Communion Service on Sunday: question

[Gorgias]

I expect this I’m the world but not from professing, committed Catholics.

I wouldn’t be so disappointed. The dynamics of the situation aren’t “we don’t want Mass”, but rather:

• “this is the way we always do it”. (Convention is a hard thing to break, especially in church groups!)
• “there’s always a 7am Mass for us, so there should always continue to be a 7am service for us.” (When we get used to a certain state of affairs, it’s often the case that we forget that, at one time, they weren’t a necessary condition, but just an arbitrary decision, and we begin to believe that we’re entitled to them.)
• “we can just bend the rules this one time, for us, can’t we?” (Especially in America, we’re prone to say “but… it doesn’t apply to me, does it?”)
• “ohh, we can’t possibly ask people to change their plans, can we?” (it’s more difficult to hold on to the perception that we’re nice people if we inconvenience others.)

So, they’re really not bad Catholics. They’re just good Americans.

@Jen7: I hope you can find an answer that works for ya’ll and also gives you the opportunity to attend Mass! I’ll be praying for ya’ll!

 

[Jen7]

@Gorgias you get it!! Thank you!! And add in I am NOT the boss here. This isn’t my place and I don’t want to do this if I don’t HAVE to. I despise confrontation. I am a friendly, quiet, sometimes shy person.

But I think I do have to. I am emailing the four leaders to propose a re working of the schedule to accommodate Mass. If they refuse I will resign, because my heart is not in a retreat where we tempt others to skip Mass (let’s be real: they will be too exhausted to come back a hour after the retreat is over).

It is unfortunate when living the Faith comes to this. But sometimes it does. God first. Pray for me, okay? I hate making people mad.

 

[Angel_Bradford]

A Communion service would fulfil the Sunday obligation IF there is no priests available and IF there are no other Masses in the area that you cauldron attend.

 

[Phemie]

Gorgias:

“Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink”, eh?

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.

(Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.)

Bringing back to mind my mother’s reaction when I told her we were studying the “Rime of the Ancient Marine er”.
“The ancient what??? It’s not marine er, it’s marin er”.
I didn’t have the heart to tell her about the verse
“Halone, halone, hall, hall, halone
halone on the wide, wide sea!”
Yeah, my English teacher in grade 9 was a Francophone.

 

[Phemie]

A Communion service would fulfil the Sunday obligation IF there is no priests available and IF there are no other Masses in the area that you cauldron attend.

Actually, under those circumstances there is no obligation to attend Mass. The Church doesn’t require the impossible. Under those circumstances you wouldn’t even have to attend a Communion service if there was one.

 

[Gorgias]

It is unfortunate when living the Faith comes to this. But sometimes it does. God first.

Pray for me, okay? I hate making people mad.

Absolutely, I will!

(Just one warning: when you come to folks with this, there’s a good chance that they’ll be like “are you serious? what difference does it make? we’ve already been told that we’re all good, so why worry?”)

(As I type this, I keep wondering why it’s an issue. After all, the time you’d spend at Mass is the same as the time you’d have been spending in an activity. Can’t you just adjust the schedule? (Maybe you’re in a different location than the church? Or the scheduled presenters aren’t willing to be flexible?))

Anyway, it’s an opportunity to stand up for the Mass. Good luck! Prayers going up for you!

 

[Brendan_64]

I’ll be honest, if you were giving a retreat on Sunday and it didn’t include a Mass but there was a Mass going on right there in the building in parallel with the retreat, I’d just walk out of your retreat, go to Mass and walk back in again after Mass.

I agree with this.

 

[SMHW]

The dynamics of the situation aren’t “we don’t want Mass”, but rather:

• “this is the way we always do it”. (Convention is a hard thing to break, especially in church groups!)
• “there’s always a 7am Mass for us, so there should always continue to be a 7am service for us.” (When we get used to a certain state of affairs, it’s often the case that we forget that, at one time, they weren’t a necessary condition, but just an arbitrary decision, and we begin to believe that we’re entitled to them.)

This is so true.

This is a case where the retreat was planned around the supposed 7:00am Mass.

