Have you ever noticed that some priests are "Father Firstname" and others are "Father Lastname"? For instance, the pastor at the church where I formally became Catholic was Father Larry, but the priest at the other parish in town was Father Donohue. My pastor was never Father Kowalski, just like the other priest was never Father John. Most recently, in my former parish we've had Father McSweeney (not Father Jerry or Father Jeremiah), Father Pete (not Father Giannamore), Father Giles (not Father LeVasseur), Father Ditillo (not Father Jim or Father James), and Father Teufel (I have to admit I don't even know his first name!). At my parish now we have Father Julian (that's his first name, his last name is Anthony and I don't think anyone calls him that) and the pastor when I first joined was Father Kevin (not Father Marks).

Why is this? In my experience the first-name Fathers were/are generally more approachable, while the last-name Fathers tended/tend to be more dignified and reserved.

This, BTW, comes under 'things that make me go hmmmm' up there at the top of the page.

GMSCP installment #3 proceeding nicely - they are almost ready to go into the oven!

Medium crab still AWOL.

Snowing here!