Catholic Mass today seemed to endorse austerity and anti-SNAP benefits?

[Anonymous]

Some churches have a set schedule of lessons they cover.

Our congregation also covered idleness this week. The leadership is extremely woke so highly unlikely a commentary on SNAP benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are trying to create a schism in the church. The American Catholics are cash-rich and are being heavily influenced by Vance's group - MAGA politics. The Italian Catholic church has a lot of expensive real estate but no cash and is heavily influenced by Pope Leo/Pope Francis and traditional Catholic values like care for the poor. One of the reasons Pope Leo was chosen was to keep the American Catholics from taking their cash and going. The fight is going to get ugly and from your report, it seems Pope Leo might be losing.

Thank you. I think this is a really smart appraisal. It honestly felt subversive and I don’t think it was coincidental in any way with what’s going on in the news and the 100% racist “welfare queen” content being astroturfed on social media. I didn’t like hearing this — especially when I *never* hear them go this aggressively after things that really hurt parishioners. Ex. porn, gambling, usury, abortion, foreign wars and innocents being slaughtered en masse in them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are trying to create a schism in the church. The American Catholics are cash-rich and are being heavily influenced by Vance's group - MAGA politics. The Italian Catholic church has a lot of expensive real estate but no cash and is heavily influenced by Pope Leo/Pope Francis and traditional Catholic values like care for the poor. One of the reasons Pope Leo was chosen was to keep the American Catholics from taking their cash and going. The fight is going to get ugly and from your report, it seems Pope Leo might be losing.

Can you please post any articles on this? Vance is hardly a Catholic (and acts more like a fake Evangelical), right, and Trump isn’t anything. Who precisely are the figures moving the American Catholic Church in this MAGA (prosperity preaching?) direction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lectionary for this Sunday:

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

It has been set for a long time, so the appearance of the one out four passages in which Paul talks about how the the early Christians worked to feed themselves instead of relying on the communities where they traveled to evangelize to provide charity.

If an idiot priest chose to take this one verse out of context and interpret it to mean that there shouldn’t be SNAP, well that’s not a surprise because it’s a known fact that there are MAGA priests, but that is certainly not the only way to interpret it, nor is it consistent with other passages like the story of loaves and fishes.

Now, if someone wanted to interpret it to mean that Christians who travel to Evangelize should be very careful not to burden the communities they visit then I would agree.

I’m OP. The priests didn’t literally say “SNAP” or “welfare” or “EBT” or any other gov assistance terms in the news and viral on social media the last few weeks — that was me reading between the lines. It just seemed awfully coincidental two Catholic churches which are totally unaffiliated with each other had the same reading and two priests had similar interpretations and expansions essentially demonizing poor people on welfare as lazy, idle, and lacking dignity — albeit the hometown priest was much more aggressive and even used some old school urban “welfare queen” dog whistles.

Every Catholic church in the US, maybe in the world, uses the same lectionary (a document that assigns readings to days), so it's not really a "coincidence" that two Churches would use the same readings this Sunday. But the priest didn't choose them.

I'm not defending his choice to interpret it that way. The Catholic church is very much in favor of feeding people, and does a lot of work towards that goal. This is MAGA infecting the church, and not the position of the church as a whole.

Here is a statement from one of the top Catholic archbishops on the SNAP issue.

https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/archbishop-broglio-urges-funding-lifesaving-programs-and-end-federal-government-shutdown

I disagree with the USCCB on many things. But not on this.

[Anonymous]

Some of you have good imaginations.

If you're a Catholic who regularly attends Sunday mass, you've heard this reading every third year. You'll hear it again in 3 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lectionary for this Sunday:

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

It has been set for a long time, so the appearance of the one out four passages in which Paul talks about how the the early Christians worked to feed themselves instead of relying on the communities where they traveled to evangelize to provide charity.

If an idiot priest chose to take this one verse out of context and interpret it to mean that there shouldn’t be SNAP, well that’s not a surprise because it’s a known fact that there are MAGA priests, but that is certainly not the only way to interpret it, nor is it consistent with other passages like the story of loaves and fishes.

Now, if someone wanted to interpret it to mean that Christians who travel to Evangelize should be very careful not to burden the communities they visit then I would agree.

