Donation (charge?) for Mass Intentions

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It sounds as if the person working/volunteering in the office needs some training.
 
Is it really necessary to couch it in some very special language of pretty-please-request when it seems clear that the 5 dollars is not going to bankrupt you? If it was, then would you not speak up and say, “I don’t have the money, can’t a priest say the Mass anyway?”

I don’t get the resistance about giving some small donation when it’s pretty clear that if they did not ask, a whole lot of people would just expect Masses for free, probably multiple Masses. Which is not really the spirit in which you should be requesting a Mass unless like I said you are so poor you really don’t have it, in which case you can explain that and the priest will say the Mass anyway.

It just seems like people look for reasons to be all upset rather than looking for reasons to give generously and joyfully.
 
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I simply don’t understand your getting all bothered about this; it leaves a bad taste in my mouth because it seems like making a mountain out of a molehill, a lack of respect for tradition, and a lack of charity.

Guess we will just have to agree to disagree. And as I said, if this is your attitude about having Masses said, best if you just skip it and leave it to people who are fine with it.
 
What you said is the type of thing that to me pushes people away. Big time. Comparing five-dollar Mass stipends to selling indulgences is just not cool. And then claiming that someone is pushing people away from the church when they call you on your attitude is also not cool.

I’m out, muting now. Have a nice day.
 
When you call me, I say " If you would like to make a donation, you may drop it in the collection on Sunday, bring it by, etc." People ask how much, I say “the usual is $10”.
 
I’m not taking regression’s side here, but to just blow it off b/c it is only $10 misses the point.
It shouldn’t matter if it is $5 or $500…if we think there is an abuse in the Church, we should question it charitably.

Again, I’m not saying that asking for $10 is wrong…and I understand why the Church does it. But we shouldn’t discourage people from speaking up imo
 
It isn’t an abuse though. Canon Law provides that a priest may only accept one stipend a day, and further that even the appearance of “trafficking in masses” is avoided. If a parish staffer is talking about “buying Mass intentions” or charging for them or whatever, correction needs to be made. But to call this an abuse and to compare it to selling indulgences is a little overblown. Nobody gets rich off $10/day.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I understand but I wasn’t saying it is an abuse. Just saying people shouldn’t be silent on suspected abuses because its a small amount of money.
 
You are the one that connected the dots though. You are the one that brought in the word abuse and relating it to paying for indulgences.
 
I find that approach is pretty wide spread. “Yeah that’ll be $10” not “we recommend a $10 stipend.”
 
You begrudge a priest $10? As has been mentioned you are not buying a Liturgy.
 
If anyone is going to push people away, it might be you for suggesting that people are paying for indulgences
 
DeniseNY said:
If anyone is going to push people away, it might be you for suggesting that people are paying for indulgences
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I didn’t say people are paying for indulgences. Someone mentioned it and I said it reminded me of it. It is interesting how I present my experience and people get very defensive.
 
It is interesting. Particularly since when someone disagreed with you, you said that’s the reason people leave the church.
 
DeniseNY said:
It is interesting. Particularly since when someone disagreed with you, you said that’s the reason people leave the church.
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My friend, I didn’t say if someone disagrees with me that is why they leave the Church. Another poster said I shouldn’t request Mass intentions. That is not charitable and comes across as pushing me away. That behavior isn’t welcoming. We should never push people away from the prayers of the Church.
 
The money given for a mass intention is not a donation, people should not use that word. It us a stipend being voluntarily paid to the priest for his service. You are not paying for a mass, you are not making a donation to help the costs of the parish, you are paying the priest for his service. Just as when you give the priest a stipend for a baptism or wedding. It is not, and cannot be required by a priest. We should all do it happily, but it is our choice. Parishes should not use the word donation, that is very confusing. Either people assume it goes to the parish, eg Irishmom2 on this thread, or it makes the priest out to be a charity case himself, somewhat demeaning IMO.

From Webster’s:

stipend: a fixed sum of money paid periodically for services or to defray expenses
 
Yah it is. My parish is 10 dollars for weekday masses. It is 10 dollars also for Sunday or Holy Days however five intentions are on Sunday, not just one.
It used to be one intention on Sunday but you paid 20 dollars instead of 10. Financially it makes sense. I mean it isn’t a money making scheme persay but it is a donation for the mass to be said in their honor. With the way many parishes are in the red these days it really does help fill in the gap somewhat.
 
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No it does not help the parish’s finances. Parishes are not allowed to keep stipends given for mass intentions. They go to the priest. Our parish does collect the money and deposits it, keeps track of which priests says the masses and then periodically writes a check to the priests (at least that was our process when I was doing the finances). But the money is for the priest, not the parish. So its not a donation, its a stipend to the priest. Again, this is the problem with referring to it as a donation, people get the wrong idea.
 
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