From a reader:

We have a new priest in my parish. Not a new priest but new to us. He is an adult who had a career before becoming a priest. He also has a child from a marriage (divorced and annulled) before he became a priest. [And your point is…?!?] I have 3 problems with him. 1) he is always late for mass 2) he is a mediocre preacher and seems to be making it up as he goes along 3) he drives a brand new Mercedes. How can he look us in the eye and ask us for money to support the parish when he drives a car that costs more than I make in a year?? My question is: How does one tactfully tell him that we expect more, that we deserve his full and timely attention?

Must… Breathe … Deeply… In… Out… In… Out…

How do you tactfully tell him what “WE” want or what “YOU” want?

You DON’T!

I’ll tell you what to tell him. How about “Thank you, Father, for Mass!” How about “Thank you, Father, for saying ‘Yes’ to your vocation!” How about, “Father, I said my Rosary for you today!” How about, “Is there anything that is needed in the sacristy? My friends and I will help set up before Mass.”

This reminds me of the old chestnut:

The Perfect Priest The results of a computerized survey indicate the perfect priest preaches exactly fifteen minutes. He condemns sins but never upsets anyone. He works from 8:00 AM until midnight and is also a janitor. He makes $50 a week, wears good clothes, buys good books, drives a good car, and gives about $50 weekly to the poor. He is 28 years old and has preached 30 years. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and spends all of his time with senior citizens. The perfect priest smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work. He makes 15 calls daily on parish families, shut-ins and the hospitalized, and is always in his office when needed. If your priest does not measure up, simply send this letter to six other churches that are tired of their priest, too. Then bundle up your priest and send him to the church on the top of the list. In one week, you will receive 1,643 priests and one of them will be perfect. Have faith in this procedure. One parish broke the chain and got its old priest back in less than three weeks.

Lot’s of people don’t have a priest at all in their parish.