The parish priest leaves today. He has been here ten years and it seems that the entire parish is sad to see him go. I don't particularly share in their sadness--for in the priest I always detected some sort of bias against myself and those like me; he has steadily refused to ever allow a picture of St. Josemaria Escriva to be mounted in the church, saying "he has too few devotees here", while St. Peregrine and a lot of other great saints who didn't enjoy a very distinct following here were allowed spots.
This I add to this uneasiness I feel that while there have been many developments in the parish for the last ten years--new buildings and youth centers, and so forth--I don't think that there was every any love of doctrine or a genuine Eucharistic devotion fostered here. I don't intend to speak badly of the priest--only to say that I'm curious about the changes, and I'm optimisically hoping for a lot of them.
Still, I'm sorry to see him go if only for my mother, because she has worked under him for a few years now and is genuinely attached to him. She seems to think of him as one of her few confidants. I'll keep praying for him.
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