I’m OP. The priests didn’t literally say “SNAP” or “welfare” or “EBT” or any other gov assistance terms in the news and viral on social media the last few weeks — that was me reading between the lines. It just seemed awfully coincidental two Catholic churches which are totally unaffiliated with each other had the same reading and two priests had similar interpretations and expansions essentially demonizing poor people on welfare as lazy, idle, and lacking dignity — albeit the hometown priest was much more aggressive and even used some old school urban “welfare queen” dog whistles.

Every Catholic church in the US, maybe in the world, uses the same lectionary (a document that assigns readings to days), so it's not really a "coincidence" that two Churches would use the same readings this Sunday. But the priest didn't choose them.

I'm not defending his choice to interpret it that way. The Catholic church is very much in favor of feeding people, and does a lot of work towards that goal. This is MAGA infecting the church, and not the position of the church as a whole.

Here is a statement from one of the top Catholic archbishops on the SNAP issue.

https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/archbishop-broglio-urges-funding-lifesaving-programs-and-end-federal-government-shutdown

I disagree with the USCCB on many things. But not on this.

Interesting. I didn’t know the readings were the same everywhere. I guess I've never attended Mass twice in the same weekend or day. It was totally random that I just kept listening to the live feed of my hometown church.

I remain suspicious this reading was chosen for this weekend with everything in the news. I didn’t feel comfortable with the reading and the even crueler sermons after. It didn’t feel Catholic to me. And I know my husband and I weren’t the only two people in the pews side-eying what we were hearing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you have good imaginations.

If you're a Catholic who regularly attends Sunday mass, you've heard this reading every third year. You'll hear it again in 3 years.

Always in November, before the holidays?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lectionary for this Sunday:

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

It has been set for a long time, so the appearance of the one out four passages in which Paul talks about how the the early Christians worked to feed themselves instead of relying on the communities where they traveled to evangelize to provide charity.

If an idiot priest chose to take this one verse out of context and interpret it to mean that there shouldn’t be SNAP, well that’s not a surprise because it’s a known fact that there are MAGA priests, but that is certainly not the only way to interpret it, nor is it consistent with other passages like the story of loaves and fishes.

Now, if someone wanted to interpret it to mean that Christians who travel to Evangelize should be very careful not to burden the communities they visit then I would agree.

I’m OP. The priests didn’t literally say “SNAP” or “welfare” or “EBT” or any other gov assistance terms in the news and viral on social media the last few weeks — that was me reading between the lines. It just seemed awfully coincidental two Catholic churches which are totally unaffiliated with each other had the same reading and two priests had similar interpretations and expansions essentially demonizing poor people on welfare as lazy, idle, and lacking dignity — albeit the hometown priest was much more aggressive and even used some old school urban “welfare queen” dog whistles.

Every Catholic church in the US, maybe in the world, uses the same lectionary (a document that assigns readings to days), so it's not really a "coincidence" that two Churches would use the same readings this Sunday. But the priest didn't choose them.

I'm not defending his choice to interpret it that way. The Catholic church is very much in favor of feeding people, and does a lot of work towards that goal. This is MAGA infecting the church, and not the position of the church as a whole.

Here is a statement from one of the top Catholic archbishops on the SNAP issue.

https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/archbishop-broglio-urges-funding-lifesaving-programs-and-end-federal-government-shutdown

I disagree with the USCCB on many things. But not on this.

Interesting. I didn’t know the readings were the same everywhere. I guess I've never attended Mass twice in the same weekend or day. It was totally random that I just kept listening to the live feed of my hometown church.

I remain suspicious this reading was chosen for this weekend with everything in the news. I didn’t feel comfortable with the reading and the even crueler sermons after. It didn’t feel Catholic to me. And I know my husband and I weren’t the only two people in the pews side-eying what we were hearing.

Are the readings I linked the right ones? Because those are from the lectionary, which is a document that was written many years ago to assure that someone who attends Mass every Sunday hears the entire Bible over the course of 3 years.

I agree that the sermons you describe seem very un-Catholic. I also agree with you that the last few weeks before Advent have some very depressing passages. But I would argue that the priests you heard interpreted the epistle incorrectly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you have good imaginations.

