLY,the REAL RICH usually are NOT snobs!...Its the cling-ons who become the snobs...those who want to be associated with wealth,and want to "play the part" of being wealthy.5) I'm CONCERNED about PRIESTS @ OLQA (our lady queen of angels) who THINK THEY ,themselves, ARE financially "RICH" b/c they work at a parish that is located in a financially wealthy neighborhood (Newport Beach).Its similar to the poor latino working in the Angel baseball gift shop who thinks she is wealthy because she works for the Angels ,and thereby becomes snobby towards the customers.Let's pray for all people who come from modest means but find themselves in employment that is associated with wealth (there's plenty of examples). Let them remember who they are and their purpose. I know the so-called "rich" people who give to OLQA do so because they want to be generous to people in general,not b/c they want the priests to start thinking they themselves are rich and thereby act like snobs towards so-called poor people. The priests,of all people!Go figure. -James jimmy ross-Cc: Pope Francis at the Vatican; OC Bishop Kevin Vann