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I vividly remember the day that my pastor (in the heart of Hollywood) stood up in the pulpit and said, "The pastor requests that you refrain from giving money to the homeless people outside the church doors, as it simply encourages them to hang out here and scare people away."
I turned to my neighbor and said, "That is sheer bullshit." (Thinking in particular about the completely alienated and silent homeless man who had started out by coming in to sleep in a warm place during evening Mass, who was fed and accepted and gradually encouraged by the congregation, who eventually stayed awake, sat up, took notice, started standing, sitting, kneeling, when we did, eventually learned the responses, and ultimately became the parking lot attendant with his own name tag and everything).
My neighbor said, "Now, now, he's the pastor. He's a priest. He's led by God."
I said, "No, ma'am, he's a human being and he's fallible and this is wrong."
I wrote a letter to his superior and to the local bishop and when no real resolution was reached, I wrote another one to them and left that parish.
Peace.
~ ~ ~ All meetings end in separation All acquisition ends in dispersion All life ends in death - The Buddha
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Every hundred years, all new people
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