If you're a Catholic who regularly attends Sunday mass, you've heard this reading every third year. You'll hear it again in 3 years.

Always in November, before the holidays?

Always the last Sunday in Ordinary Time right before Advent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lectionary for this Sunday:

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

It has been set for a long time, so the appearance of the one out four passages in which Paul talks about how the the early Christians worked to feed themselves instead of relying on the communities where they traveled to evangelize to provide charity.

If an idiot priest chose to take this one verse out of context and interpret it to mean that there shouldn’t be SNAP, well that’s not a surprise because it’s a known fact that there are MAGA priests, but that is certainly not the only way to interpret it, nor is it consistent with other passages like the story of loaves and fishes.

Now, if someone wanted to interpret it to mean that Christians who travel to Evangelize should be very careful not to burden the communities they visit then I would agree.

I’m OP. The priests didn’t literally say “SNAP” or “welfare” or “EBT” or any other gov assistance terms in the news and viral on social media the last few weeks — that was me reading between the lines. It just seemed awfully coincidental two Catholic churches which are totally unaffiliated with each other had the same reading and two priests had similar interpretations and expansions essentially demonizing poor people on welfare as lazy, idle, and lacking dignity — albeit the hometown priest was much more aggressive and even used some old school urban “welfare queen” dog whistles.

Every Catholic church in the US, maybe in the world, uses the same lectionary (a document that assigns readings to days), so it's not really a "coincidence" that two Churches would use the same readings this Sunday. But the priest didn't choose them.

I'm not defending his choice to interpret it that way. The Catholic church is very much in favor of feeding people, and does a lot of work towards that goal. This is MAGA infecting the church, and not the position of the church as a whole.

Here is a statement from one of the top Catholic archbishops on the SNAP issue.

https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/archbishop-broglio-urges-funding-lifesaving-programs-and-end-federal-government-shutdown

I disagree with the USCCB on many things. But not on this.

Interesting. I didn’t know the readings were the same everywhere. I guess I've never attended Mass twice in the same weekend or day. It was totally random that I just kept listening to the live feed of my hometown church.

I remain suspicious this reading was chosen for this weekend with everything in the news. I didn’t feel comfortable with the reading and the even crueler sermons after. It didn’t feel Catholic to me. And I know my husband and I weren’t the only two people in the pews side-eying what we were hearing.

Are the readings I linked the right ones? Because those are from the lectionary, which is a document that was written many years ago to assure that someone who attends Mass every Sunday hears the entire Bible over the course of 3 years.

I agree that the sermons you describe seem very un-Catholic. I also agree with you that the last few weeks before Advent have some very depressing passages. But I would argue that the priests you heard interpreted the epistle incorrectly.

It was the second letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians -- paraphrasing, “nor did we eat food received free from anyone ... anyone unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lectionary for this Sunday:

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

It has been set for a long time, so the appearance of the one out four passages in which Paul talks about how the the early Christians worked to feed themselves instead of relying on the communities where they traveled to evangelize to provide charity.

If an idiot priest chose to take this one verse out of context and interpret it to mean that there shouldn’t be SNAP, well that’s not a surprise because it’s a known fact that there are MAGA priests, but that is certainly not the only way to interpret it, nor is it consistent with other passages like the story of loaves and fishes.

Now, if someone wanted to interpret it to mean that Christians who travel to Evangelize should be very careful not to burden the communities they visit then I would agree.

I’m OP. The priests didn’t literally say “SNAP” or “welfare” or “EBT” or any other gov assistance terms in the news and viral on social media the last few weeks — that was me reading between the lines. It just seemed awfully coincidental two Catholic churches which are totally unaffiliated with each other had the same reading and two priests had similar interpretations and expansions essentially demonizing poor people on welfare as lazy, idle, and lacking dignity — albeit the hometown priest was much more aggressive and even used some old school urban “welfare queen” dog whistles.

As previously noted, ALL Catholic Churches follow the same “Lectionary” of readings. It is not “coincidental” that two parishes had the same readings. It’s planned so they do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lectionary for this Sunday:

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

It has been set for a long time, so the appearance of the one out four passages in which Paul talks about how the the early Christians worked to feed themselves instead of relying on the communities where they traveled to evangelize to provide charity.

