Attendance at Mass enough?

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JonnyHudd

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Hi, I’m new to the forum and have a question. I have been discussing this with an Anglican friend and am not exactly sure of Church teaching - is a person’s presence at Mass enough to confer grace?

I often see people at Mass who come in, stand at the back, receive communion and then leave immediately. It seems as if they think that if they turn up they are ‘ok’ for another week. Surely one can only grow in grace if your heart is open to it?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan.
 
JonnyHudd said:
Hi, I’m new to the forum and have a question. I have been discussing this with an Anglican friend and am not exactly sure of Church teaching - is a person’s presence at Mass enough to confer grace?

I often see people at Mass who come in, stand at the back, receive communion and then leave immediately. It seems as if they think that if they turn up they are ‘ok’ for another week. Surely one can only grow in grace if your heart is open to it?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan.
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I would not keep a watch on people’s attitudes. You may be utterly wrong.
Your question I did not understand: " is a person’s presence at Mass enough to confer grace?"
 
From what I understand, our spiritual disposition regarding the Blessed Sacrament, etc. does affect how we receive its divine graces/fruits.

Only God can tell the spiritual disposition of a person. Whether a person leaves mass early, or how they behave in other ways should not be seen as an indication of graces received IMHO. I believe He gives as He chooses and we should try to be as open to receiving these gifts as possible.
 
JonnyHudd said:
Hi, I’m new to the forum and have a question. I have been discussing this with an Anglican friend and am not exactly sure of Church teaching - is a person’s presence at Mass enough to confer grace?

I often see people at Mass who come in, stand at the back, receive communion and then leave immediately. It seems as if they think that if they turn up they are ‘ok’ for another week. Surely one can only grow in grace if your heart is open to it?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan.
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The Short answer to the direct question is “YES” attendance at mass is sufficient to confer grace.
Think about it…a person (adult) does not go to mass unless they want to. So this presents at least some opening for grace.

That said, you are absolutely right that there are those people who come to church and that’s it…they do not take the grace they receive and put it to use during the week. They squander the rich gift they receive each week…

Peace
James
 
Each and every Mass is a veritable river of grace, having the power to help us be the saintly people God wants us to be. Nevertheless, the manner in which one prepares for Mass, and ones attitude and disposition during Mass, effects our reception of this grace. Simply put, we can do things that facilitate our reception of this grace, and we can do things that impede it.

Only God knows for sure, but I think that a person who shows up for Mass with the attitude that he just wants to get his Mass obligation done with for the week, and willfully daydreams and distracts himself during the liturgy, and then leaves prior to the final blessing does, indeed, attain some grace from the Mass. After all, despite his shortcomings and lack of enthusiasm, he still gave up some of his free time to attend Mass. If we say that he received no grace at all then there is not much to distinguish him from a non-practicing Catholic who no longer goes to Mass, and such a proposition is obviously erroneous.

But on the other hand, does such a lackluster person take full advantage of the grace that was available at the Mass? Here we can say that he didn’t. The grace of the Mass helps us to overcome sin and temptation, and to change our lives in the manner that we need to (for the sake of ourselves and our relationship with God and neighbor). So, IMO, it is possible for a person to receive some grace at Mass, but not enough for his particular needs. But the Mass is not deficient in this regard, rather, the deficiency is found with the lackluster person.

There is an axiom in metaphysics which states that a thing is received according to the mode of the receiver. For example, two people can be attempting to collect rainwater in the same downpour, but the person who chose to bring a rain barrel will collect more than a person who chose to bring a thimble. In this example, the downpour of water represents the outpouring of grace, while the rain barrel and the thimble represent how one conditions his heart, mind and soul to be open to the reception of the grace.
 
One thing is certain: the more we judge other people, the less grace we personally receive.
 
Pfaffenhoffen said:
I would not keep a watch on people’s attitudes. You may be utterly wrong.
Your question I did not understand: " is a person’s presence at Mass enough to confer grace?"
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I don’t keep watch or indeed judge - just an observation I have often made.

Thanks for all the replies.
 
JonnyHudd said:
Hi, I’m new to the forum and have a question. I have been discussing this with an Anglican friend and am not exactly sure of Church teaching - is a person’s presence at Mass enough to confer grace?

I often see people at Mass who come in, stand at the back, receive communion and then leave immediately. It seems as if they think that if they turn up they are ‘ok’ for another week. Surely one can only grow in grace if your heart is open to it?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan.
Click to expand...
The Church calls for full and active participation in the mass. Singing, response to prayers, listening to the word, homily, sharing in the sacrific by offering themselves (see revised wording by priest) and then taking the word into the world. So those who come and leave are recieving grace through the Eucharist, but not recieving the full benifit of the mass. A Catholic’s duties go much further than just a weekly shadowing of the church doors.
Peace,
Dcn. FAB
 
JonnyHudd said:
Hi, I’m new to the forum and have a question. I have been discussing this with an Anglican friend and am not exactly sure of Church teaching - is a person’s presence at Mass enough to confer grace?

