Gospel not being read from pulpit?

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Soccerant19

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I go to a Jesuit college and at the Masses, some of the priests do not read the Gospel from the pulpit. Instead they read it from amongst the pews, as some priests do during their homily. I always believed that the Gospel should be proclaimed from the pulpit, so this is very strange to me.

Can anyone help me on this one??
 
Soccerant19 said:
I go to a Jesuit college and at the Masses, some of the priests do not read the Gospel from the pulpit. Instead they read it from amongst the pews, as some priests do during their homily. I always believed that the Gospel should be proclaimed from the pulpit, so this is very strange to me.

Can anyone help me on this one??
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It’s a deviation from the norm, probably of the “laicization of the clergy” variety. Maybe it’s trying to make the people feel “more involved”, or make them think that only when the Gospel is read in their midst is it really “reaching to them”.

The GIRM says, plain and simple, that the Gospel is read from the ambo (AKA pulpit, for you):
  1. In the celebration of the Mass with a congregation, the readings are always proclaimed from the ambo.
  2. If the Book of the Gospels is on the altar, the priest then takes it and goes to the ambo, carrying the Book of the Gospels slightly elevated and preceded by the lay ministers, who may carry the thurible and the candles. Those present turn towards the ambo as a sign of special reverence to the Gospel of Christ.
  3. At the ambo, the priest opens the book and, with hands joined, says, Dominus vobiscum (The Lord be with you), and the people respond, Et cum spiritu tuo (And also with you). Then he says, Lectio sancti Evangelii (A reading from the holy gospel), making the sign of the cross with his thumb on the book and on his forehead, mouth, and breast, which everyone else does as well. The people say the acclamation Gloria tibi, Domine (Glory to you, Lord). The priest incenses the book, if incense is used (cf. below, nos. 276-277). Then he proclaims the Gospel and at the end says the acclamation Verbum Domini (The gospel of the Lord), to which all respond, Laus tibi, Christe (Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ). The priest kisses the book, saying quietly, Per evangelica dicta (May the words of the gospel).
Request of your priests that they faithfully observe the rules of the liturgy of the Mass.
 
Certainly this is not the normal practice. . .but be careful as it just MAY be that the bishop has APPROVED this practice for this priest, or that there is some other reason that this is not an abuse (heck, even using the word ‘abuse’ instead of the more neutral ‘practice’ or ‘situation’ is so judgmental :D) lest you be accused of IGNORANCE, nit-picking, discourtesy and disrespect for said priest. . .
 
Merely a new spin on “wandering priest syndrome” usually seen during the homily.
 
Episcopalians do this regularly. Maybe he visited one of their churches and thought it was a good idea.

Betsy
 
<<Instead they read it from amongst the pews, as some priests do during their homily.>>

It’s the norm in the Slavic traditions to read the Gospel in the midst of the people, if by a deacon, and facing the Altar.

Of course, he’s accompanied by lights and fans.
 
ok well i talked to one of the priests that does this and he told me that i was being to literal referring to the GIRM. He said what was important was the spirit of the law, and not the letter of the law.

any response??
 
Soccerant19 said:
ok well i talked to one of the priests that does this and he told me that i was being to literal referring to the GIRM. He said what was important was the spirit of the law, and not the letter of the law.
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You could report the incident to the Bishop of the diocese you’re in.

Everything else I’d suggest is rife with sarcasm… you could ask the priest just how much the letter of the law you’re allowed to ignore so long as you uphold its spirit.

But that’s not charitable. I’d really suggest contacting the Bishop. I’m sorry for your situation.
 
japhy said:
You could report the incident to the Bishop of the diocese you’re in.

.
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the bishop is not interested. he has cases of real liturgical abuse and clerical misconduct to deal with. please don’t clutter his in box with this stuff. Please learn to conduct yourself at Mass, wherever and whenever and in whatever circumstances you find yourself, with total devotion and concentration on the Word of God, however imperfect the humans God has chosen to use in its proclamation, and the Reality of the Eucharist. Focus on Christ and forget the rest. You will never know peace, even if you were to have your daily Mass at the Vatican for the rest of your life in the pope’s private chapel, if you do not learn to GET OVER IT.
 
puzzleannie said:
the bishop is not interested. he has cases of real liturgical abuse and clerical misconduct to deal with. please don’t clutter his in box with this stuff. Please learn to conduct yourself at Mass, wherever and whenever and in whatever circumstances you find yourself, with total devotion and concentration on the Word of God, however imperfect the humans God has chosen to use in its proclamation, and the Reality of the Eucharist. Focus on Christ and forget the rest.
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What about the Catholics who then become spiritually misled by the shambles of a liturgy and a laughable excuse for catechesis they receive from priests who are too haughty to follow the instructions of their superiors? Why should Catholics accept the authority of their priests who refuse to accept the authority of their bishops (who refuse to accept the authority of the Pope)? Liturgical abuse is sometimes simply a matter of a mistake. But it’s also sometimes a matter of heterodoxy and dissension.

