How do you feel about the Sign of Peace?

[ZoeyBdo]

Funny that I opened the forum today and saw this thread.

I turned around to say peace with the woman behind me, and she looked at me, put her hand up and did a little gesture and said Peace Be With You… and then the same to my husband.

I really don’t get the whole germaphobe thing I guess. There are germs everywhere. There are germs on your hands by just being a hand.

Most people are happy to wish others a Sign of Peace… it’s odd to read some of these responses, but to each their own I guess.

 

[sedonaman]

At the Novus Ordo, there is no time when I’m less at peace than during the sign of peace, …

LOL !

…precisely because everyone is walking around making a huge racket, trying to shake every other person’s hand, and there’s a general ruckus going on. It’s anything but peaceful.

It has become de facto the high point of the mass when it shouldn’t be at all.

 

[sedonaman]

… I turned around to say peace with the woman behind me, and she looked at me, put her hand up and did a little gesture and said Peace Be With You… and then the same to my husband.

I really don’t get the whole germaphobe thing I guess. There are germs everywhere. There are germs on your hands by just being a hand. …

Try to observe what others do. They will rub their runny noses with their fingers and scratch their private parts.
One Sunday, I sat next to an elderly woman who was very well-dressed, but I detected this foul odor coming from her like she hadn’t ever cleaned her dentures. It became quite overpowering, and I took a look in her direction and discovered it wasn’t her, but an aboriginal looking woman next to her with her shoes off vigorously scratching between her toes.

If you are willing to shake hands with people like that, more power to you.

 

[JoanC]

The act of shaking a hand and looking into a person’s eyes while wishing them peace is a subtle but powerful reminder that we are together, right now, as the People of God.
I think it’s normal to feel uncomfortable with certain types. Yet, when I look into that persons eyes (Christ’s eyes) and shake hands and give the sign of peace, I feel liberated.
I think of the gesture as a kind of rehearsal for becoming a peaceful and peace filled person when I leave mass.

 

[ZoeyBdo]

Try to observe what others do. They will rub their runny noses with their fingers and scratch their private parts.
One Sunday, I sat next to an elderly woman who was very well-dressed, but I detected this foul odor coming from her like she hadn’t ever cleaned her dentures. It became quite overpowering, and I took a look in her direction and discovered it wasn’t her, but an aboriginal looking woman next to her with her shoes off vigorously scratching between her toes.

If you are willing to shake hands with people like that, more power to you.

Trust me, I can understand that. But, I also pump my own gas and push a shopping cart in the grocer, and I can’t imagine where the hands have been that have touched those. Everything we touch has germs on it.

Like I said, to each their own.

 

[AlTheCollegeGal]

Well, I am of two minds. I am a slight germaphobe, so in general, I am not fond of touching things that are laden with germs. On the other hand, if there is an attractive gentleman nearby… Just kidding! Actually, I do think that the music books, kneelers, and other assorted objects are also filled with germs, so in retrospect, the sign of peace is not as bad as one might think. Also, I do like the sentiment behind the sign of peace; the sheer solidarity is humbling and moving for me.

 

[KateKimmer]

this may not go over well, but I detest it. Yep , DETEST it.
So many germs. So many germs. So many people touching their noses and mouths with
sloppy kleenex, reaching over and wiping their kid’s snotty nose. Then turning around with
a big smile and an outstretched hand to say peace.

i get absolutely nothing out of it. Especially since no one really cares if I have any peace any way!!!

 

[KateKimmer]

1 What kind of community are we going for exactly that human touch is considered “gross” or “unneeded”?

Why do we come to Church together, to be alone with God? No. We come to worship as a community. This shouldn’t need to be said.

What kind of manners is it when a church going person PICKS (yes picks,check out some old men some time) their nose , wipes their snot with a kleenex that has seen better days, and
licks their fingers?

Most colds/flu are spread by hand to hand and hand to eye contact.

I carry a pocket size hand sanitizer in my pocket. I discreetly put some on after the stupid sign of peace. I am NOT taking those germs to the Eucharist!

 

[Georgia]

I’ve seen people sneeze or cough into their hands, wipe their noses, pick their teeth and a few other things before the sign of peace. Oh, I shake hands anyway, but it’s not my first choice. I always carry hand sanitizer to Mass, so I get a good bit for my hands and pass it down to my family.