If an idiot priest chose to take this one verse out of context and interpret it to mean that there shouldn’t be SNAP, well that’s not a surprise because it’s a known fact that there are MAGA priests, but that is certainly not the only way to interpret it, nor is it consistent with other passages like the story of loaves and fishes.

Now, if someone wanted to interpret it to mean that Christians who travel to Evangelize should be very careful not to burden the communities they visit then I would agree.

I’m OP. The priests didn’t literally say “SNAP” or “welfare” or “EBT” or any other gov assistance terms in the news and viral on social media the last few weeks — that was me reading between the lines. It just seemed awfully coincidental two Catholic churches which are totally unaffiliated with each other had the same reading and two priests had similar interpretations and expansions essentially demonizing poor people on welfare as lazy, idle, and lacking dignity — albeit the hometown priest was much more aggressive and even used some old school urban “welfare queen” dog whistles.

Every Catholic church in the US, maybe in the world, uses the same lectionary (a document that assigns readings to days), so it's not really a "coincidence" that two Churches would use the same readings this Sunday. But the priest didn't choose them.

I'm not defending his choice to interpret it that way. The Catholic church is very much in favor of feeding people, and does a lot of work towards that goal. This is MAGA infecting the church, and not the position of the church as a whole.

Here is a statement from one of the top Catholic archbishops on the SNAP issue.

https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/archbishop-broglio-urges-funding-lifesaving-programs-and-end-federal-government-shutdown

I disagree with the USCCB on many things. But not on this.

Interesting. I didn’t know the readings were the same everywhere. I guess I've never attended Mass twice in the same weekend or day. It was totally random that I just kept listening to the live feed of my hometown church.

I remain suspicious this reading was chosen for this weekend with everything in the news. I didn’t feel comfortable with the reading and the even crueler sermons after. It didn’t feel Catholic to me. And I know my husband and I weren’t the only two people in the pews side-eying what we were hearing.

Remain as suspicious as you like, but current events had absolutely nothing to do with that reading being this Sunday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lectionary for this Sunday:

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

It has been set for a long time, so the appearance of the one out four passages in which Paul talks about how the the early Christians worked to feed themselves instead of relying on the communities where they traveled to evangelize to provide charity.

If an idiot priest chose to take this one verse out of context and interpret it to mean that there shouldn’t be SNAP, well that’s not a surprise because it’s a known fact that there are MAGA priests, but that is certainly not the only way to interpret it, nor is it consistent with other passages like the story of loaves and fishes.

Now, if someone wanted to interpret it to mean that Christians who travel to Evangelize should be very careful not to burden the communities they visit then I would agree.

I’m OP. The priests didn’t literally say “SNAP” or “welfare” or “EBT” or any other gov assistance terms in the news and viral on social media the last few weeks — that was me reading between the lines. It just seemed awfully coincidental two Catholic churches which are totally unaffiliated with each other had the same reading and two priests had similar interpretations and expansions essentially demonizing poor people on welfare as lazy, idle, and lacking dignity — albeit the hometown priest was much more aggressive and even used some old school urban “welfare queen” dog whistles.

Every Catholic church in the US, maybe in the world, uses the same lectionary (a document that assigns readings to days), so it's not really a "coincidence" that two Churches would use the same readings this Sunday. But the priest didn't choose them.

I'm not defending his choice to interpret it that way. The Catholic church is very much in favor of feeding people, and does a lot of work towards that goal. This is MAGA infecting the church, and not the position of the church as a whole.

Here is a statement from one of the top Catholic archbishops on the SNAP issue.

https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/archbishop-broglio-urges-funding-lifesaving-programs-and-end-federal-government-shutdown

I disagree with the USCCB on many things. But not on this.

Interesting. I didn’t know the readings were the same everywhere. I guess I've never attended Mass twice in the same weekend or day. It was totally random that I just kept listening to the live feed of my hometown church.

I remain suspicious this reading was chosen for this weekend with everything in the news. I didn’t feel comfortable with the reading and the even crueler sermons after. It didn’t feel Catholic to me. And I know my husband and I weren’t the only two people in the pews side-eying what we were hearing.