I often see people at Mass who come in, stand at the back, receive communion and then leave immediately. It seems as if they think that if they turn up they are ‘ok’ for another week. Surely one can only grow in grace if your heart is open to it?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan.
Click to expand...
The Mass is said for everyone’s benefit. The graces are there to accept or reject. I don’t see much value in discussing how much grace each actually receives.
 
It also depends on the type of graces you’re referring to. Actual grace of sanctifying grace. If the person isn’t in the state of sanctifying grace, they can’t receive the sanctifying grace received at Mass.
 
EricFilmer said:
Each and every Mass is a veritable river of grace, having the power to help us be the saintly people God wants us to be. Nevertheless, the manner in which one prepares for Mass, and ones attitude and disposition during Mass, effects our reception of this grace. Simply put, we can do things that facilitate our reception of this grace, and we can do things that impede it.

Only God knows for sure, but I think that a person who shows up for Mass with the attitude that he just wants to get his Mass obligation done with for the week, and willfully daydreams and distracts himself during the liturgy, and then leaves prior to the final blessing does, indeed, attain some grace from the Mass. After all, despite his shortcomings and lack of enthusiasm, he still gave up some of his free time to attend Mass. If we say that he received no grace at all then there is not much to distinguish him from a non-practicing Catholic who no longer goes to Mass, and such a proposition is obviously erroneous.

But on the other hand, does such a lackluster person take full advantage of the grace that was available at the Mass? Here we can say that he didn’t. The grace of the Mass helps us to overcome sin and temptation, and to change our lives in the manner that we need to (for the sake of ourselves and our relationship with God and neighbor). So, IMO, it is possible for a person to receive some grace at Mass, but not enough for his particular needs. But the Mass is not deficient in this regard, rather, the deficiency is found with the lackluster person.

There is an axiom in metaphysics which states that a thing is received according to the mode of the receiver. For example, two people can be attempting to collect rainwater in the same downpour, but the person who chose to bring a rain barrel will collect more than a person who chose to bring a thimble. In this example, the downpour of water represents the outpouring of grace, while the rain barrel and the thimble represent how one conditions his heart, mind and soul to be open to the reception of the grace.
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Excellent answer. Very helpful! I will only add that sometimes a thimble is all a person has to bring, and we should encourage rather than discourage that person. Perhaps after a few Masses with just a thimble, they will go out and find or build a rain barrel (or have one given to them!)
 
Mrs_Sally said:
Excellent answer. Very helpful! I will only add that sometimes a thimble is all a person has to bring, and we should encourage rather than discourage that person. Perhaps after a few Masses with just a thimble, they will go out and find or build a rain barrel (or have one given to them!)
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Well said! The Holy Spirit can do great things in someone’s life even if there is only a thimble’s worth of grace to begin with. As a side note, personally I am not too critical of people who seem to be lackluster in their participation in the Mass. I give them the benefit of the doubt (realizing that I have no idea what is going on in their hearts and minds), and acknowledge the fact that at least they showed up.
 
JonnyHudd said:
I don’t keep watch or indeed judge - just an observation I have often made.

Thanks for all the replies.
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Think: is that person crazy? lunatic? mental retarded? is in the process of divorce? is with health problems? depressed?

God knows what goes inside one person.

My behavior at mass certainly gave reason to many mental observations. I am not an example…
 
All this being said, it is so rude IMO when people rountinely make a habit of leaving the Church directly after receiving the Eucharist.

As in, they don’t return to their seats, they walk right out the back of the Church.

Particularly when this example is being given to families by their parents.

It happens so regularly in our Church that our priests had to comment on it in the homily and then also position themselves in the outer area of the Church in the hope of stopping the flowing tide.
 
Barbkw said:
All this being said, it is so rude IMO when people rountinely make a habit of leaving the Church directly after receiving the Eucharist.

As in, they don’t return to their seats, they walk right out the back of the Church.

Particularly when this example is being given to families by their parents.

It happens so regularly in our Church that our priests had to comment on it in the homily and then also position themselves in the outer area of the Church in the hope of stopping the flowing tide.
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I agree.

Another disturbing trend is people arriving just in time to receive communion and that’s it. I can’t help but notice(groups as big as 15 people arriving together 45 min into the mass) as I am very often in the back foyer/by the doors (having had to take my young child out).
 
Bearontherun said:
I agree.

Another disturbing trend is people arriving just in time to receive communion and that’s it. I can’t help but notice(groups as big as 15 people arriving together 45 min into the mass) as I am very often in the back foyer/by the doors (having had to take my young child out).
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I’ve seen this as well, even in the EF. I wonder what they would do if the priest decided not to give them communion. I think technically the priest can skip people’s communion altogether, although I’ve never seen this done.
 
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