Church attendance soars with the 15 minute Mass

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An Irish cleric’s congregation has increased tenfold in a week – thanks to a quickie Mass.

Despite the controversies which have rocked the church in recent years and the resulting fall-off in attendances at church services, Fr Michael Kenny has been packing them in at his Kilconly parish in Co Galway.

The popular priest started his 15-minute Mass as nothing more than an experiment at the start of Lent, just over a week ago. And he attributes the speed of the service to foregoing a sermon – and having the help of a Eucharistic minister for communion.

Full text at: Church attendance soars with the 15 minute Mass

I can read it, but I can’t agree with it. The mass shortened to a mere 15 minutes hardly seems reverent. Mass is supposed to be a sacred time. How is rushing in and out really spending time with God? In this time of Lent, shouldn’t greater sacrifices be made to sanctify time and not rush through things? There are other viable alternatives that a Church can do to make time holy without rushing the mass.
 
Ugh. Agreed.

I just spoke to an older gentleman yesterday and he said he used to attend a daily Mass that took 10 min before vatican II. I just don’t see how it’s reverent at all.

It just seems rushed when you confine a Mass to a certain time. Even an hour Mass gets me angry sometimes. It seems almost as though worshiping God in the Mass is something that is an imposition more than a blessing.
 
Maybe 15 minutes is a little short, but running Mass too long sends people away. I would prefer something that meets at a sweet spot where Mass is long enough, but is not too taxing on families.

People have ways to make things balanced in their own eyes. No doubt, it may be disruptive, but it seems somehow correct to them. I am referring to what I have been seeing far too many times lately, skidding in way late and blowing out early.

I was at a vigil Mass yesterday and people were showing up during the Creed, even though there was another Mass less than an hour later. When “The Mass has ended, go in peace” was said, it seemed as if the fire alarm had gone off. How Father got up the aisle to process out is beyond me.

Reverence, it seems, has gone away. People allocate a certain amount of time for worship and make it fit. I would prefer that the short-Mass crowd find what they are looking for and not destroy the reverence of the normal Mass.
 
If there’s no homily, prayer of the faithful or sign of peace and there’s a EMHC then Mass would take around 15 minutes. Nothing’s being “rushed.”
 
NewEnglandPries said:
If there’s no homily, prayer of the faithful or sign of peace and there’s a EMHC then Mass would take around 15 minutes. Nothing’s being “rushed.”
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Well, quite.

I think people are forgetting that this is a weekday Mass, and put on so that people can sanctify their day before going to work.

Our weekday Mass takes 20 mins, and that’s with a homily of almost Sunday length, and HC under both kinds, using 6 EMHC. We have the Sign of Peace as well.

It’s very reverent and quiet, and is not rushed at all.
 
A church friend of mine came back from a trip to Ireland last year and her first comment was that the Mass there was so short. (Not sure exactly where she visited…)

Maybe this is nothing new! 🙂
 
This is actually being discussed in the L&S forum too.

It’s a daily mass, so it’s probably people who have very little time as it is trying to add a little holiness to their daily lives by going to mass. Not everyone has the luxury of a large amount of continuos free time during the regular workday (and unless it’s a lunch break, it’s even less likely to be at the same time as a close daily mass).
 
God gives us 168 hours a week and we can’t give Him 1 hour? Well, that’s what my dad always says.
 
I live in Galway, but not in that particular area. I believe It is a short weekday Mass to fascilitate those who are working and who like to go to daily Mass during Lent. We recently held a Solemn Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, where there were six sessions a day - one of those sessions were shortened for the same reasons as mentioned above.

God Bless!
 
curlycool89 said:
This is actually being discussed in the L&S forum too.

It’s a daily mass, so it’s probably people who have very little time as it is trying to add a little holiness to their daily lives by going to mass. Not everyone has the luxury of a large amount of continuos free time during the regular workday (and unless it’s a lunch break, it’s even less likely to be at the same time as a close daily mass).
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Even at lunch time. Not everyone who wants to attend a daily Mass is a manager with an expandable lunch time. If you need say 10 minutes to get to the church (from desk to pew) and 10 to get back, and the Mass is 20 minutes long, that leave you with 20 minutes to use the bathroom, get a drink, perhaps eat something. And that’s if you have an hour lunch break!

Low Masses were frequently very short in pre-VII times–especially since often the congregation weren’t given communion. Nothing irreverent about it, but it doesn’t take all day to consecrate the host!
 
I used to serve daily Mass when I was a kid and 15 minutes, maybe a little more, was standard.

For this Lent I’ve been attending noon Mass at a downtown chapel and it’s about 20 min. – no homily, and I suppose it could be sped up if Father had an EMHC but our parish doesn’t use them.

All that said, announcing a “quickie Mass” as a public relations ploy seems untoward.
 
Heh, heh heh.

I think traditionalist Catholics now have a rejoinder to those who complain about pre-Vat II 20 minute TLMs.

Made me smile when I saw it in the paper. Now we have the 15 minute Novus Ordo. Who’d a thunk it?
 
As Curlycool said, this thread is being discussed in L&S - in my last post on that thread, I responded to the suggestion that the whole story was being oversensationalised. I think it is being oversensationalised - or rather, I think the media have focused on the wrong aspect of the story. This was my point:
I agree - it is being oversensationalised…or at least, the focus is on the wrong aspect of this story. We can only assume, unless and until we attend this particular Mass and find out for ourselves, that the priest is not rushing through everything & that he is only omitting the homily. We have no reason to doubt the reverence with which his Masses are celebrated - and as many have said, 15-20 minutes is not incredible for a weekday Mass.
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What the focus should be on, in my humble opinion, is what a “reshuffle” of Mass times can achieve, taking the schedules of the parishioners into account. The priest in this parish took a practical step to encourage attendance at daily Mass. It stands to reason that in a rural parish where most people have to travel significant distances to work, Mass at 9a.m. is probably only going to suit retired persons. So, really the only option, in order to cater to a wider group of the faithful is to offer Mass earlier in the morning or late in the evening. Plus, the priest in question is - like many others - in charge of two parishes and he has no assistant priests. He is, therefore, probably quite limited in what “reshuffling” he can do, and he may not be in a position to simply put on extra Masses. All in all, I think it’s rather generous what he has done for his parishioners - if he is truly helping them to grow in holiness, then I hope his endeavours catch on!
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After all, one can only increase Mass attendance if there are actually people! I mean, if that priest had stuck to the original time of 9a.m. and advertised a 15 minute Mass, his numbers probably would not have increased at all - the people simply wouldn’t have been in a position to attend Mass at that time, regardless of how short it would be.
 
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