Acting out the Gospel

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Rocky24

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Whenever my school has a mass, during the gospel some students actually act it out while it’s been read. Is this right? I never really felt comfortable with it. I am not raging about the Novis Ordo or anything, I was just curious.
 
The Gospel or any of the readings should NEVER be acted out. I am not at work right now with my liturgical books but it may be in the Directory for Masses with Children or in the introduction to the Children’s Lectionary where it states that it should not be done. The only think that is allowed, and only in Masses at which there are mostly all children, is that the readings can be divided as on Good Friday. But even that is kind of frowned upon. The Gospel should be proclaimed, that is spoken and heard, not acted out. When that happens the focus in on the actors not the Word.
 
Joannm said:
The Gospel or any of the readings should NEVER be acted out. I am not at work right now with my liturgical books but it may be in the Directory for Masses with Children or in the introduction to the Children’s Lectionary where it states that it should not be done. The only think that is allowed, and only in Masses at which there are mostly all children, is that the readings can be divided as on Good Friday. But even that is kind of frowned upon. The Gospel should be proclaimed, that is spoken and heard, not acted out. When that happens the focus in on the actors not the Word.
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It’s a high school so there’s definitely no children. I agree.
 
The Gospel may only be proclaimed by a deacon, priest, or bishop, not a drama troupe.
 
Thanks for your responses…so at our church …for as long as I can remember…it has been tradition that our children ‘act out the nativity, live nativity’ while the Gospel reading is being read by our Priest. There are NO speaking parts…the children are dressed like Mary, Joseph, etc etc etc…and they proceed to the altar and the nativity is “seen”

is this also NOT allowed? Has my church been breaking a major rule?
I’m a bit shocked here as it has been tradition…we love it…the kids are involved…

I meant to say…this happens ONLY @our Christmas Eve Family-Children’s mass.

looking forward to more responses,
LouineG
 
LouineG said:
Thanks for your responses…so at our church …for as long as I can remember…it has been tradition that our children ‘act out the nativity, live nativity’ while the Gospel reading is being read by our Priest. There are NO speaking parts…the children are dressed like Mary, Joseph, etc etc etc…and they proceed to the altar and the nativity is “seen”

is this also NOT allowed? Has my church been breaking a major rule?
I’m a bit shocked here as it has been tradition…we love it…the kids are involved…

I meant to say…this happens ONLY @our Christmas Eve Family-Children’s mass.
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No, it is not allowed, and your church is “breaking the rules.”
 
LouineG said:
Has my church been breaking a major rule?
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They’ve been breaking a rule. Whether it is major is debatable.

It is precisely because the Good Friday Passion Narrative is divided into dramatized* parts where you can wind up with a lay reader and the lay congregation reading part of the Gospel (yes, lay folk do get to proclaim the Gospel at Mass… once a year) that the idea after Vatican II arose that such dramatizations were allowed. After all, it can’t be sacrilege if it’s a valid choice for Good Friday (and it still is).

However, after that era of experimentation, it was declared that any further dramatization (other than the Passion Narrative on Good Friday) is not allowed.

People who have been doing it well and where it’s well received might not be, shall we say, responding to the relatively recent kibosh on dramatizations. Also, I’m quite sure many don’t even know that there was such a recent ruling.

*The word ‘drama’ here is being used in the sense of a genre of a play, where people speak different parts and they might also act out those parts. Not in the sense of overacting and being melodramatic.
 
LouineG said:
Thanks for your responses…so at our church …for as long as I can remember…it has been tradition that our children ‘act out the nativity, live nativity’ while the Gospel reading is being read by our Priest. There are NO speaking parts…the children are dressed like Mary, Joseph, etc etc etc…and they proceed to the altar and the nativity is “seen”

is this also NOT allowed? Has my church been breaking a major rule?
I’m a bit shocked here as it has been tradition…we love it…the kids are involved…

I meant to say…this happens ONLY @our Christmas Eve Family-Children’s mass.

looking forward to more responses,
LouineG
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What you describe IS allowed. Live nativity scenes, in clurch, during Mass, were begun by St. Francis of Assisi and have been licit ever since.

Acting out the Gospel at other times of year, even if the actors are not speaking, is not appropriate.

Edited to add: Br JReducation, who is superior of a Franciscan community and a poster here, spoke about this recently. Search on his posts for more information.
 
O_Moriah said:
It is precisely because the Good Friday Passion Narrative is divided into dramatized* parts where you can wind up with a lay reader and the lay congregation reading part of the Gospel (yes, lay folk do get to proclaim the Gospel at Mass… once a year) that the idea after Vatican II arose that such dramatizations were allowed. After all, it can’t be sacrilege if it’s a valid choice for Good Friday (and it still is).
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Just a little nit-picky detail here… there is no Mass on Good Friday.
 
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