How do you feel about the Sign of Peace?

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I don’t worry about it overmuch. If I sneeze, I just refuse to shake hands. I try to sneeze into my elbow but sometimes not fast enough or I forget. I use hand sanitizer before church. I think the idea of having some in your pocket or purse is a good one. if you are concerned. While I try to protect others if I have an infection, mostly I just rely on the Holy Spirit to deal with germs coming my way!
 
👍
triumphguy said:
St. Francis kissed the leper, “and that which was bitter became sweet.”

And the leper revealed himself as Christ.

Maybe the sign of peace is a challenge to us to reach out and embrace the Christ that is within us all: the Christ we are soon to meet in the Eucharist.

If we can’t greet Christ in the pew next to us, how can we dare consume Christ in the Host?🤷
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👍

A true Christian attitude.

Jim
 
NewEnglandPries said:
Its more than “a nice sentiment” its an ancient part of the Mass. In the Eastern liturgies the sign/kiss of peace was given at the offertory. In the West it was moved from the offertory to after the Our Father.
newadvent.org/cathen/08663a.htm
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Thanks Father. I am reminded of Dorothy Day who was known to take vermin infested homeless into her home and bed if necessary. I’d call that heroic charity. A few colds shouldn’t bother us much unless we are immune compromised.
 
triumphguy said:
St. Francis kissed the leper, “and that which was bitter became sweet.”

And the leper revealed himself as Christ.

Maybe the sign of peace is a challenge to us to reach out and embrace the Christ that is within us all: the Christ we are soon to meet in the Eucharist.

If we can’t greet Christ in the pew next to us, how can we dare consume Christ in the Host?🤷
Click to expand...
This may be a nice lovey-dovey story but the Sign of Peace is disruptive.

There is no Sign of Peace in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or in the Byzantine Rite, and in the Ambrosian Rite, it is wisely positioned at the Offertory (which is more in line with Scripture) and even in the modern Roman Rite, is optional.

Shall we then say that we shall not dare receive Christ in the other rites or forms because there is no handshaking lovefest there?
 
The sign of peace was one of the things that contributed to my reverting back to the Church. Here, I thought, people are smiling and saying “Peace be with you” – instead of “Get out of my way, you jerk (or worse)”.🙂
Still, I am a super germophobe and rarely touch anyone’s hand. I usually smile and wave slightly.
 
martininthefiel said:
I love it.
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As do I, the sign of peace is about the only time you have face to face contact with those around you.

Not to go off topic here, but when I returned to the Catholic Church this summer, the Parish I settled into had the pews on the side and the altar in the middle. That threw me for a loop the first Mass I attended. However, the local Catholic radio station has a “Parish Spotlight”, broadcasting their morning show every day from a local Parish as well as specific programs throughout the week on Parish activities for an entire week. Well, last week my Parish was in the Spotlight and during the week, Sister said the layout allows you to see who you are celebrating Mass with and not just their backs as you see everyone as they walk in.

I love the layout, my Parish has over 2,400 families and it creates a very intimate setting.
 
I don’t do it either. Folks at my OF parish know I don’t so I’m not pestered any more.
At the EF parish its no problem.
 
I’m sometimes bothered by the smiffles caused by allergies. Because of this, I used my hand sanitizer BEFORE the sign of peace.
 
I don’t mind the handshake much (though I could live without it), but I do refrain from shaking hands if I’m ill with a cold. I keep my hands clasped together, and explain to anyone within handshaking distance, “cold,” then say “Peace be with you.” I also refrain from drinking the wine when I have a cold, out of deference to the other parishioners. I think people need to just use common sense - if you have a cold, avoid physical contact with others in the congregation. If you are seated near someone with a cold who attempts to shake your hand, just keep your hands together, smile and say “peace.” No one will be offended by these actions, I’m sure. If they are I would dare to say that they’re being overly sensitive. 🤷
 
porthos11 said:
This may be a nice lovey-dovey story but the Sign of Peace is disruptive.

There is no Sign of Peace in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or in the Byzantine Rite, and in the Ambrosian Rite, it is wisely positioned at the Offertory (which is more in line with Scripture) and even in the modern Roman Rite, is optional.

Shall we then say that we shall not dare receive Christ in the other rites or forms because there is no handshaking lovefest there?
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It’s not very lovey dovey to shake hands with a stranger. I don;t get where everyone thinks the sign of peace is so airey fairy, or lovey-dovey. Apparently, reading these posts, it’s one of the most despicable acts that a person can do:p

Of course it’s disruptive. The Eucharist is disruptive! The incarnation is disruptive! God broke into our history “to draw all into one in Him.”

Of course it disrupts the mass - mass is disruptive, and takes it’s name from the command of the priest at the end of the Liturgy - get out and be disruptive in the world!!!

If I can’t shake hands with my neighbour, how am I gong to handle visiting him in prison, or when sick. How am I gong to feed and clothe him?

