Horrible experience assisting at Mass

[Linda_Marie]

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.

I would not recommend that anyone do more penance than prescribed by their confessor.

For someone afflicted with scrupulosity, it would mean that they were always trying to second guess their confessor and consider themselves not forgiven until a greater penance has been fulfilled than prescribed.

This is a form of spiritual pride, seemingly holding oneself to a ‘higher’ standard when what it is really doing is rejecting the grace of the sacrament.

Accepting a light penance can be very difficult, and this could be considered the ‘heavy penance’ desired. You have the opportunity to submit and obey in humility and gratitude.

By all means, pray more. You are not restricted to praying only when you are assigned penance. Do it as a regular devotion, not as a condition for the forgiveness of your sins.

Or adopt a particular self-discipline, like fasting on Wednesdays in addition to abstaining from meat on Fridays, as a regular penance, in union with the Church.

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

I would not recommend that anyone do more penance than prescribed by their confessor.

For someone afflicted with scrupulosity, it would mean that they were always trying to second guess their confessor and consider themselves not forgiven until a greater penance has been fulfilled than prescribed.

I wasn’t thinking about people with scrupulosity, but was merely trying to point out that the confession was valid.

By all means, pray more. You are not restricted to praying only when you are assigned penance. Do it as a regular devotion, not as a condition for the forgiveness of your sins.Or adopt a particular self-discipline, like fasting on Wednesdays in addition to abstaining from meat on Fridays, as a regular penance, in union with the Church.

That was my point but I understand the distinction you’re making…

 

[Brannock]

A friend of mine at confession with a priest I know, asked for a harder penance. The Priest told her no, and that at the end of his confessional duties he performs the same penance that he gave each individual confessee, taking it upon himself to help lighten the load on each person.

 

[VetA]

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!

no he consecrated the Eucharist. he just got some extra Hosts out of the Tabernacle, it was (i cant remember the word for some reason) Ciborium

 

[VetA]

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?

i did not look at it befor i posted i meant to say assist, but for some reason i typed serve

 

[MarkThompson]

i did not look at it befor i posted i meant to say assist, but for some reason i typed serve

Ah, okay. I was like, why would he go serve if he disliked it that much?

We’re all curious to hear what exactly the priest said about Islam, BTW.

 

[Bob_Aliano]

How would you feel about saying a rosary daily for a month as a penance?

I suspect I would have to inform the priest that I already pray the rosary daily so he could assign a more meaningful penance. I’ve always thought it odd that prayer is assigned as penance! Wouldn’t a requirement to do a kind act, perform some communal service or something similar make more sense?

 

[smithm29]

Priests often prescribe light penances because the faithful are more likely to make them meaningful. “Say 150 paters” will turn into people reciting the prayers thoughtlessly. A single Hail Mary or Our Father is more likely to be said prayerfully by the penitent.

 

[pnewton]

no he consecrated the Eucharist. he just got some extra Hosts out of the Tabernacle, it was (i cant remember the word for some reason) Ciborium

Then it was a valid Mass. What was said about Islam?

 

[bmadamsberry]

A funny story about hard penances:
I was in Glasgow, Scotland, and I was talking with my girlfriend about how light most penances are (I had just receive 1 Hail Mary as a penance). She laughed and told me to be careful what I ask for.
Well, 2 weeks later I went to Confession, and because G-d has a sense of humor the priest gave me, for a penance, to only drink water during the week. It was certainly a foot-in-mouth moment, lol.

 

[VetA]

What did he say? Was there a context?

That’s not necessarily his fault. He could have inherited the design and/or its the only design that works well with the layout.

Depends on what he actually said.

When? At the Lamb of God? Or at another point?

Once again, he might have inherited this design/layout.

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.

You can’t tell me there’s no other Catholic parishes in northeastern Mass.

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.

i think it is likley that he inherited it, but the praising of islam was like “oh lets set the tone of mass by discussing how the five pillars of islam are completely compatible with Catholicism” then in the homily, hes telling us how we should accept islam and that it is a good religion. there are other parishes, but the town i am staying in has only the one, and my non catholic relatives (brother, sister in law, ect) could barely be convinced to bring me there. i understand about the penance issue, but the reason i am so shoked (appaled maybe) is because i am a trad and back home in new orleans i have never seen anything like this

 

[Yellow_Belle]

To be honest, I find it difficult to see anything in what you have written that could be described as a ‘horrible experience’ - though, of course, I would want to know how exactly the priest ‘praised Islam’ before I would be comfortable about it.

As regards ‘a light penance’ - I was once given no penance as a penance because I kept asking my confessor for heavier penances and he wanted to make the point to me that Jesus had already paid the price for my sins and that God’s forgiveness wasn’t conditional on the severity of my penance.

It was the most severe penance I’ve ever had to do but I learned more from it than if he had given me 20 Rosaries a day to say for a month.

