Can someone give me the Catholic idiot of the year award?

[puzzleannie]

can someone explain to me how in 3 pages this thread evolved from sharing flubs we have made serving at Mass, into criticizing other people in other dioceses because of the set-up and scheduling of Mass at their respective parishes? why don’t you PM each other, and those with helpful criticism can contact the priests and bishops responsible directly, so we can return to our regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Cristiano]

Do we know that for a fact? If one priest is celebrating all of the Masses, then he is probably taking meal breaks in between, and then allowing sufficient time for the Eucharistic fast. (And even if there is more than one priest on site, they all still need to eat on a regular schedule, in order to maintain their health.)

Well, as the lady said, it’s good that you know all the answers!!

The priest can be exempted from the Eucharistic fast after the first mass. He MUST observe the fast for the first Mass.

 

[mommyof4]

can someone explain to me how in 3 pages this thread evolved from sharing flubs we have made serving at Mass, into criticizing other people in other dioceses because of the set-up and scheduling of Mass at their respective parishes? why don’t you PM each other, and those with helpful criticism can contact the priests and bishops responsible directly, so we can return to our regularly scheduled thread.

:clapping:

 

[Extraordinary]

Glad you can count and tell time. Your point?

I was just curious if it was even possible without going past midnight…

This parish is in the CBD of a city of 4.5 million people - not exactly a huge choice of convenient and reasonably-priced sites available to build a new church on.

No halls or auditoriums that can be borrowed or rented on Sundays? Even a Catholic high school gym would be preferable to 11 Masses crammed into one building, one right after the other every Sunday. Use a big enough facility and maybe 2-3 equivalent Masses could be done in one.

11 collections each Sunday and you cannot afford to buy or build an additional facility?

Then there’s the little matter of making sure there are enough clergy and staff to keep this new operation running. Certainly a huge advantage of current arrangements is that there’s only the ONE set of staff necessary and they’re all on the one site.

Non-issue. You are already staffing the Masses now. I doubt few people take part in all 11.

Clearly the laity have no problems with the current arrangement either. Nor should they. In the days when all Masses had to be said before noon, it would be common to have not just hourly Masses, but even more frequent Masses running simultaneously or overlapping on more than one altar in the same church, in order to cope with the number of attendees. No-one complained about it then.

Actually you seemed to have a problem – that’s why you brought it up.

How many people does your parish church hold?

In any event, just because no one complains does not mean it’s right.

 

[Extraordinary]

Do we know that for a fact? If one priest is celebrating all of the Masses, then he is probably taking meal breaks in between, and then allowing sufficient time for the Eucharistic fast.

It would be gravely wrong for 1 priest to celebrate 11 Masses in one day. That’s prohibited by the Church. It is prohibited for 2 priests to celebrate 11 between them in one day. Even three priests cannot celebrate a combined 11 Masses in one day without extraordinary special permission. Even then it would be wrong. If it’s happening, that’s another matter that needs to be addressed.

Well, as the lady said, it’s good that you know all the answers!!

You add this comment only because your previous posting made no sense and now you realize it.

Unlike yourself, I can see that the situation described is constrained not by the priests but by the facility – either the number of facilities or the size of them.

 

[Extraordinary]

In the days when all Masses had to be said before noon, it would be common to have not just hourly Masses, but even more frequent Masses running simultaneously or overlapping on more than one altar in the same church, in order to cope with the number of attendees. No-one complained about it then.

Just how long have insufficient facilities been allowed to impact your diocese?

 

[Binary]

Well, this is an extraordinary thread.

 

[m134e5]

Do we know that for a fact? If one priest is celebrating all of the Masses, then he is probably taking meal breaks in between, and then allowing sufficient time for the Eucharistic fast. (And even if there is more than one priest on site, they all still need to eat on a regular schedule, in order to maintain their health.)

I imagine at least three priests would be in a parish that size. Priests aren’t allowed to celebrate more than three Masses a day unless there is a serious pastoral need. I can’t imagine the priest shortage there being so bad that there is only one priest for such a large parish.

Pray for priests, and that we’ll get more of them soon. Parishes that need 11 Masses on Sunday should have at least 11 priests. More would be nice- so that when one of the priests is gone, the others still don’t have to celebrate Mass more than once a day.

 

[Phemie]

I imagine at least three priests would be in a parish that size. Priests aren’t allowed to celebrate more than three Masses a day unless there is a serious pastoral need. I can’t imagine the priest shortage there being so bad that there is only one priest for such a large parish.

Pray for priests, and that we’ll get more of them soon. Parishes that need 11 Masses on Sunday should have at least 11 priests. More would be nice- so that when one of the priests is gone, the others still don’t have to celebrate Mass more than once a day.

It looks as though they’ve got 7 – and they celebrate 6 daily Masses.

 

[Extraordinary]

I imagine at least three priests would be in a parish that size. Priests aren’t allowed to celebrate more than three Masses a day unless there is a serious pastoral need. I can’t imagine the priest shortage there being so bad that there is only one priest for such a large parish.

Pray for priests, and that we’ll get more of them soon. Parishes that need 11 Masses on Sunday should have at least 11 priests. More would be nice- so that when one of the priests is gone, the others still don’t have to celebrate Mass more than once a day.

I don’t think that’s the gold standard – for no priest to celebrate more than one Mass/day.

 

[Phemie]

I don’t think that’s the gold standard – for no priest to celebrate more than one Mass/day.

Well, Canon Law does say:

Can. 905 §1. A priest is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist more than once a day except in cases where the law permits him to celebrate or concelebrate more than once on the same day.

Doesn’t that make you think that perhaps Rome feels that not needing to celebrate more than once a day IS a gold standard.

