Wednesday, August 29, 2018

The Misplaced Fear of Rural Parishes

I caught the tail end of Teresa Tomeo's EWTN Radio show yesterday where Ralph Martin was sharing that a lot of priests do not speak out because they are afraid of being moved to rural parishes.

I don't understand this fear in the least.


I'm in rural parishes and I love it.


What are the benefits of being in an "urban parish"?  As I rack my brain, I can think of the following limitations of being in a rural parish

1) No art museum
2) No sushi bar
3) No symphony


WHO CARES?!?!


So I can't stare at a Monet all day, I can't eat raw fish and I can't spend a night at the symphony without driving 45 minutes.  The horror!  I'd have to drive an hour to get those things (if I wanted any of them, which I don't)


I absolutely love being in rural parishes and I love the people of my parishes.  Priests (and lay people) that think rural assignments are exile have no idea what they are talking about.  People and priests who crave the completely insignificant comforts of "the city" are precisely the ones that need to be rehabilitated by the fresh air of the country.

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