Church Law @ The Mass

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I was at Mass one Sunday, and a gentleman who was with his wife & two teenage daughters became quite ill. This was during the Consecration. The priest grabbed the Oil, ran down to where the man was sitting, blessed him, then flew back up to the altar and continued with the Mass. The two daughters left to call 911. An ambulance came, the EMTs rolled in a stretcher, helped the man up, hooked him up to oxygen (he was having a heart attack & later had a stroke & nearly died); and proceeded to take him out of the church. What stunned me was, the priest and the congregation didn’t miss a beat, the Mass went on like nothing had happened. One of the EMTs looked at us with absolute disgust & hatred on her face, and I was ashamed to be part of it all.

My question is: did the priest handle this correctly? It seemed to me to be unfeeling and uncaring, like this poor man and his family were less important than the Mass. Maybe that’s how it is, I don’t know, but to me it seemed heartless and insensitive. A few months after this incident, I decided maybe Catholicism was not where I belonged…not JUST because of this, but it was a definite deciding factor.

Any thoughts??

Linda
 
A man was ill, possibly dying. The priest did his duty by the sick and dying, by anointing him with sacramental oil.

Medical aid was sought and obtained. I’m presuming the paramedics didn’t need or ask for extra help, or maybe there were doctors or nurses or qualified person in the congregation who already would naturally have been helping.

What then? The man goes to hospital, most hospitals have chaplains of their own so to what purpose for the priest to go there?

What BETTER thing, then, could the priest and remaining parishioners do than pray for the man? Would abandoning their prayer and leaving the church help the man in any way? Would praying at home instead, or in the hospital even, be any better? Of course not.

On the contrary, their prayers, there in the Lord’s presence in church, were the very best help they could give at the time. And what better prayer could they say for the ill man than THE prayer, the supreme prayer of all prayers, the Mass?

It’s not an issue of Church law, it’s a matter of understanding the importance and benefit not just of prayer in general, but the Mass in particular.

They did exactly the right thing as far as I am concerned. Remember after 9/11 the churches, of all denominations, not to mention mosques and synagogues, were full, and rightly so - it’s a natural reaction for people of faith at moments of crisis.
 
lindaj52 said:
I was at Mass one Sunday, and a gentleman who was with his wife & two teenage daughters became quite ill. This was during the Consecration. The priest grabbed the Oil, ran down to where the man was sitting, blessed him, then flew back up to the altar and continued with the Mass. The two daughters left to call 911. An ambulance came, the EMTs rolled in a stretcher, helped the man up, hooked him up to oxygen (he was having a heart attack & later had a stroke & nearly died); and proceeded to take him out of the church. What stunned me was, the priest and the congregation didn’t miss a beat, the Mass went on like nothing had happened. One of the EMTs looked at us with absolute disgust & hatred on her face, and I was ashamed to be part of it all.

My question is: did the priest handle this correctly? It seemed to me to be unfeeling and uncaring, like this poor man and his family were less important than the Mass. Maybe that’s how it is, I don’t know, but to me it seemed heartless and insensitive. A few months after this incident, I decided maybe Catholicism was not where I belonged…not JUST because of this, but it was a definite deciding factor.

Any thoughts??

Linda
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Yes he did.
By law ,the mass must be completed.
His actions seemed to be loving and sincere, if he did nothing I might understand your reasoning.He is a priest, his primary function as a priest is the santification of souls.
If you have “deceided maybe Catholicism is not where you belong” I suggest you take the time to know the religion first before you dismiss it. Remember there is only one Church.
 
Once you have said the consecration, you must finish the mass. Even if all you have said is the consecration of the body.

I do not know about any law against interrupting the mass for an emergency though.

It is really hard to say what you should do because Mass is the most important thing in the world. No Mass - No world.

Brother Paul
 
lindaj52 said:
I was at Mass one Sunday, and a gentleman who was with his wife & two teenage daughters became quite ill. This was during the Consecration. The priest grabbed the Oil, ran down to where the man was sitting, blessed him, then flew back up to the altar and continued with the Mass. The two daughters left to call 911. An ambulance came, the EMTs rolled in a stretcher, helped the man up, hooked him up to oxygen (he was having a heart attack & later had a stroke & nearly died); and proceeded to take him out of the church. What stunned me was, the priest and the congregation didn’t miss a beat, the Mass went on like nothing had happened. One of the EMTs looked at us with absolute disgust & hatred on her face, and I was ashamed to be part of it all.

My question is: did the priest handle this correctly? It seemed to me to be unfeeling and uncaring, like this poor man and his family were less important than the Mass. Maybe that’s how it is, I don’t know, but to me it seemed heartless and insensitive. A few months after this incident, I decided maybe Catholicism was not where I belonged…not JUST because of this, but it was a definite deciding factor.

Any thoughts??

Linda
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Linda, I would like to add just a little to the other comments.

I assume that you are currently a Protestant from your profile and from your comment exploring the Catholic Church. I was there myself not long ago.