§2. If there is a shortage of priests, the local ordinary can allow priests to celebrate twice a day for a just cause, or if pastoral necessity requires it, even three times on Sundays and holy days of obligation.

Checking our schedule for Christmas I see that our priest will be celebrating Mass at 5:30 pm; 8:00 pm; 11:00 pm; 10:00 am & 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 pm & 12:00 pm Masses are at the Mission 26 miles away.

 

[Anthony02]

I completed my training for EMHC and attended- not the required one- but two hands-on training sessions. Today was my first day on the alter and I was quite nervous–big Mass, lots of people. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would be with me and I would be worthy of my role in handling the precious body and blood of Jesus. I took my place and carefully passed out the Body of Christ by saying “Bread of Christ”!!! I am fairly certain that I said this to at least half of the people who came to me before I heard Father saying “Body of Christ” to the right of me!

We were trained to refer to the host as the Body of Christ and not bread in our training sessions. I was thinking about this as I went to the alter–perhaps it was in my head as a result.

I really feel like an idiot as I have been a Catholic all my life and have received communion thousands of times! I know better. I have been looking forward to today for a very long time and I just feel bad. I have not been inundated with calls or asked to leave the church ( just kidding ) nor was it even mentioned by anyone. I think I am punishing myself enough for everyone.

I don’t know why I am posting other than to get it off my chest. I will be much better next time. Not sure I even want to mention it to my trainer out of pure embarrassment.

Hey. It happens. We can only learn from our mistakes, right. Don’t worry about it. This may sound rediculous and a gross over generalization, but do you think half the people even heard you say the “bread” of Christ instead of the Body of Christ. You know what you meant and Christ knows what you meant. Look at this as learning experience. We all had our little errors at Mass. I remember one time, I spaced off while serving. I totally forgot about the cruets of water and wine until Father glared at me. Then I snapped out of it.

 

[pammie]

Anthony–that’s what I truly hope–that no one noticed what I said. No one “seemed” to notice by their reactions. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Thanks.

 

[TMC]

When I was an altar server I once poured wine over the priest’s hands instead of the water. Both were kept in similar containers in the same place. My mother later asked me how I didn’t notice before I poured. Why didn’t he notice? was my response, of course. No one else at noticed, I think, the priest continued without missing a beat.

 

[consumedconvert]

When I was an altar server I once poured wine over the priest’s hands instead of the water. Both were kept in similar containers in the same place. My mother later asked me how I didn’t notice before I poured. Why didn’t he notice? was my response, of course. No one else at noticed, I think, the priest continued without missing a beat.

That’s hilarious! Yes, we all make mistakes When I was still an inquirer into the RCC i visited a daily mass. I knew I wasn’t supposed to take the Eucharist, but the pews were so close together I stepped out to let people out. I didn’t realize the Communion Line stretched out behind me! Finally someone whispered, “he’s not going forward!” and the line bypassed me. Afterword I went to the deacon (who I thought was the priest, because he gave the homily) and apologized, explaining I wasn’t a catholic and asking to speak with someone about it. He seemed taken off guard, gave me the number of the Associate Pastor (because the visiting African priest didn’t speak English too well) and handed me the St. Anthony prayercard he was passing out to the schoolchildren.

But what an extraordinary wrangle this thread has turned into!

 

[jailbelle]

At Communion after the priest said,“The Body of Christ” My mother said ,“Hello.” She was so embarrassed.
Don’t worry everyone makes mistakes especially when we are nervous. In a way that makes us unique and adorable.

 

[Extraordinary]

**When I was an altar server I once poured wine over the priest’s hands instead of the water. ** Both were kept in similar containers in the same place. My mother later asked me how I didn’t notice before I poured. Why didn’t he notice? was my response, of course. No one else at noticed, I think, the priest continued without missing a beat.

That’s actually an approved method of ablution…

 

[LilyM]

I was just curious if it was even possible without going past midnight…

Yup. Hourly between 7am and 12 noon (that’s 6) and 3 and 6 (that’s 4) and a late one at 8pm. Voila, 11

No halls or auditoriums that can be borrowed or rented on Sundays? Even a Catholic high school gym would be preferable to 11 Masses crammed into one building, one right after the other every Sunday. Use a big enough facility and maybe 2-3 equivalent Masses could be done in one.

Why go to the expense and fuss of borrowing or renting another place when with just a little effort at scheduling, the one church can hold all of em. No cramming to speak of, (as if I even spoke of it - you just assumed ) - just EMsHC legitimately used to ensure that Communion doesn’t take hours.

11 collections each Sunday and you cannot afford to buy or build an additional facility?

Those 11 collections each Sunday have to pay for the electricity, support the priests and pay for the other resources used in HOLDING those 11 Masses each Sunday first of all.

Actually you seemed to have a problem – that’s why you brought it up.

Ummm, no problem in the slightest actually. I brought it up as a case where there’s legitimate need for and use of EMsHC is all. You are the one who’s made a federal case out of - God forbid - a church ACTUALLY BEING USED TO HOLD MASSES IN!!!

 

[davy39]

I have yet to have a Priest make a mistake in giving me communion.

I understand the role of EM’s too…but sadly not every parish that has them actually needs them.
I for one am glad that our Parish has no use for them!

To remind you, this thread is not to discuss the pros or cons of EMHCs. About every parish has them, including ours, and that’s the way it is. Get back to the subject.

 

[wifeandmomoftwo]

To remind you, this thread is not to discuss the pros or cons of EMHCs. About every parish has them, including ours, and that’s the way it is. Get back to the subject.

lets see the comment you replied to was #14 on this thread…it too you 46 posts to get to that
And no not every parish uses them…nor does every parish have them!
Yes your right…back to the subject a mistake in dispensing communion by an EMHC.