 

[VetA]

what i mean by a harder penance is like one time a priest told me to say 10 Hail Marys and an Our Father, give alms to the poor, no computer for 2 days, and when he was done with that i remembered a few sins and told him what they were and he told me to add a full rosary (joyful, sorrowful, and glorious) to the penance i had already… im not hoping that a priest will go nuts for me in the confessional, but just something a little harsher than a single our father you know what i mean?

PS im not meaning to say the penance and the priest i described went nuts on me

 

[VetA]

To be honest, I find it difficult to see anything in what you have written that could be described as a ‘horrible experience’ - though, of course, I would want to know how exactly the priest ‘praised Islam’ before I would be comfortable about it.

As regards ‘a light penance’ - I was once given no penance as a penance because I kept asking my confessor for heavier penances and he wanted to make the point to me that Jesus had already paid the price for my sins and that God’s forgiveness wasn’t conditional on the severity of my penance.

It was the most severe penance I’ve ever had to do but I learned more from it than if he had given me 20 Rosaries a day to say for a month.

i think it is likley that he inherited it, but the praising of islam was like “oh lets set the tone of mass by discussing how the five pillars of islam are completely compatible with Catholicism” then in the homily, hes telling us how we should accept islam and that it is a good religion. there are other parishes, but the town i am staying in has only the one, and my non catholic relatives (brother, sister in law, ect) could barely be convinced to bring me there. i understand about the penance issue, but the reason i am so shoked (appaled maybe) is because i am a trad and back home in new orleans i have never seen anything like this

i didnt make it big to be mean only so you notice it lol

 

[ElizabethPH]

i think it is likley that he inherited it, but the praising of islam was like “oh lets set the tone of mass by discussing how the five pillars of islam are completely compatible with Catholicism” then in the homily, hes telling us how we should accept islam and that it is a good religion. there are other parishes, but the town i am staying in has only the one, and my non catholic relatives (brother, sister in law, ect) could barely be convinced to bring me there. i understand about the penance issue, but the reason i am so shoked (appaled maybe) is because i am a trad and back home in new orleans i have never seen anything like this

Perhaps then this topic belongs in the trad forum. I will give the priest the benefit of the doubt and say that he was trying to impress upon his congregation the good things of which islam stands for and in accepting them he is preaching tolerance and respect rather then hate and begotry towards islam as is the popular thing to do now days. I don’t know my take.
And I’m guessing he doesn’t preach about islam at every Mass.
If you rely on your non catholic family to take you to Mass and that is the only one around, it will serve you well to go, as a Catholic traditional or otherwise you must fulfill your Sunday obligation.

 

[Yellow_Belle]

i didnt make it big to be mean only so you notice it lol

Our posts just crossed in cyber space

Again, there doesn’t seem to be much in what he said that’s out of line, but then by your own admission you ‘tuned out’ of what he was saying so I guess we’ll never really know whether he was out of line or not.

Here’s what the Catechism has to say:

841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. “The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day.”[330]​

842 The Church’s bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race: All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city. . .[331]​

843 "T**he Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as ‘a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life.’ **​

 

[Spirithound]

but the praising of islam was like “oh lets set the tone of mass by discussing how the five pillars of islam are completely compatible with Catholicism”

While not “completely” compatible with Catholicism, they only need minor tweaking:

Shahadah: Professing monotheism and Mohammed as prophet.
Catholic: Profess monotheism, and the mystery of the Incarnation

Salah: 5 daily prayers
Catholic: Liturgy of the Hours

Zakat: Giving alms
Catholic Giving alms

Sawm: Fasting
Catholic: Fasting and abstinence

Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca
Catholic: Go to Mass every week.

 

[ProVobis]

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 did get one that lasted a week but I was wondering what would happen if I had committed a mortal sin before the end of the week. What good was doing that penance still doing me? What if I had to go to confession again? What I have to report that I’m already doing a penance? Just curious.

 

[LookingForFaith]

Sad…I live in northeastern MA. My church is amazing. I really hope you find a better one…just know there ARE good ones around here.

 

[LilyM]

I did get one that lasted a week but I was wondering what would happen if I had committed a mortal sin before the end of the week. What good was doing that penance still doing me? What if I had to go to confession again? What I have to report that I’m already doing a penance? Just curious.

If a priest gives you something that CAN’T be completed before your next trip to the confessional, then so be it. It’s only sensible to tell him, then, that you haven’t completed your last penance, and the circumstances.

If you got into trouble with the law, you’d need to tell your lawyer if you were still on probation for another offence, or had a community service order you hadn’t completed, or a fine you hadn’t yet paid, or whatnot. Same thing here.

Maybe the priest will tell you to keep on doing that penance, maybe to forget it and do something else instead. All good either way.

It’s probably one of the reasons priests give light penances - no risk of people forgetting to do them or not having time to do them.