Remain as suspicious as you like, but current events had absolutely nothing to do with that reading being this Sunday.

Okay, we’ve covered that. I guess the more concerning part would be priests in different regions of the U.S. taking that allegedly random assigned reading to launch into racist or at least classist welfare queen tropes and demonizing the modern underclass as lazy moochers with no dignity. While those same tropes are being trafficked on the news, on podcasts, used by politicians to shut down the government, and racist videos with those themes are going viral on social media at a scale I’ve never witnessed in my life.

[Anonymous]

Wow. The sermon at our non denominational church today was about helping the poor, the orphans, widows. There is a passage in the Bible about that. Jesus never said anything about not helping the idle poor. Sounds like the priest is one of those people who couldn't hack it in the real world so they went into an organization that pays for everything for them, even though they don't believe in everything the organization is about.

Don't mistake me. I know there are devout people who really believe in the message of Jesus, and so that's why they became pastors or priests. But, I also do know some who couldn't hack it in the real world, so they became pastors. These folks don't truly understand what Christ was about.

What would the Pope say about this sermon, I wonder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is the lectionary for this Sunday:

https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

It has been set for a long time, so the appearance of the one out four passages in which Paul talks about how the the early Christians worked to feed themselves instead of relying on the communities where they traveled to evangelize to provide charity.

If an idiot priest chose to take this one verse out of context and interpret it to mean that there shouldn’t be SNAP, well that’s not a surprise because it’s a known fact that there are MAGA priests, but that is certainly not the only way to interpret it, nor is it consistent with other passages like the story of loaves and fishes.

Now, if someone wanted to interpret it to mean that Christians who travel to Evangelize should be very careful not to burden the communities they visit then I would agree.

I’m OP. The priests didn’t literally say “SNAP” or “welfare” or “EBT” or any other gov assistance terms in the news and viral on social media the last few weeks — that was me reading between the lines. It just seemed awfully coincidental two Catholic churches which are totally unaffiliated with each other had the same reading and two priests had similar interpretations and expansions essentially demonizing poor people on welfare as lazy, idle, and lacking dignity — albeit the hometown priest was much more aggressive and even used some old school urban “welfare queen” dog whistles.

Every Catholic church in the US, maybe in the world, uses the same lectionary (a document that assigns readings to days), so it's not really a "coincidence" that two Churches would use the same readings this Sunday. But the priest didn't choose them.

I'm not defending his choice to interpret it that way. The Catholic church is very much in favor of feeding people, and does a lot of work towards that goal. This is MAGA infecting the church, and not the position of the church as a whole.

Here is a statement from one of the top Catholic archbishops on the SNAP issue.

https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/archbishop-broglio-urges-funding-lifesaving-programs-and-end-federal-government-shutdown

I disagree with the USCCB on many things. But not on this.

Interesting. I didn’t know the readings were the same everywhere. I guess I've never attended Mass twice in the same weekend or day. It was totally random that I just kept listening to the live feed of my hometown church.

I remain suspicious this reading was chosen for this weekend with everything in the news. I didn’t feel comfortable with the reading and the even crueler sermons after. It didn’t feel Catholic to me. And I know my husband and I weren’t the only two people in the pews side-eying what we were hearing.

Remain as suspicious as you like, but current events had absolutely nothing to do with that reading being this Sunday.

Okay, we’ve covered that. I guess the more concerning part would be priests in different regions of the U.S. taking that allegedly random assigned reading to launch into racist or at least classist welfare queen tropes and demonizing the modern underclass as lazy moochers with no dignity. While those same tropes are being trafficked on the news, on podcasts, used by politicians to shut down the government, and racist videos with those themes are going viral on social media at a scale I’ve never witnessed in my life.

It isn’t “allegedly random”. These readings are on a 3-year cycle, as someone else has already posted. They are published WELL ahead of time.

Also, did the priests actually say all that stuff, or are you simply assuming they did?

OP, can you post the videos, if they were recorded? I’d love to see what was actually said and not what PPs assume was said. I’m guessing it’s Biblically-based and not some lecture about current events.