Horrible experience assisting at Mass

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i could not go to Mass today because of traveling, so i went to the Saturday Vigil Mass , at a parish in northeastern Massachusetts. First of all the priest starts off Mass by praising Islam, then he went to sit down and his chair was directly behind the altar, then he gives his homily and theres more praising of Islam, when i heard that i kind of tuned out he could have been praising homosexuality (i would not put it past him), then he goes to get the Hosts that already been concentrated, and the tabernacle it turns out is shoved off to the side like it was a minor after thought like “Oh damn we forgot to put that box in, oh well there’s an empty space lets put it there.”

i could not believe the way Holy Mass was treated (and by extension Jesus) i cant believe it, my question is: was this horrible abomination of an excuse for a Mass valid? Also, i will be in Massachusetts for another three Sundays, should i attempt to serve at this Mass again or would it just be better for me not to go?

PS i went to confession before Mass, and i confessed some bad sins that i had done, and i got 1 (i typed right) 1 our father as penance, thats ridiculous, thats the slightest penance i have ever gotten, does anyone have any ideas how to suggest to the priest (should i need to go to confession again) that i would like a harder penance?

PPS I am double posting this in Liturgy and Sacraments and in Traditional Catholicism because it seems that this might belong in L&S but i mainly want to ask Trads what they think…
 
i could not go to Mass today because of traveling, so i went to the Saturday Vigil Mass , at a parish in northeastern Massachusetts. First of all the priest starts off Mass by praising Islam, then he went to sit down and his chair was directly behind the altar, then he gives his homily and theres more praising of Islam, when i heard that i kind of tuned out he could have been praising homosexuality (i would not put it past him), then he goes to get the Hosts that already been concentrated, and the tabernacle it turns out is shoved off to the side like it was a minor after thought like “Oh damn we forgot to put that box in, oh well there’s an empty space lets put it there.”

i could not believe the way Holy Mass was treated (and by extension Jesus) i cant believe it, my question is: was this horrible abomination of an excuse for a Mass valid? Also, i will be in Massachusetts for another three Sundays, should i attempt to serve at this Mass again or would it just be better for me not to go?

PS i went to confession before Mass, and i confessed some bad sins that i had done, and i got 1 (i typed right) 1 our father as penance, thats ridiculous, thats the slightest penance i have ever gotten, does anyone have any ideas how to suggest to the priest (should i need to go to confession again) that i would like a harder penance?

PPS I am double posting this in Liturgy and Sacraments and in Traditional Catholicism because it seems that this might belong in L&S but i mainly want to ask Trads what they think…
 
You need to send a calm letter to the Bishop and the Archbishop with dates, places, and just the facts. Asking for a response. Asking for instruction.

It’s your responsibility to do this as a confirmed Catholic. Stay calm, stay fact-based, but it simply must be done, right away.

Do not email…do it via formal signed letter, with your returned address.

It has to be done immediately.

Prayers for courage and tact.
 
You sure it wasn’t an Episcopal church?👍 Nah, jk. Seriously, I would be finding out what was up. I do know some good Muslims, but I would still be keeping Christ and Christianity as the focus of the Mass. I would’ve been uncomfortable as well.
 
VetA said:
i could not go to Mass today because of traveling, so i went to the Saturday Vigil Mass , at a parish in northeastern Massachusetts. First of all the priest starts off Mass by praising Islam, then he went to sit down and his chair was directly behind the altar, then he gives his homily and theres more praising of Islam, when i heard that i kind of tuned out he could have been praising homosexuality (i would not put it past him), then he goes to get the Hosts that already been concentrated, and the tabernacle it turns out is shoved off to the side like it was a minor after thought like “Oh damn we forgot to put that box in, oh well there’s an empty space lets put it there.”
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you have not given any reason for supposing the priest was praising either Islam or homosexuality, and in fact admit you did not listen closely to what he said. if you are not going to share what he actually did say with is, no comment.

Did you design the church? do you know for a fact rules about tabernacle placement were broken? do you know for a fact this particular priest himself designed the church and chose an improper place for the tabernacle? then why criticize. again you attribute a thought to him which he did not in fact express.

today has been the worse day in forum history for “Mass was not to my liking today and my personal sensibilities were offended and it is somebody’s fault so I am going to lash out.”

Have you any concrete examples to give of liturgical abuse by this priest at this Mass in this parish? if not, why post? You have given not a shred of evidence of why this was an “abomination.” If you have such evidence, send it to the bishop, but you better be much more specific than this if you expect him to pay any attention.
 
