Had an embarrassing moment at mass. Need help

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Thank you! Yep, lesson learned.

I’m ready to begin my journey.
 
That may be overthinking it.

Then again, I have a kid. My idea of germs are totally skewed.
 
It is all between you and God. If you ever feel embarrassed again, remember that God knows your heart and that of the other.
 
Thank you. Actually, I was doing your method the last 3 months. It seemed natural. But things got crowded this morning in the pews. So, I guess lesson learned.
 
Thank you…I’ve accepted my faux pas. Lol. I won’t make that mistake again. It was cringe worthy.
 
Thank you! Yep, I’m over it now. I’ve come this far. I’m not giving up.

Lesson learned. Life is interesting, isn’t it?
 
Thank you…I’ve accepted my faux pas. God knows my intent. I apologized. So, it’s over. Lesson learned.

I’m ready to begin my journey.
 
"I never know where that person’s hand has been."

Was that a quote of Jesus, or Saint Francis when they approached the Leper?

Just saying.
 
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Safest way to attend Church
 
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LOL!!😂

Bwahahaha!! 🤣 :crazy_face:

Thanks for the good laugh! 😄

I have asthma and I can really appreciate this…

Sometimes I wish that I did have some kind of a Hazmat suit for going out in public during cold and flu season so that I could protect myself from getting ill…
 
Travelbug – Glad you are starting RCIA! Keep us posted on your adventures!

HereIam – Not everybody has a strong immune system or strong hands. And actually, there have been plenty of saints whose asceticism consisted of not touching other people, or whose prayer life was enhanced by living as a hermit. So yes, there’s a time and a place for touching each other, but there’s not an obligation in most cases.

Actually, St. Francis was pretty strict about observing formality and decorum at Mass. Also, in his Rule for the friars, this is what he had to say about getting too friendly:
“I strictly forbid all the brothers to have any association or conversation with women that may cause suspicion… Let them not be intimate friends of men or women, lest on this account scandal arise among the brothers or about brothers.”
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This wasn’t because he hated women or friendship; he liked them both. But when you enter the religious life, you have to be circumspect in order to avoid problems or things that look like problems.

In general – What I find strange is that, while some people in parishes would never dream of talking to anybody after church or participating in parish gatherings and activities, the same people are eager to grab the hands of strangers. In the old days, every parish included tons of clubs and guilds for fellowship, charity, and prayer. Are we abandoning real fellowship, while making a big thing out of a superficial fellowshiip of a handshake or a handholding moment? I think sometimes we are.

Being friendly and neighborly often requires a lot of tact and observation, and treating others as they would like to be treated, not just as we would like things to be. We need to respect and make room for different legitimate Catholic styles of worship, not make everything into an extrovert paradise, and not closing everything off into introvert land, either.

God made us different and individual so that we can help one another. We all have different gifts, and we are all different body parts of the Body of Christ.
 
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I don’t think that anyone would have given it a second thought if you did!
 
And for her not to concentrate on the prayer itself…hmmm…That was the Lord’s prayer. Oh my.
 
Welcome home Travelbug!

Don’t let this experience put you off. You have done nothing wrong. Like others I am more traditional and on occassions my neighbour has taken my hand during prayer and I am okay with this.

Why do some hold hands during the “Our Father”? (3.40 min)

 
Oh my, I haven’t come across this. I follow the practice encouraged by one of my priests, from Cameroon, and the practice of the Orthodox priests who taught me liturgical prayer in the first place, of holding my hands out, palms up, at waist height when we pray the Our Father. Quite a few in the congregation do.
 
I personally do not like the holding hands innovation.
It is not an Liturgical norm established by the Church.
Nor has it been forbidden, but neither have a thousand other possible gestures.

Here is a snip from Fr. Z…
So, I repeat: I am unaware of a prohibition of holding hands during Mass. Spontaneous hand holding? Fine. It must never be invited or imposed by someone with a microphone anywhere near the altar or by anyone in the pews…

On a related note, during the Our Father the faithful are not to use the so-called “orans position” (“praying position” with hands extended, open), which is the proper hand position of the priest celebrating the Mass. Even worse is when they hold that position after the Our Father through the (Protestant) addition that follows. The orans position is reserved for a certain liturgical role (read: priest – not even deacons). That position of extended hands is not appropriate for the lay faithful in the pews.

We must not mix or confuse liturgical roles. Lay people have their own dignity without trying to jazz them up by – and how condescending is this? how clericalist? – allowing them to do what the priest does.
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Brian,

So sorry to hear of your experience. Holding hands was the norm in my parish and I was out of town at a different parish and also held out my hand during the Our Father and the lady next to me I swear looked at me like I was a leper or something! I myself felt bad because I know it’s a controversial issue and some say not the norm. I told the lady at that parish after Mass, I didn’t intend to offend her, it was the norm in my parish and she said " Well, it’s NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DONE!" So I thought she could have said so in a nicer way but so goes it. We are each different.

Don’t overthink it or let you deter you from Mass again. I spoke with our priest and he said he was in a bind because it was the norm under the previous priest and it wasn’t “a hill he wanted to die on” stopping the practice.

God Bless.
 
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