Before we started doing that, we had numerous colds in our family, most starting like clockwork on Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s a pretty good guess that we picked it up at Mass. Maybe we’ve gotten some immunities by now, but we do seem to have far fewer colds now that we clean our hands after shaking hands. Just so I am not the carrier, I clean my hands before shaking hands too.

The idea, I guess, is to show community. One poster spoke of a person not looking at him on exchanging the sign. I agree. When I shake hands, I make eye contact with the person, but I’ve seen my share of times when the person saw me only long enough to aim his or her hand and was looking at the next person by the time our hands clasped. If that’s the case, what’s the point?

 

[TimothyH]

I’ve seen people sneeze or cough into their hands, wipe their noses, pick their teeth and a few other things before the sign of peace. Oh, I shake hands anyway, but it’s not my first choice. I always carry hand sanitizer to Mass, so I get a good bit for my hands and pass it down to my family.

Before we started doing that, we had numerous colds in our family, most starting like clockwork on Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s a pretty good guess that we picked it up at Mass. Maybe we’ve gotten some immunities by now, but we do seem to have far fewer colds now that we clean our hands after shaking hands. Just so I am not the carrier, I clean my hands before shaking hands too.

The idea, I guess, is to show community. One poster spoke of a person not looking at him on exchanging the sign. I agree. When I shake hands, I make eye contact with the person, but I’ve seen my share of times when the person saw me only long enough to aim his or her hand and was looking at the next person by the time our hands clasped. If that’s the case, what’s the point?

The point is that we are all members of Christ’s body, and that we just asked that person to pray to God for us in the Confiteor.

…and I ask the Virgin Mary, all the angels and saints, and you my brother’s and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

If we are doing what we are supposed to at Mass - full active participation - then we will have just prayed for that person’s soul and he for yours.

It is about community, but it isn’t just any community. It is the community of Christ’s body of which we are all part. That community goes beyond friendships, marriage, family, neighborhood, civic, state, nation or any other bond. The bond of Christ’s blood unites that person with for whom you pray and with whom you shake hands more than you are united to your husband or wife or to your children or parents.

Whether someone shakes hands with you or not or looks at you is not the point. There is a bond there which transcends anything we understand here on earth, and we are there to pray for each other as members of Christ’s body, and to give up our lives for each other if called to do so.

-Tim-

 

[Cathryn]

The point is that we are all members of Christ’s body, and that we just asked that person to pray to God for us in the Confiteor.

…and I ask the Virgin Mary, all the angels and saints, and you my brother’s and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

If we are doing what we are supposed to at Mass - full active participation - then we will have just prayed for that person’s soul and he for yours.

It is about community, but it isn’t just any community. It is the community of Christ’s body of which we are all part. That community goes beyond friendships, marriage, family, neighborhood, civic, state, nation or any other bond. The bond of Christ’s blood unites that person with for whom you pray and with whom you shake hands more than you are united to your husband or wife or to your children or parents.

Whether someone shakes hands with you or not or looks at you is not the point. There is a bond there which transcends anything we understand here on earth, and we are there to pray for each other as members of Christ’s body, and to give up our lives for each other if called to do so.

-Tim-

Thank you for this post. It is enlightening how you show the Sign of Peace isn’t the first time during the Mass we have spoken to our fellow brothers and sisters. We have just asked them to pray for us and we for them. Christ gives us His peace and we are to give His peace to the few people around us. We really are one body in Christ.

 

[TimothyH]

Thank you for this post. It is enlightening how you show the Sign of Peace isn’t the first time during the Mass we have spoken to our fellow brothers and sisters. We have just asked them to pray for us and we for them. Christ gives us His peace and we are to give His peace to the few people around us. We really are one body in Christ.

And the person next to you might be St. Maxamillian Kolbe, who is going to take your place, being starved to death in a concentration camp instead of you so that you could live to see your children. And you may one day be called to be St. Maxamillian Kolbe for that person.

Why would you not shake that man’s hands?

Remember the Coptic Christians in Egypt, how gunment walked into the Church during the divine liturgy and opened fire, and how people shielded other people with their bodies, and how they gave up their lives for each other? Consider that God might call us that morning to die the same way, to die for the person with whom you are reluctant to shake hands.

We are going to love that person in heaven more than we will ever love anyone here on earth. It seems to me that we better get used to it now.

