Dealing with Covid Response/ Restrictions - Christmas Mass

  • Thread starter Thread starter throwawayaccount15
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

throwawayaccount15

Guest
I’m at a loss here and am hoping that I can get some help. The Covid restrictions in Chicago are draconian and have meant that I haven’t been able to attend Mass since March. It’s all by sign-up and very limited. Generally, it is the people who were involved in the parish who get access to Masses first. I’m low priority, especially as I never registered at a parish. This is especially true for the Christmas Masses, which they allowed those who are the “elites” to sign up for prior to everyone else. This guaranteed that only the “elites” get to attend Mass. To add salt to the wounds, the parishes have been quite curt in their communications like “insisting that there would be no walk-ins allowed” but they will take Communion out to people in their cars and show them how to stream the Mass like it is a fast-food drive-thru. I’d never receive God so cheaply and find that even more offensive than being denied the Mass.

I’m not denying that the whole pandemic is real. I just am so upset and frustrated by how my diocese has handled the pandemic by severely restricting access to Masses and even the churches themselves. I’d like to speak to someone about my frustrations but I don’t know how to go about it or who to talk to. I already tried sending an email to the diocese and that just was ignored. I’m especially sad because I cannot attend Christmas Mass (and likely not Easter Mass in 2021 or Christmas Mass in 2021.)
 
The new mutant strain is 70% more contageous. If we think its bad now, pray that strain stays contained in the UK, Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands.
At least until it has a robust vaccine
 
Last edited:
No. Please stop spreading bad information on this. And also, that is nothing about what I asked about.
 
The song that applies here is “You can’t always get what you want” by the Rolling Stones.

I miss Mass too. But I wouldn’t give a moment’s thought to how your Church is managing things. Think of all the positives. We can still get the Mass online from many different countries. “It’s wonderful that I have a computer.” “It’s wonderful that the Church is universal!” “It’s wonderful I don’t have to get up at a certain time!”

Trust in God for something good will come out of all this. Is there a hobby you can finally get to on Sunday morning? Isn’t it wonderful that God still looks after us even during a lousy time like Covid time? Let the “elites” get to Mass and save the risk of getting Covid. They will even pray for you if you work it right.
 
throwawayaccount15 said:
No. Please stop spreading bad information on this. And also, that is nothing about what I asked about.
Click to expand...
Draconian restrictions are going to be needed if that strain hits the States.
Register at a Parish, ring early, book a Mass. That is happening in many places.
There are no walk ins even for registered Parishoners in many places.
Its not about the ‘elites’. That is uncharitable.
Do what is required by the Bishop to attend Mass right now.
 
Last edited:
AKA the flu…happens every single year. Plus death is in God’s hands, not ours…think of how many families are starving because the US shut down their restaurants or stores.
humilityseeker said:
The new mutant strain is 70% more contageous. It is a huge concern.
Click to expand...
Not buying it.
 
ColoradoCatholic said:
Note the terminology anyways…CONTAGIOUS not DEADLY…because mortality is less than 0.0%
Click to expand...
Rather than question one who believes that there can be a negative death rate, I will simply say that I know several people myself who have died. Please do not feed false information, especially if the science is no better than the math.

The funerals we have testify to this lie.
 
ColoradoCatholic said:
Plus death is in God’s hands, not ours…think of how many families are starving because the US shut down their restaurants or stores.
Click to expand...
Yes the huge famine that’s happening across the US right now. 😉

After talking with a nurse at a hospital on the front lines of the pandemic, I’m hesitant to just dismiss it as ‘God is in charge of death anyway, who cares.’
 
throwawayaccount15 said:
Generally, it is the people who were involved in the parish who get access to Masses first. I’m low priority, especially as I never registered at a parish.
Click to expand...
Registering at a parish is kind of what Catholic do. It is not really elite. If what you want to do is attend Christmas and Easter, and then might I suggest you simply expand your options and attend during the Christmas season, if you cannot find a place to attend Christmas day.

The limits on Mass attendance, the safety protocols are essential though. Limited Mass is better than no Mass.
 
Last edited:
If registering at a parish can get you to mass easier, maybe that’s the next step. I used to parish hop, which was great for a while, but if you want the benefit of belonging to a parish, you sometimes need to make the choice to settle down.

Understand that many parishes need to maintain a list of exactly who is at each event, along with their contact info, which is why walk-ins are discouraged. There may be parishes that say “no walk ins” to discourage the practice, but will actually accept anyone if they come. Maybe see if you can find one?

You say that for Christmas mass, they allowed “elites” to sign up first. To you, this seems unfair. Keep in mind though, that there are two kinds of people who are not “elites” trying to attend mass at Christmastime. There are those who are like you, and are simply unregistered, but (at least before the pandemic) attend mass weekly, and there are those who attend mass only on the two big days of the year. Now, it’s good they’re attending a few times a year at least, but when seats are limited, why should they be prioritized over the parishioner who has taken the time to sign up weekly for mass, supported the parish financially through the pandemic, and maybe even taken a volunteer position to help the parish run, just because they haven’t gone other times? I know that’s not you, and before the pandemic, you were a weekly attendee, but each parish had to come up with a way to rank people when seating is very limited. It’s been a weird year. We never thought we’d have to turn people away from the inn, as the Christmas metaphor goes, but seating will remain limited in churches for some time. Christmas masses usually overflow in normal times so we could easily guess that some people won’t get to go. Parishes just have to make do.