We all have those Sundays where we make our travel reservations, plan to host a party, purchase advance tickets, etc. based on the idea that we can attend Mass from exactly start o’clock to exactly end o’clock. Our plans may likewise mean that our travel providers, friends, coworkers, relatives, etc. are also needing to plan their Mass/worship attendance around our needs.

If our planned Mass will not happen then WE WILL be inconvenienced. And if we attempt to change our plans so we can attend another Mass, WE WILL inconvenience others and possibly have them be very angry with us. It’s natural to feel that we have been betrayed by the Church who has taken our “only” Mass from us.

In the case of this retreat, the proper thing to do is to try and rearrange speakers and activities so that the retreatants can attend a scheduled parish Mass. (It would seem that OP can only suggest this and doesn’t really have any power to accomplish it.)

But let’s admit that changing plans really will cause some distress for the retreat planners and any outside guest speakers who must now change their plans.

 

[Phemie]

There are actually THREE Masses being held at the church during the two day retreat according to the original poster. Just not a priest available to say a 7 am one special for them to accommodate their schedule.

Somehow they want to skip Mass, to keep the schedule intact, yikes.

Yes, I know. I was commenting on what happens when there is no possibility of attending Mass.

 

[1ke]

given the presence of three Masses on site during our retreat CAN a priest truly dispense us from attending??

Your pastor can dispense you. Not any priest.

 

[1ke]

I say it because I am not the leader and I will be making the retreat leader pretty grumpy if I demand a schedule change or just walk out to attend the 9am Mass myself

As an adult it is incumbent upon us to get past our fears of making others unhappy or uncomfortable.

 

[1ke]

I just want to know if anyone CAN approve a CS for our retreat.

No. Because a communion service does not replace mass. No one should have allowed it in the first place. And it certainly doesn’t fulfill the obligation for mass.

 

[1ke]

A Communion service would fulfil the Sunday obligation IF there is no priests available and IF there are no other Masses in the area that you cauldron attend.

This is not true.

It does NOT fulfill the obligation.

If no mass is available, there is no obligation.

 

[lilypadrees]

Ask your priest, of course. For me, it being Sunday rather than a weekday, a Communion Service just wouldn’t cut it.

 

[AngelusDomini]

Just looking at this from a different angle but it places an unfair expectation on those attending the retreat to find an evening Mass to fulfil the obligation (especially if they have family and have been away for the weekend) when there is a perfect opportunity to join with their brothers and sisters in Christ at Mass in the place the retreat is being held!
If the leader doesn’t like it maybe they’re not the best person to be leading a Catholic retreat if they don’t appreciate the Sunday obligation and the need to be considerate to those attending.
(Personally if I went on retreat and then found out I had to also find an evening Mass to go to after it I wouldn’t bother attending that retreat again.)

 

[Canterbury]

Got it. Anglican’s call this a “Deacon’s Mass” because it is generally a deacon who distributes the host.

 

[thistle]

Or can I in-conscious help to host a retreat where I know many ladies will probably be too exhausted afterwards to attend an evening Mass (and not catechized well enough to know they should)??

If a Mass is available in the evening then they have to attend because the Communion Service does NOT fulfill the obligation.

 

[Gorgias]

But let’s admit that changing plans really will cause some distress for the retreat planners and any outside guest speakers who must now change their plans.

Certainly, it will cause distress. At some point, there were sufficient priests available to cover all those Masses, including a 7am Mass. At present (due to either a permanent or temporary reduction of the number of priests available), that Mass is no longer available. Not having the number of priests we’re used to is distressing. It’s also a fact of life, and something we just can’t wave our hands at and make go away.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’m a bit confused as to how this retreat has apparently managed to line up umpteen speakers but cannot seem to locate one priest, including one from an order, who could come over and celebrate Mass.

 

[SMHW]

That does seem unfortunate.

I have no idea about the availability of retired and/or order priests in the OP’s area but it’s possible such priests simply aren’t willing to travel to that parish for a 7:00am Mass. Or maybe the retreat budget has all gone to pay for the guest speakers and it’s too late for refunds.

It certainly wasn’t the best retreat planning since the OP didn’t indicate that the pastor’s travels are a last minute event.