VetA said:
i could not go to Mass today because of traveling, so i went to the Saturday Vigil Mass , at a parish in northeastern Massachusetts. First of all the priest starts off Mass by praising Islam, then he went to sit down and his chair was directly behind the altar, then he gives his homily and theres more praising of Islam, when i heard that i kind of tuned out he could have been praising homosexuality (i would not put it past him), then he goes to get the Hosts that already been concentrated, and the tabernacle it turns out is shoved off to the side like it was a minor after thought like “Oh damn we forgot to put that box in, oh well there’s an empty space lets put it there.”

i could not believe the way Holy Mass was treated (and by extension Jesus) i cant believe it, my question is: was this horrible abomination of an excuse for a Mass valid? Also, i will be in Massachusetts for another three Sundays, should i attempt to serve at this Mass again or would it just be better for me not to go?

PS i went to confession before Mass, and i confessed some bad sins that i had done, and i got 1 (i typed right) 1 our father as penance, thats ridiculous, thats the slightest penance i have ever gotten, does anyone have any ideas how to suggest to the priest (should i need to go to confession again) that i would like a harder penance?

PPS I am double posting this in Liturgy and Sacraments and in Traditional Catholicism because it seems that this might belong in L&S but i mainly want to ask Trads what they think…
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I am not sure about the Mass being valid and whatnot, so I am going to leave that question to someone else.

Is there any way you can attend Mass at a different parish the next three Sundays? If you could, do it. If you can’t, I wouldn’t skip Mass, no matter how horrible it is.

The next confession you have and if you would like a stricter penance, I would just say blantantly “Father, may I have a harder penance?” I don’t know of any way to put it nicely.

What the priest did was a very serious abuse (i.e., praising Islam, not consecrating the Eucharist at the Mass, etc.) It definately needs to be brought up and I would definately make the Bishop of that diocese knows about it.

I wonder what the other parishoners think? Is this the norm at that parish? Scary! :eek:
 
It’s hard to know what to make of this post. Some of the things – location of the tabernacle, placement of the presider’s chair – are more matters of preference or constraints of design than abuses, and there’s no indication this priest had anything to do with them. “Praising Islam” can mean any of countless things. If he said, “Islam is great, Mohammad was an important prophet,” that would be pretty bad, but if he said, “They must be doing something right in Islam if their people are fasting for a month every year, they prostrate themselves to pray five times a day, and the women wear headcoverings; what lessons can we learn from them about personal devotion and living one’s faith?” – if given intelligently, that’s a sermon I’d love to hear.

And it doesn’t sound like the priest failed to perform the consecration and used old hosts instead, just that he got old hosts from the tabernacle. But that’s what he’s supposed to do, and it’s good to hear that he didn’t send an EMHC off to do the job.

And by the way, VetA, why do you ask if you should “attempt to serve at this Mass again”? Were you serving, or just filling a pew?
 
When I receive a very light penance, that is when I really FEEL the mercy of God extended to me. And isn’t that what a priest suppose to do? Extend the mercy of God to the sinner?
 
What do you mean by “praising Islam?”
Also, tabernacle placement sounds like everything Vatican II.
Also, at my church, the priest either gives a short article printed about a saint to read or if it wasn’t so bad doesn’t order any sort of penance other than during the confession state we are sorry and intent not to sin again.
 
VetA said:
i could not go to Mass today because of traveling, so i went to the Saturday Vigil Mass , at a parish in northeastern Massachusetts. First of all the priest starts off Mass by praising Islam, then he went to sit down and his chair was directly behind the altar, then he gives his homily and theres more praising of Islam, when i heard that i kind of tuned out he could have been praising homosexuality (i would not put it past him), then he goes to get the Hosts that already been concentrated, and the tabernacle it turns out is shoved off to the side like it was a minor after thought like “Oh damn we forgot to put that box in, oh well there’s an empty space lets put it there.”

i could not believe the way Holy Mass was treated (and by extension Jesus) i cant believe it, my question is: was this horrible abomination of an excuse for a Mass valid? Also, i will be in Massachusetts for another three Sundays, should i attempt to serve at this Mass again or would it just be better for me not to go?

PS i went to confession before Mass, and i confessed some bad sins that i had done, and i got 1 (i typed right) 1 our father as penance, thats ridiculous, thats the slightest penance i have ever gotten, does anyone have any ideas how to suggest to the priest (should i need to go to confession again) that i would like a harder penance?

PPS I am double posting this in Liturgy and Sacraments and in Traditional Catholicism because it seems that this might belong in L&S but i mainly want to ask Trads what they think…
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It is hard to figure out what actually happend. For example, I don’t know what you mean by praising Islam. What he said might have been okay, or the context or situation may have allowed it.
Furthermore, I do not know the specific architecture of the building and so cannot say whether or not your analysis of where the tabernacle is is accurate. What I do know is that often, people don’t care where the tabernacle is, if it’s not in the front then it’s not in the right place (which is incorrect).
In regards to the priest giving you stricter penance, you could just ask him if you wish. It’s perfectly fine.

