Interested in asking for a nightly Mass for students at my university

[CatholicNerd]

Well, the academic year is about to resume for those of us at public universities in the State of Washington. Last year during my final days as a non-Catholic, I was absolutely shocked at the condition of our Newman Center and parish (you can read about all the abuses and invalid --yes, invalid-- Masses on many of my other posts). One of the biggest things that bugs me about the parish is that the priest has no regard for the spiritual well-being of his parishioners, the majority of which are students at EWU. I was absolutely horrified that there is no Mass offered for the University community on a daily basis. There is a morning Mass at the parish church a few blocks away, but no Catholic student is able to attend, because the current Mass is at 9AM and we’re all in class or preparing for a 10AM class.

After talking things over with Catholic friends who do not have the luxury of driving 30 miles to Gonzaga on a frequent basis to attend Mass or go to Adoration, it hit me that we should petition the parish priest to offer a Mass for the students of EWU. There are plenty of us who would attend nightly and would assist in any way necessary. How should we go about doing this? We can easily establish the fact that there is a pastoral necessity, as there are a lot of us who would like to be able to go to Mass on a daily basis… but the priest is most likely going to say “You’re all so overzealous. You don’t need daily Mass.” and will undoubtedly refuse to offer it. When that happens, is it permissible to petition the bishop to send us a priest who will look out for us? Now that I’m Catholic, I can’t sit on the fence or simply run away from this problem parish anymore. Heeellllllllp!

 

[Crusader]

CatholicNerd:

Well, the academic year is about to resume for those of us at public universities in the State of Washington. Last year during my final days as a non-Catholic, I was absolutely shocked at the condition of our Newman Center and parish (you can read about all the abuses and invalid --yes, invalid-- Masses on many of my other posts). One of the biggest things that bugs me about the parish is that the priest has no regard for the spiritual well-being of his parishioners, the majority of which are students at EWU. I was absolutely horrified that there is no Mass offered for the University community on a daily basis. There is a morning Mass at the parish church a few blocks away, but no Catholic student is able to attend, because the current Mass is at 9AM and we’re all in class or preparing for a 10AM class.

After talking things over with Catholic friends who do not have the luxury of driving 30 miles to Gonzaga on a frequent basis to attend Mass or go to Adoration, it hit me that we should petition the parish priest to offer a Mass for the students of EWU. There are plenty of us who would attend nightly and would assist in any way necessary. How should we go about doing this? We can easily establish the fact that there is a pastoral necessity, as there are a lot of us who would like to be able to go to Mass on a daily basis… but the priest is most likely going to say “You’re all so overzealous. You don’t need daily Mass.” and will undoubtedly refuse to offer it. When that happens, is it permissible to petition the bishop to send us a priest who will look out for us? Now that I’m Catholic, I can’t sit on the fence or simply run away from this problem parish anymore. Heeellllllllp!

Plan the heck out of things so he dosen’t have an excuse. Organize a sacristan or two, readers, altar servers and even EMHCs if need be, plus a master scheduler to create and update assignments. Send that to him in a package with a request for a daily Mass. Do your homework. Anticipate his questions…

If he responds as you suggest (which would be unacceptable), I would go see him face to face with a few others who would be interested in attending daily Mass. If he does not agree to a daily Mass before you leave the meeting, he would need to know (in the nicest way possible) that the bishop is your next stop.

Above all, pray on this…

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

There are a few ways to approach this. One would be to approcah the priest who takes care of the student center. My guess is that he will be too busy. The second possibility since the student center is not actually a “parish” but more like a mission church. you could ask another priest to come over and say Mass at least one or two evenings or early mornings a week. Another option is to ask if a local Deacon could come over and offer the students a Communion service in the early morning or evening. Another would be a student lead Communion service if the Blessed Sacrament is reserved at the student center this could be possible. Mass of course would always be preferable.

 

[mercygate]

In the package your prepare for the parish priest, include in your cover letter a request that he forward the matter to the bishop if he is unable to meet his request. That way you assume that he is a good guy – or if he isn’t, you make him look like one, which can’t hurt.

Or, playing a little hardball up front, if you already KNOW he is unsympathetic to the student body, and you KNOW his lack of sympathy is unfounded, simply cc the bishop.

 

[Digitonomy]

Some good ideas so far, especially from Br Rich.

Sounds like you may have reason to be cynical about this priest for other reasons, but his refusal to schedule a nightly mass should not be one of them. You’re asking him to devote a minimum of 10 hours a week to your idea. And even that doesn’t allow sufficient time to prepare the homilies. Keep trying, but also be considerate of the priest’s time.

 

[CatholicNerd]

digitonomy:

Some good ideas so far, especially from Br Rich.

Sounds like you may have reason to be cynical about this priest for other reasons, but his refusal to schedule a nightly mass should not be one of them. You’re asking him to devote a minimum of 10 hours a week to your idea. And even that doesn’t allow sufficient time to prepare the homilies. Keep trying, but also be considerate of the priest’s time.

Indeed. I’m hoping for at least two during the week, though. Cheney is 30 miles from any other priests and I sorta doubt that a priest from Spokane will want to make a 60 mile trip daily… I wish we had a surpluss of priests like Gonzaga does. lol We may not get 5 nightly Masses a week, but I am confident that somehow we will get at least two… Perhaps the parish deacon could offer us a communion service the night after any Masses if the priest absolutely cannot do it.

I’d like to be able to purchase the necessary things to start a small sacristy for our little Newman Center chapel. So far I’ve come up with a book of the gospels and a lectionary, and I’m working on getting a modest chalice for a small amount of money. Do you think the priest might be more receptive to our request if he doesn’t have to lug 100 pounds of stuff with him every time? Thankfully we’ve already got a tabernacle in there, so there’s several thousand dollars less to worry about… lol Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

CatholicNerd:

Indeed. I’m hoping for at least two during the week, though. Cheney is 30 miles from any other priests and I sorta doubt that a priest from Spokane will want to make a 60 mile trip daily… I wish we had a surpluss of priests like Gonzaga does. lol We may not get 5 nightly Masses a week, but I am confident that somehow we will get at least two… Perhaps the parish deacon could offer us a communion service the night after any Masses if the priest absolutely cannot do it.

I’d like to be able to purchase the necessary things to start a small sacristy for our little Newman Center chapel. So far I’ve come up with a book of the gospels and a lectionary, and I’m working on getting a modest chalice for a small amount of money. Do you think the priest might be more receptive to our request if he doesn’t have to lug 100 pounds of stuff with him every time? Thankfully we’ve already got a tabernacle in there, so there’s several thousand dollars less to worry about… lol Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers

A few things to remember is that if new the chalice will need to be blessed. in order to reserve the Blessed Sacrament the permission of the Bishop is needed. You should be able to get the altar cloths and corporal and other misc items from neighboring parishes.