We want the priests to be themselves.

(Baonghean) - DWhether we live in our hometown or work far away, we go to church every Sunday unless we are sick or have an emergency.

We attend Mass not because it is a requirement of the Church. Nor do we consider ourselves particularly devout, but attending Mass to hear the Word of God is a binding obligation for every Christian like us.

For us, spending an hour with God and listening to His word, rejoicing in the good things in our lives, finding solace in the sufferings of this world, and being encouraged to face future challenges is a natural inner calling.

Many Catholics are increasingly disillusioned with the content of some priests' sermons during Mass, making attending Mass a burden, a source of doubt, or even fear instead of joy.

Prayer service at Xã Đoài parish.

Today, some sermons lack a connection between religion and life, creating deep within us rifts of animosity and conflict—sins and the devil. It is also from these animosities and divisions within our unity that we lose the natural appearance of a Christian when attending Mass.

We earnestly seek to rediscover and contemplate the teachings on the sacrifice of Jesus, the parables of the Pharisees, and the stories of God's acceptance of suffering and willingness to give glory to others, as left in the Gospels. We long to hear the stories of Jesus advising his Apostles to put their swords away, as recorded in Luke chapter 22, verses 49-51: "Lord, can we draw our swords and strike? Then one of them struck the servant of God, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus said, 'Stop!' And he touched the servant's ear and healed it." Such is the blessing. Such is our Lord. We want some priests who have had moments of straying or going astray to follow the Lord's example, to guide us away from falling into the clutches of the law.

Those lessons, those stories, are precious lessons about human virtue that Jesus taught to posterity today. We are deeply saddened to hear the derogatory and insulting remarks against the government by Father Nam on the night of May 22nd and the days that followed. Father, did God teach us to speak and act as you did? Certainly not. Why didn't you teach us to restrain ourselves, to be patient, to make sacrifices, and to be peaceful? When disagreements and aggression reached their peak, why didn't you tell us to stop? Because everything is resolved through peaceful negotiation and dialogue, Father! We didn't want to protest or march, and we certainly didn't want to instigate conflict, arrest people, or oppose the government, but because of mob mentality, because we were swayed by dark and seductive pronouncements, we committed acts that violated the law! Instead of receiving benefit, our brothers and sisters, our relatives, have all been affected, because God does not accept or call those who wage war, are vulgar, and inhumane. Hearing sermons and exhortations contrary to God's ways, we realize that we have failed to fulfill one of the main duties of a pastor in the Church.

Father, we wish to follow the example of Jesus in caring for the poor, hungry, and weary crowds who followed him from the mountains to the sea to hear him teach. May our priests be a source of inspiration for us to live our faith better in everyday life, and that is precisely why you are striving to provide nourishment and spiritual sustenance for those who most desperately need it.

We want priests to use sermons as a tool to explain the Gospel to the community clearly and concretely. The laity are not abstract beings. They are flesh and blood, experiencing real joys and sorrows, and seeking honest answers to the serious questions that believers of all ages have wanted to know: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to those of good will.”

Father, we are now aware that if a doctor cannot prescribe the right medicine or treat patients well, their reputation will suffer, patients will leave, and the doctor may even face legal consequences. Of course, we hope this is not the case for any priest in our parish.

Blessing ceremony for the community house of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Nghia Yen.

Most Catholics remain devoted and hopeful that things will improve. We hope to attend Sunday Mass simply to listen to God's word and follow the Gospel so that we may live our faith better and, in the future, receive a vocation. During recent Masses, we have discovered two main reasons for the preaching problems of some priests.

The first,Some priests seem to feel guilty towards the regime, and this saddens us greatly, because the direction of the universal Church is to close the past and look towards the future, a future that is a heaven open to those who are compassionate and selfless. We, Vietnamese Catholics, and the priests as well, are aware that before we had a religion, we were already Vietnamese. Therefore, animosity and misunderstanding are only temporary, fleeting moments between brothers and sisters of the same family.

Monday,We see that some priests seem to spend more time considering their own needs, experiences, or concerns, and then imposing them on us. In reality, what priests need to do is tell the parishioners what matters most to them and equip them with Gospel-based guidance to cope with the challenges of everyday life.

Some of our priests need to step down from their ivory towers to see life in the streets, the remote villages, the marketplaces, and the small homes of God's people. They should seek to understand the lives, joys, and sorrows of those entrusted to their care by God. We want to listen to and understand the world, and we aspire to explain how the Gospel remains capable of resolving crises in an age of crisis. Father, you should enthusiastically help your flock find answers to increasingly complex questions.

We do not presume to criticize priests or demand that all priests reach the level of eloquence of famous orators, but at least they should possess the humility and charity of Saint John Marie Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests.

Our priests must be mediators between God and His people. Their role is to convey the wonder and joy of faith and the profound love between God and His creation.

Therefore, priests should always be mindful of the great responsibility of this office because the Mass is not a rigid ritual, but the nourishment of a hungry flock that desperately needs helpful guidance and understanding of Christian life. They need to be more practical, as priests understand that if there is evil or conflict, religious, ethnic, or racial discrimination, the ones who suffer the most are the parishioners. Therefore, in their religious life, all Christian believers must equip themselves with certain knowledge. This includes knowledge of Christian ethics, morality, loving one's neighbor, avoiding animosity and non-cooperation. If these things are not fully upheld, then the vocation of a Christian as a child of God is of no benefit to God.

Living out our faith daily means having faith in the Word of God, believing in God, loving God, and giving thanks to God for His crucifixion and suffering for us. Every Christian needs to live in a way that pleases God through concrete actions that profess their faith, because the sharpest weapon of a Christian is faith and the rosary. If someone speaks and uses force to gain fame and profess their faith, they are going against the commandments of Christ, because God is love. We earnestly pray that priests will be true to themselves so that they may guide us on the right path of God, lest Christians themselves become the ones who cause Catholic morality to decline in today's secular world.

Brothers and sisters in faith