You seem angry, though, and that worries me. Most of what you said sounded more of a vant than anything else. Most of it might be legitimate, but I can’t be sure based upon the limited information given.
 
VetA said:
First of all the priest starts off Mass by praising Islam,
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What did he say? Was there a context?
then he went to sit down and his chair was directly behind the altar,
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That’s not necessarily his fault. He could have inherited the design and/or its the only design that works well with the layout.
then he gives his homily and theres more praising of Islam
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Depends on what he actually said.
then he goes to get the Hosts that already been concentrated,
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When? At the Lamb of God? Or at another point?
and the tabernacle it turns out is shoved off to the side like it was a minor after thought like “Oh damn we forgot to put that box in, oh well there’s an empty space lets put it there.”
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Once again, he might have inherited this design/layout.
was this horrible abomination of an excuse for a Mass valid?
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How the parish church is laid out has zero effect on the validity of the Mass. You don’t mention anything that would affect validity.
Also, i will be in Massachusetts for another three Sundays, should i attempt to serve at this Mass again or would it just be better for me not to go?
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You can’t tell me there’s no other Catholic parishes in northeastern Mass.
PS i went to confession before Mass, and i confessed some bad sins that i had done, and i got 1 (i typed right) 1 our father as penance, thats ridiculous, thats the slightest penance i have ever gotten, does anyone have any ideas how to suggest to the priest (should i need to go to confession again) that i would like a harder penance?
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The penance is at the discretion of the priest. You could always ask for more, but you could also just do more on your own. Its still a valid confession even if it was a light penance.
 
If you can find another parish, go to Mass there, so you are not tempted again to this kind of angry, critical spirit. If you cannot, then do return to this parish for Mass, because NOTHING should keep you from Mass on Sunday (Saturday). Nothing you described sounds as if it would invalidate the Mass, so there is no excuse for not going. Try to quiet your spirit before you go, giving the people there the benefit of the doubt. Whether all the details are correct and perfect or not, you are still present at the foot of Calvary during the Mass. Concentrate on that.

If you need to go to Confession again, don’t worry that the penance is light. Some of the very holiest priests I know give extremely light penances, because they themselves do the penance for those whose confessions they hear. A light penance is a reminder that we are totally unable to pay the price for our sins; only Christ is able to do that, and He has. Accept your penance, light or heavy, with humility. If you feel the need to do extra penance, by all means do so on your own initiative, and in secret. There’s no need to tell the priest how to do his job.

Betsy
 
I agree with Betsy, accept your penance whether light or heavy with humility.

Going to another parish while traveling for me is always an experience I look forward too.Some are more casual then I’m used too as I go to a more traditional Mass. Some will have folk music or less traditional hymns. Once the priest sat behind the altar right up next to it like he was at his dinner table; he stood at the appropriate times; but even remained seated there at the altar during his homily. That sort of bothered me for a bit; only because it was about the strangest thing I ever saw. But later realized that perhaps there was a reason maybe he was an invalid and could not walk around the sanctuary in the normal fashion or stand for any length of time.

I can’t say much about the praising islam bit as I don’t know what was said. But that placement of chairs and tabernacle I’ve seen in several parishes and it’s perfectly fine.
 
When I receive a very light penance, that is when I really FEEL the mercy of God extended to me. And isn’t that what a priest suppose to do? Extend the mercy of God to the sinner?
 
Haven’t you heard that a priest should be a lion at the pulpit and a lamb in the Confessional?

Priests are actually encouraged to give penances on the light side. The heaviest penance I have ever received under normal circumstances was 5 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Marys.

I would be offended at a heavy penance.
 
Feanor2 said:
I would be offended at a heavy penance.
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I received three hours of Adoration a week for three months (I’m about four weeks in I think). It’s pretty awesome (and very challenging).

It’s funny when I go to Confession and I mention it. Now all I get is “well, you have enough already for the next three months so just say an Our Father”
 
I would think that the penitent asked for a heavy one. If not then the priest is in error. Priests are taught to give light penances as it more fully demonstrates God’s mercy through His Church.
 
I’ve heard that penances can be heavier in seminary. And if the Confessor is also the Spiritual Director perhaps these roles could mingle.

Actually I wrote “under normal circumstances” earlier because I did get a heavier penance once from a priest whom I confessed that I was angry with. He was the vocations director and was courting me. He had me say Psalm 103 for ten consecutive days-m making that my heaviest one.

I mean “courting” as in to be a Priest. Just wanted to be clear!!
 
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