The Don’t Fit Ins

 What I like about the Paulist Fathers, of which I am still one, is that we do a ministry to people who don’t fit into the rules and regulations.  Many a priest give such people the “short shift.”  “I cannot help you,” they might say in a nice way, or simply say no.  They are trained to follow the rules in a more narrow fashion.  That is, if you don’t go to church, or are not even affiliated with the parish, you don’t get much help.  This is especially the case with people wanting to get married.  We Paulists run marriage prep programs that respond to a lot of these “outsiders.”  A notorious drunk, rebellious against God issues, religion and lots of other things, sobers up, falls in love, dimly recalls being baptized Catholic, and comes to ask for a wedding ceremony.  They have no idea of the rules or protocol.  We specialize in such cases as well as any dropouts.  Old St. Mary’s here in San Francisco does a good job of this.