the priest in my childhood parish did (walk around, etc)
or at least some of them did.. Fr Malone like a good game of pick up basketball, and Fr. Netter socialize too.
my parent belonged to the Catholic Family Movement.. it involved learning real and practical solutions to surving with 5 kids on a blue collar working salery.
one summer, fr netter, the clergy involved with CFM, rented a large summer house in the hamptons (YES, THE HAMPTONS)
he invited all them families in the CFM to spend some time there.
husbands and wives and kids came on the weekend, monday morning, all the hubbies went back to city to get to work, and the house was filled with kids, wives and 1 priest.
boy do i have fond (funny) memories!one day we all piled into the Doyels station wagon.. about 17 kids--aged from infant to 17 or so..
and went to the beach.. on the front bench were my mother (who was fully gray haired by age 30, and now 10years past that.) mrs. Obrien was there too (she was in her 30's, pregnant--very pregnant) with her 4th kid, but could have passed for 22 or 23.
the back of the car was stuffed with wall to wall kids (no seat belt laws in those day!)
we stopped for gas on the way home.. the gas attendent looked at my mother, looked at fr. netter (in street cloths, not with a collar or cassock) looked a Mrs. Obrien, and the at all the kids.. his eyes nearly popped out of his head..
we kids immediately became obnoxious.. and started to call out. Father, father, can you buy ice cream.. they sell icecream here.. please can we have ice cream, please father?
the parent weren't much better.. the summer house had a flag pole and one day the 'flag' was a pair of boxer shorts.. and we posted a sign that we were going to have a intigration rally on the weekend. --that actualy had the cops coming to the door.. we thought it was funny. the neighboors diddn't! (it was a very good lesson for all of us kids..about how pervasive prejudice is.)
Father Doughetty was another priest who was active. we had him over for dinner once.. he came from a large family too.
we started out on best behaviour, but we soon realized fr. neal (first name corneilus) was used to boarding house reaches, and 'played well' and soon it was the usually casual atmosphere of a normal dinner.
i did grow up, some what, in a catholic community. the parish had dances for the kids, (so we had something to do) and dances for the adults (new years, so no one had to drive, and not too much drinking would be done) and the priest were not just in the parish hall, but members of the neighborhood.
(and once when an exchange student form egypt came too early for the start of term (fordham university) he was directed to the local parish by someone in the university, and the parish priest, (fr malone as recall) called my parents, and we ended up putting him up for a weekend..
(poor man!) i am sure he was middle or upper middle class in egypt, (after all he has enough money to come to the university, airfair, tution, etc) and we were barely middle class (we had a 7 room (4 bedroom) apartment, but it was a 5th floor walk up, and we only had one bath!-- what an introduction to live in america.. we treated him as family, not as a guest..
ei, here is the kitchen, here is the stove, you want breakfast, make it yourself.. the only meal you get cooked for you in this house is dinner, and if you cook something for breakfast (eggs for instance) clean up after yourself!
the parish was a large one.. (the parochial school over stuffed with kids) but the priest new must of us kids by name, (or they at least knew our last name and who are parents were..
-'YOU there--the reilly kid.. which one are you? (helen, father..)
