Author Archives: Church Mouse

On Sunday pp Mendes introduced his new assistant, Fr Miguel Zavarese, at the 10am mass. The community wishes Fr Miguel well – please God he will find peace and happiness at St Vincent’s.

Is it just the Neocat way of doing things, or an indication of Mendes’ regard for the community, that nothing was said regarding the circumstances of the newcomer’s predecessor, Joe Pelle, nor about Zavarese’s background. The community was disappointed that they were denied the opportunity to say their goodbyes.

After mass Mendes’ pastoral skills really shone forth when he bustled his new assistant out of the church, … Continue reading →

Sunday 2 August 2009

The Prayers of the Faithful were kicked off by Clare, who read from the back of an envelope a reflection inspired by the proximity of Hiroshima Day (6 August, also the feast of the Transfiguration). Before she could finish, the celebrant, Mendes, rudely interjected. Clare nevertheless persisted, reading the fourth and last sentence of her prayer.

Then Ann, driven by her recent visit to Central Australia, tried to offer a prayer and Mendes spat the dummy. The letters/emails tell the rest of the story.

This is not the first time that Sunday Mass has … Continue reading →

The following Prayer for Priests by St. Therese of Lisieux has appeared in the last few St Vincent’s church bulletins. It seems to be sufficiently divorced from reality to strike a chord with the Neocat clergy.

0 Jesus, eternal Priest,
keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,
where none may touch them.
Keep unstained their anointed hands, which daily touch Your Sacred Body.
Keep unsullied their lips, daily purpled with your Precious Blood.
Keep pure and unearthly their hearts, sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.
Let Your holy love … Continue reading →

Predictably, the community was admonished today over last Sunday’s celebration.

Mendes seized upon the theme in today’s readings asserting the quality of his shepherding skills, as he has on other occasions, and that last week’s priests are  not just bad shepherds but wolves masquerading as shepherds, hungry to devour any misguided sheep that might stray within their reach.

(Ed: Neocat clergy, of course, do not register on the Church Mouse’s Good Shepherd Scale – not even somewhere below dead sheep.)

Lest anyone in the small congregation was struggling with the intent behind his good shepherd/bad shepherd pronouncements – his … Continue reading →