Maybe you could call a parish, and ask to be put on a mass waiting list, where they’ll auto add you the next available mass time and let you know when you can attend. My parish did this. It may not help for Christmas eve or day, but at least you can probably attend once before March.
 
  1. register at a parish
  2. do whatever is required to attend Mass. If you can’t attend Mass, watch it.
    Don’t complicate things.
 
I think what you are describing is entirely fair.

It is uncharitable of you to refer to people as elites. If they live in a parish or are registered there and regularly go to Mass there every Sunday and other holy day of obligation and may also be active in other aspects of parish life it is fair they are given priority to limited places.

I do wonder how much you have searched for access to a Mass. I know of some places where they are not giving priority to regular parishioners but allocate places to people on a first come first served basis. I am sure in a large city like Chicago there may be some churches doing that.

As the obligation to go to Mass on Sundays has almost certainly been dispensed you could take the opportunity to go to Mass on another day. Being able to access a weekday Mass is often much easier.

I would like to see some hard evidence from the COVID-19 deniers. The mortality rate may be low. I do not care how low it is. My mother is extremely vulnerable and if she were to die of COVID-19 she would not just be a low statistic to me.
 
You mention that the Covid-19 restrictions are “draconian” and that the parishes are allowing a limited number of people to attend. Do you want the parish to ignore the “draconian” Covid-19 restrictions set by the city and/or state and allow everyone in? Do you want the parish to close its doors for everyone because not everyone can inside at once?

I don’t understand the reasoning behind calling the people “who were involved in the parish” as “elites.” If these people have been supporting the parish through volunteering or supporting the parish financially every Sunday for many years, I don’t see why they shouldn’t get first sign-up priority after the sacrifices they have made for the parish with their own time and/or money. These people aren’t “elites.” It sounds to me like they have been parishioners for many years who were part of the parish family and supported the parish. Isn’t that what we all ought to do - support our parish?

If you were part of the “elites” wouldn’t you be upset that someone who only shows up to Mass for Christmas and Easter is able to attend in person while you are not?

I’m not entirely sure what’s wrong with being “curt in their communications” regarding not allowing walk-ins. I think the parish doesn’t want people to show up and make a scene about how they drove all this distance to come to Mass and they are barred from entering. Clear and curt communication might prevent people from doing just that: showing up anyways and hoping to get in despite clear restrictions.

Please note that you do not have to actively participate at the Mass in order to receive Communion. You are allowed to receive Communion daily outside of the Mass. Its only if you wish to receive Communion again (i.e. twice) on the same day that it must be from a Mass at which you attended. When I attended Mass at a small parish in Europe, where only one Mass was celebrated, people could not fit inside the building; it was filled to maximum capacity. Those who came late or wished to do so, could sit outside on benches. There were speakers placed outside so that those who couldn’t fit inside could hear the Mass. During Communion the priest would bring Communion outside to to those who couldn’t fit. Would this also be considered a “fast-food” type of situation? It was physically impossible to fit everyone inside the building so does that mean that if you’re not inside you are barred from receiving the sacrament and privilege of listening to the Mass?

It’s going to be quite cold in Chicago on Christmas Eve with temperatures dropping into the teens. I think the parishes are encouraging people to stay warm in their cars as opposed to standing right outside the doors in the cold. In any case, you are not obligated to receive Communion at this time and if you do not wish to do so because of whatever reservations you may have about it, then don’t.
 
Last edited:
The issue is that I cannot because I didn’t even know that the registration was open and available. Only people who are registered and on the email list knew that. The way that Mass spots are allocated is unfair to those who aren’t connected to a parish and aren’t active in one. I didn’t know there was a sign up open until it is too late.
 
I actually want to attend Mass but I don’t want to attend under a circumstance where I am unwelcome. And I feel utterly unwelcome and excluded now. I feel let down by the Catholic Church, my priest, the bishops, and Pope Francis and have since this whole thing began. I don’t think that they have been helpful. Just watch Mass online, you serf, isn’t a thing.

And I shouldn’t have to call around to fifteen or twenty parishes to find openings. That is the job of the Catholic diocese IMO when they want to have restrictions that go above what the state is requiring. People shouldn’t be denied access to a Mass for over a year now.
 
It isn’t that I think I’m going to Hell. I just feel like trash. I feel excluded by the Catholic Church and feel I’m told that I just need to remain in the ZOOM ghetto for now when I feel isolated and so alone. My faith has always been important to me in terms of being able to physically attend Mass with other people. And now I’m being told that sorry, we don’t care. Just watch Mass online and connect via ZOOM… Like pretending that ZOOM and online are good or community is where we want to go with community.
 
It isn’t the procedures but I feel utterly excluded from the entire Catholic Church. I don’t think people should be turned away at the inn. What if someone was trying to return to the Catholic Church and just felt inspiration to do so now?
 
You don’t need to register to attend Mass and I don’t do so because I don’t want the drama and constant appeals for money. I only think it is necessary if you have a kid in school or want to get married.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top