I hate someone else’s snot on me! On the other hand it was good training for when I was a prison chaplain and I got sneezed on by a guy with AIDS, or when I held his sweaty, clammy hand as he lay sick and dying.
 
I have no issue with the Sign of Peace. Is there a rule that you HAVE to shake people’s hands? Couldn’t you just nod or wave and wish the person Peace? I generally shake hands, but if I’m sick I don’t shake hands, but rather some other gesture of Peace (much like I don’t take the Blood when sick).

I think it be wrong to take it out all together. Why is interacting with your fellow Catholics around them and wishing them Peace such a bad thing?
 
Angela77 said:
Okay, so the Sign of Peace is definitely a nice sentiment. But I really don’t enjoy shaking people’s hands. Especially in the winter with cold and flu season. It would be one thing if it was AFTER taking the Eucharist, but it’s not. So you watch someone sneeze, then s/he shakes your hand, and then you go up, get the Eucharist in your hands, and in goes the Body of Christ and all of your fellow parishioners’ germs.

Does anyone else feel this way?
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Yes. And to top it off, our pastor asks us to do it twice, once at the beginning of Mass and once during the sign of peace. My wife and I carry small vials of Germ-X for use after handshakes. If someone around us is sneezing or coughing excessively, we move.

I was once at a parish that doesn’t shake hands; they just turn and wish each other “peace”. Would that they were all like that.
 
If Christianty doesn’t move you out of your comfort zone then it isn’t reaching into you very deeply. I hate the sign of the peace precisely because it does that. And that’s why it is so necessary and why I force myself to accept it and do it.
 
triumphguy said:
It’s not very lovey dovey to shake hands with a stranger. I don;t get where everyone thinks the sign of peace is so airey fairy, or lovey-dovey. Apparently, reading these posts, it’s one of the most despicable acts that a person can do:p

Of course it’s disruptive. The Eucharist is disruptive! The incarnation is disruptive! God broke into our history “to draw all into one in Him.”

Of course it disrupts the mass - mass is disruptive, and takes it’s name from the command of the priest at the end of the Liturgy - get out and be disruptive in the world!!!

If I can’t shake hands with my neighbour, how am I gong to handle visiting him in prison, or when sick. How am I gong to feed and clothe him?

I hate someone else’s snot on me! On the other hand it was good training for when I was a prison chaplain and I got sneezed on by a guy with AIDS, or when I held his sweaty, clammy hand as he lay sick and dying.
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Nice sentiments but no thanks. Christ is on the altar par excellence and that mode of presence takes precedence over the other forms, such as in the assembly. The Church does not equate the Eucharistic presence with the assembly and neither do I.
 
porthos11 said:
This may be a nice lovey-dovey story but the Sign of Peace is disruptive.

There is no Sign of Peace in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or in the Byzantine Rite, and in the Ambrosian Rite, it is wisely positioned at the Offertory (which is more in line with Scripture) and even in the modern Roman Rite, is optional.

Shall we then say that we shall not dare receive Christ in the other rites or forms because there is no handshaking lovefest there?
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I don’t like it either. I think it’s grossly over-sentimental and I feel it’s very contrived. It breaks the train of prayerful thought.

But there is a Sign of Peace, rather the Kiss of Peace, in the EF. It is only done at High Mass, and then only between clerics. It is a very formal ritual, with exacting movements, so I think it works in the EF.

I’ve heard many stories of back in the day, right after the Sign of Peace was extended to the laity after Vatican II, where the ritual was very formal and austere. The clerics would exchange the Kiss of Peace as normal, then the lowest-ranking cleric would shake the hand of two altar boys, who would then go out of the sanctuary and then offer the Sign of Peace to the person at the end of each pew of the laity, where it would essentially progress there from the center processional aisle out to the sides. I think this works very well, and if the Sign of Peace must absolutely be retained, it must be much more strictly codified in form. It’s much too free-flowing as it stands right now.
 
Angela77 said:
Okay, so the Sign of Peace is definitely a nice sentiment. But I really don’t enjoy shaking people’s hands. Especially in the winter with cold and flu season. It would be one thing if it was AFTER taking the Eucharist, but it’s not. So you watch someone sneeze, then s/he shakes your hand, and then you go up, get the Eucharist in your hands, and in goes the Body of Christ and all of your fellow parishioners’ germs.

Does anyone else feel this way?
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I don’t. I receive COTT and wear gloves in Church.
 
YoungTradCath said:
I don’t like it either. I think it’s grossly over-sentimental and I feel it’s very contrived. It breaks the train of prayerful thought.
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As previously mentioned its not contrived. Its part of the ancient liturgies of both the East and West.
But there is a Sign of Peace, rather the Kiss of Peace, in the EF. It is only done at High Mass, and then only between clerics. It is a very formal ritual, with exacting movements, so I think it works in the EF.
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Ah, but the EF is not the only form of Mass that’s existed in the Church for the past 2000 years.

The sign of peace need not be a handshake. It can be just verbal.
 
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