Mass is very different than the worship services you may have experienced at your own and in other Protestant churches. It is much more than that. It is the Liturgy of Heaven through which a priest - acting in persona christi under the authority of a direct successor to the Apostles (themselves granted authority by Our Lord) - consecrates the Eucharist as Jesus did at the Last Supper. We are joined by the saints and angels in the real presence of Jesus, that Passover meal, his Passion and death on Calvary. He is our focus. IF we really believe this (and we do), we can not just stop everything and make this unfortunate man our focus beyond attending to his immediate needs (as was done).

I am sure that every person there was concerned for this person and said prayers for him.
 
lindaj52 said:
My question is: did the priest handle this correctly? It seemed to me to be unfeeling and uncaring, like this poor man and his family were less important than the Mass. Maybe that’s how it is, I don’t know, but to me it seemed heartless and insensitive.
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I think Linda that this is one of those cases were words like “seemed” are shown to be un-useful.

It is nice of the priest’s actions “seem” to be feeling and caring. But it is more important whether the priest IS feeling and caring. And in this case the priest actually interupted the Mass to anoint the man. If that’s not a demonstration of caring then I’m not sure what is.

As far as the importance of the Mass versus the importance of the man and his family… I think that is a comparison that is beyond the scope of our humble forum. But I will say that the priest’s obligation to make the Mass available to all the other people in the church did not go away because the poor man had a hear attack.

The most important job a priest has is to make the sacraments available to the people. Offering comfort to them is a secondary job. So once the priest had anointed the man his greatest obligation was back to the people’s need for the Mass This may “seem” uncaring but the supernatural reality is often not obvious to us.

I am guessing that there were others in the parish who were assisting the distressed man and his family. These may have been medical personnel who were parishioners, ushers, deacons (who would probably be more appropriate to give comfort to the family than would the priest), and friends of the family. As in many emergencies those who are not immediately useful are often in the way. That would include the priest (unless he has special medical training.)

The Mass is the greatest prayer the people of the parish could offer for the sick man and his family. It may not have “seemed” that way to the visitors and even to the parishioners who were present that day. But isn’t this a case where **what is **is more important than what seems to be?
 
I think this is a marvellous account and it surprises me that you could see it in a negative light. The priest left the Mass to annoint the man with oil - he did all he could for him. The priest is not a nurse or a doctor and just standing around looking distressed is not helpful at all. What would have been the point of stopping the Mass and people just standing about helplessly.

Who here wouldn’t want to die and be annointed while you were at a holy Mass? That would be a great blessing from God.

If there had been a doctor or nurse or someone with a first aid certificate there, they would have known how to position the man. People who don’t know what to do with someone who is having a heart attack, stroke or had an accident should leave the patient alone… and this is what happened, though fortunately his daughters were there. Blessed was that man to have a whole congregation aound him all silently offering their prayers to God for him.
 
lindaj52 said:
IMy question is: did the priest handle this correctly? It seemed to me to be unfeeling and uncaring, like this poor man and his family were less important than the Mass. Maybe that’s how it is, I don’t know, but to me it seemed heartless and insensitive. A few months after this incident, I decided maybe Catholicism was not where I belonged…not JUST because of this, but it was a definite deciding factor.

Any thoughts??

Linda
Click to expand...
The most powerful thing a priest can do for a person is to say Mass for them!!

All of us are to respond to such an emergency with the gifts God has given us. A medical professional is to respond differently that a priest.

The correct response should have been.

Someone with a cell phone call 911 - check
If a medical professional is present, they should attend to the persons physical needs
If a priest is present, they should attend to the persons spiritual needs.

It sounds like everything was done as perfect as human gifts allow. 👍

What do you feel the correct response of the congregation and the priest should have been, to stand around looking akward? What exactly would that accomplish?

Or would a loving congregation pray for the person? Of course!!

And the strongest possible prayer is the Mass!!!
 
I believe the priest did what he was supposed to do…annoint the man and continue the Mass…all the prayers maybe have been a factor in that he didn’t die immediately…that only God knows…

It’s not a hard call and it isn’t the priest was uncaring at all.

stormy
 
Linda, Everyone gave you wonderful answers so far but I just wanted to explain further what the priest did when he anointed the man with oil. This is the sacrament of the sick. It is used when someone is very ill or dying. It absolves all of the person’s sins so that he will go straight to heaven if he dies.
 
Thanks to everyone who responded to my post. I certainly did not intend to insult the Mass or anger anyone, though I get the feeling some took offense; and for that, I am sorry.

I used the word “seemed” because, of course, there was no way I could KNOW what the priest was feeling. And no, I wouldn’t expect the congregation to stand around awkwardly and helplessly. I would, however, expect the priest to be present to the “unfortunate” man’s wife and daughters, who were naturally very, very upset, at least staying close by them until medical help arrived.

I do not “dismiss” the Catholic faith in any way. Converting was not easy for me, I was shunned by friends and family, even had people tell me I was going to burn in hell for it. But I felt it was where God was leading me, so I followed that lead. I gave my heart and soul to the church for many years, but I have now come to see some of the teachings and beliefs much differently.

It was a very difficult decision to leave the church, not one that I took lightly at all. But I felt I wasn’t finding Christ there anymore, and my relationship with Him is the most important thing in life to me. I have no life without Him.

Again, thank you for all your posts, this has at least given me answers as to the response of the priest and the congregation to this situation.

Linda
 
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