We have a duty to our nation, society, our family, and especially to God!
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We have a duty to our nation, society, our family, and especially to God!
Rev. Andrew P. Carrozza 
My comment had to do with the bulletin this weekend, not the homily. Bad enough in the latter, unforgivable in the former. Just a polite request, nothing more. I had an uncle from Yonkers. He was a brute.
You made your point; I don’t agree. Let’s just put this to rest.
Father, I cannot control how you hear or do not hear certain comments. I simply request that you not use the term “guys” here, it’s belittling. What flies elsewhere may not in Beekman.
Also, the homily was a bit harsh this week.
I cannot control how everyone responds to my words. What is innocent to one person is deemed offensive by someone else. You know I never intend offense. As for my homily, I wouldn’t say “harsh”; I would say “challenging.” Jesus was challenging. I don’t preach marshmallows; I preach the challenging truth of Christ.
You still have not explained why you had to throw Yonkers into the mix, and you have not apologized for the insult to my parishioners at St. Ann’s in your comment. Why not practice what you preach and apologize for insulting my friends?
I’m not sure how or why this has become so complicated. Parishes are different, places are different. The type of person in Yonkers is not exactly the type of person in Beekman. Here, “guys” is simply not appropriate. It’s a simple and gentle request.
Neither can I understand why this is so complicated, and why it is important at all. People are being murdered in the subways in New York City, a father visiting his child at Marist was killed as an innocent bystander in a gang war in a hotel in Poughkeepsie, and you’re all upset because I used the term “you guys?” Would that this were the worst problem we have in the world. I’m sorry, but I see no difference between the people of St. Ann’s Parish and the people of St. Denis Parish. Using the term “you guys” is not offensive to those in Beekman while acceptable to those in Yonkers or anywhere else in the world. The fact that you’re upset about it (if that’s really what’s going on here) is sad.
As I see it, there are two possible scenarios going on here. One is that something in my homily touched a tender nerve in you, and you’re really upset about that but are using the “you guys” comment as a diversion to show your anger without actually addressing the topic. If that is the case, maybe you need to ponder the possibility that it wasn’t my words but God speaking to you that got you upset. and that He has brought something to your attention that He wants you to address in your life. In that case, let the pain subside and pray about it. God will be healing you.
The other possibility is that you’re one of the remnant hecklers from “St. Ann’s in Exile” who still gets a kick out of attempting to rattle my cage. If so, my advice to you is to move on. You told me you are happy with your new pastor, so thank God and move on with your life. The fact that it’s over a year that I’m gone and you still have this obsession with my preaching tells me that deep down you know I am right, but you don’t want to admit it. Maybe like King Herod with John the Baptist, you are troubled by my words but still feel the need to listen to me. Why do you still feel the need to listen to my homilies if I’m no longer at St. Ann’s? That is telling. And if your only desire is to heckle me for the sake of trying to upset me, then my only advice to you is to grow up. Every insult you fling at me actually increases my reward in Heaven. You’re not harming me; you’re only harming yourself.
Either way, I wish you peace in Christ.
Father, I say this as gently as possible: you shouldn’t use the word “guys” to refer to us, your parishioners. We are both men and women, we are not teenagers, and this is not Yonkers. It offends. Thanks for your consideration.
Sorry if I offended you. I have always used the word “guys” in referring to people. I don’t understand what Yonkers has to do with it!
Sorry if I offended you, but I have always used the word “guys” when referring to people colloquially. I don’t understand what Yonkers has to do with it. Please don’t insult the good people of St. Ann’s Parish, as I find your comment did.