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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.