-Tim-

 

[BenedictFTW]

I agree that it is a health hazard to shake people’s hands. However, this is something we are required to do in the Novos Ordo Mass. Therefore, why not receive on the tongue, which is the preferred practice in the Vatican whenever the Pope says Mass?

It is also worrying that the priest saying Mass shakes hands with altar servers after he has consecrated his hands before the Transubstantiation. What is the point of washing his hands if he is going to soil them again with human contact?

 

[BenedictFTW]

The point is that we are all members of Christ’s body, and that we just asked that person to pray to God for us in the Confiteor.

…and I ask the Virgin Mary, all the angels and saints, and you my brother’s and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

If we are doing what we are supposed to at Mass - full active participation - then we will have just prayed for that person’s soul and he for yours.

It is about community, …

Whether someone shakes hands with you or not or looks at you is not the point. …

-Tim-

But it is the point of this thread. It is also a fact that for over a 1,000 years, this ‘sign of peace’ was never required of us in Mass. The Traditional Tridentine Mass requires no touching with neighbour. It is simply not necessary to touch someone in order to pray for them - surely that is more to the point?

It is all very well to lyric on about love of neighbour, but actually risking disease each and every time you go to Mass, seems to me to be unnecessary for our salvation.

 

[BenedictFTW]

Even more to the point, the sign of peace is right in the middle of the most important part of the Mass - the consecration of the bread and wine; the transubstantiation - when we should be most mindful of the sacrifice of Our Blessed Saviour. I always felt the sign of peace at that juncture is a distraction away from the whole purpose of attending Mass. Just a thought. This is also why I prefer the Tridentine Mass.

 

[TimothyH]

But it is the point of this thread. It is also a fact that for over a 1,000 years, this ‘sign of peace’ was never required of us in Mass. The Traditional Tridentine Mass requires no touching with neighbour. It is simply not necessary to touch someone in order to pray for them - surely that is more to the point?

It is all very well to lyric on about love of neighbour, but actually risking disease each and every time you go to Mass, seems to me to be unnecessary for our salvation.

Loving our neighbor is the first prerequisite for our salvation. Without that we cannot go to heaven.

I have been accused of taking threads off topic with this pesky love thing before.

We are all free to do whatever we want. I’m not afraid to shake your hand.

-Tim-

 

[Cristiano]

…It is all very well to lyric on about love of neighbour, but actually risking disease each and every time you go to Mass, seems to me to be unnecessary for our salvation.

You know what? You are going to die anyway. Do you prefer to die after having established a good habit of being close to your brothers and sisters or after having established an habit of avoiding their proximity? Do you know that until several decades ago priest used to have a high mortality rate at young ages because they did take care of everybody and they did not avoid sick people? What is truly necessary for our salvation?

 

[Cristiano]

But it is the point of this thread. It is also a fact that for over a 1,000 years, this ‘sign of peace’ was never required of us in Mass. The Traditional Tridentine Mass requires no touching with neighbour. It is simply not necessary to touch someone in order to pray for them - surely that is more to the point?

It is all very well to lyric on about love of neighbour, but actually risking disease each and every time you go to Mass, seems to me to be unnecessary for our salvation.

Even more to the point, the sign of peace is right in the middle of the most important part of the Mass - the consecration of the bread and wine; the transubstantiation - when we should be most mindful of the sacrifice of Our Blessed Saviour. I always felt the sign of peace at that juncture is a distraction away from the whole purpose of attending Mass. Just a thought. This is also why I prefer the Tridentine Mass.

I think that it might help reading about the historical development of the liturgy to better understand the symbolism associated with the different steps in the forms of the Mass. The liturgy is not about individual personal feelings but it is about an universal public worship. I am not trying to call you ignorant, I am just trying to share the fact that reading about the developments of western and eastern liturgies it helped me a lot in having a deeper appreciation of the liturgy.

 

[BenedictFTW]

Loving our neighbor is the first prerequisite for our salvation. Without that we cannot go to heaven.

I have been accused of taking threads off topic with this pesky love thing before.

We are all free to do whatever we want. I’m not afraid to shake your hand.

-Tim-

 

[buffalo]

I think it interrupts the movement from Consecration to Holy Communion. Perhaps it should be done right at the beginning of Mass.