Soccerant, what type of spiritual direction do these priests give (if you have gone to any of them for such)?
 
japhy said:
What about the Catholics who then become spiritually misled by the shambles of a liturgy and a laughable excuse for catechesis they receive from priests who are too haughty to follow the instructions of their superiors? )?
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as has been said thousands of times before on this forum, for cases of REAL liturgical abuse, there is a well established method of questioning and reporting. the link is on one of the stickies above, but you people who prefer rant to reason seldom bother to look there. it is the protocol for lay witness at the Catholics united for the Faith website, cuf.org.
OP does not describe liturgical abuse.

I make a motion that all threads using the words “liturgical abuse” that do not deal with the genuine article be a banned topic on this forum. if you genuinely need help distinguishing the difference, BroSFO did an excellent series of posts a couple of weeks ago on various topics under that heading, with good explanations.

In any case, if you go abuse hunting every time you enter a church Satan already has his way with you because he has led you away from contemplation of the Eucharist to contemplation of the priest and other ministers as performers.
 
japhy said:
What about the Catholics who then become spiritually misled by the shambles of a liturgy and a laughable excuse for catechesis they receive from priests who are too haughty to follow the instructions of their superiors? Why should Catholics accept the authority of their priests who refuse to accept the authority of their bishops (who refuse to accept the authority of the Pope)? Liturgical abuse is sometimes simply a matter of a mistake. But it’s also sometimes a matter of heterodoxy and dissension.

Soccerant, what type of spiritual direction do these priests give (if you have gone to any of them for such)?
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japhy,

While this may be somewhat off topic let me relate a good one to you. We have an assistant pastor who regularly claims that transubstaniation is effected by the epiclesis at Mass. Talk about laughable excuses for catechesis? I’m not laughing. I just added one more letter to the bishop’s in-box. Will he reply? I hope so, but I kinda doubt it.

Tomster
 
puzzleannie said:
as has been said thousands of times before on this forum, for cases of REAL liturgical abuse, there is a well established method of questioning and reporting. the link is on one of the stickies above, but you people who prefer rant to reason seldom bother to look there.
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Which sticky? I’ve just looked at the two in this sub-forum and don’t see a link (although I could just be missing it). I have found this article on the CUF.org web site, though.

Should this forum define degrees of rule-bending/breaking? Priest reads homily from pew = mild rule breaking. Non-ordained person reads homily = major rule breaking. Like that? Who decides the degree? There are degrees of abuse, of course… some make the Mass illicit, others invalid. Thus, some are more pressing when noticed. But that doesn’t mean less flagrant abuses can be ignored. There’s no reason why any given Mass can’t be “by the books”. Only a few years ago, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments felt it was important enough to point out these four rights of the Catholic faithful (Redemptionis Sacramentum, 11-12):

  1. *]“to a liturgical celebration that is an expression of the Church’s life in accordance with her tradition and discipline”
    *]“that the Liturgy, and in particular the celebration of Holy Mass, should truly be as the Church wishes, according to her stipulations as prescribed in the liturgical books and in the other laws and norms”
    *]“that the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass should be celebrated for them in an integral manner, according to the entire doctrine of the Church’s Magisterium”
    *]“that the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharist should be carried out for it in such a manner that it truly stands out as a sacrament of unity, to the exclusion of all blemishes and actions that might engender divisions and factions in the Church”
    puzzleannie said:
    if you genuinely need help distinguishing the difference, BroSFO did an excellent series of posts a couple of weeks ago on various topics under that heading, with good explanations.
    Click to expand...
    Yes, Bro. Rich SFO and I spear-headed those; I had wanted one large thread with individual sub-threads on particular abuses, but that was contrary to the forum’s regulations, so instead, Bro. Rich posted individual abuse questions with the intent of having answers given from liturgical documents by myself (and others).
    puzzleannie said:
    In any case, if you go abuse hunting every time you enter a church Satan already has his way with you because he has led you away from contemplation of the Eucharist to contemplation of the priest and other ministers as performers.
    Click to expand...
    I don’t “go abuse hunting”: the abuses simply present themselves, and I notice them because I am paying attention to the Mass.
 
Tomster said:
While this may be somewhat off topic let me relate a good one to you. We have an assistant pastor who regularly claims that transubstaniation is effected by the epiclesis at Mass. Talk about laughable excuses for catechesis? I’m not laughing.
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Ugh. I’m curious if the pastor received poor formation in seminary, forgot what he learned, or decided he knew better.
 
Are you questioning, or worried about a possible concern which might or might not be abuse (small, medium, large, or anti-Christ)? You’ll more often than not get TWO responses which predominate:

Response A: How dare you (you ignorant, meanspirited and blind hypocrit) condemn others for ‘petty little things’ which should be no concern of yours? You should only be focused on Jesus and blind to anything other than your relationship with Him. The Mass is the Mass is the Mass, no matter what.

Response B: Right on! And while we’re at it, not only should you tell the Bishop and the Pope about this heinous offense (which we are sure is a deliberate attempt to bring about the One World Order, especially since we never consecrated Russia as per Fatima orders) we should defrock the entire USCCB, go back to the SSPX, deny women the right to vote or to ‘work’ except for teaching and nursing until they get married.

Why, why, why, do any attempts to discuss issues reasonably always seem to skew toward A or B? Why foster division which really is not there in the first place?

🤷
 
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