Your right it didn’t make sense…
Your understanding of clapping in Mass seems to be more inline with that of the secular media than about we as Catholics believe and our understanding of what takes place at Mass.
:tsktsk:
The direct answer to your question is no, it should not be done. The first thing that should be said however (and I missed this earlier) is that a eulogy should not be done either, so what we have here is one abuse leading to another abuse; and that in itself is an important point to remember.
Our parish has been doing away with eulogies in Church. Years ago, I recall that some individuals were allowed to speak about their loved one for a few minutes after the homily. But this practice was eventually moved to after the Mass had ended. Now, from what I have seen, the eulogies are done in the parish hall during the reception. Often they will have a movie or slide show of the person as well as having individuals speak.
I sorry if I’ve misunderstood your position and if that statement seemed offensive to you. Not my intention, I was trying to make the point by showing how clapping at Mass is offensive to everyone. My parish will clap on occasion, after mass for special occasion like you have suggested, it is usually led by the priest.
I accept your appology if I misunderstood your intention and if you really meant it.
However, your form of worship is vastly different from the Church’s. With all due respect, your ecclesial community only has the Word. We have both the Word and the Sacrifice. Clapping is not at all appropriate during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Just to clarify- firstmode’s post about clapping was in reference to praising God not applauding ourselves or others.
Hold on there. While I personally don’t think that it is correct to say that clapping should never be done in church, I respect the concern that has been brought forward about applauding the accomplishments of others at Mass. It does take away from the solemn Liturgy that we just experienced. But who are you to question the practice of others of doing works of mercy just because they expressed concerned about proper respect and reverence toward Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament?
FAB, this is not an either/or argument. The first commandment is to love God. Loving God means to offer him the worship, praise and adoration due His divine majesty. This means offering Him a properly celebrated Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The statement you made, with all due respect, sounds like what Judas said concerning the woman who annointed Jesus with the expensive oil in an alabaster jar. Jesus did not play down the adoration this woman rendered Him. He told Judas that “the poor you will have with you always”, not so with Him.
I simply don’t think that it’s that big of deal, that there are larger concerns of the Church than if clapping in a liturgy. We are not a stoic people, we express our emotions in prayer, song, tears, laughter as well in the liturgy, perhaps those should also be considered inappropriate.
I just went to the Rite of Recognition a little over a week ago and printed in the program it said that all those present may applaud to affirm us candidates for confirmation. Must not be an issue because all the priests present were doing the same. Frankly, I felt very much welcomed after that…would have been rather awkward for people to just be staring at me.
Catholic funerals do not have Eulogies. So I guess a valid questio would be why was there a Eulogy? And when you say “a person” gave the Eulogy I am assuming it wasn’t a priest…which is not allowed either
Note that you are referring to the rite of election which is not the Mass.
Eulogies are permitted the evening before the funeral, at the prayer service. If someone were unfamiliar with the difference between the prayers for the dead and a funeral, then the prayer service might be described as a “funeral” - especially since the majority of Protestant and secular funerals follow a similar outline to the Catholic prayer service for the dead.