Irreverent "Speed Masses"

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Please give your opinions about Masses which appear to be conducted at such a high rate of speed that they could be considered irreverent, or perhaps scandalous.

I’ve heard that some parishes appeal to the “busy schedules” of their parishioners, especially on weekday morning Masses. I’m not sure I would even be sympathetic to that notion, but my experiences with fast Masses at various parishes are all on the weekends, where there should be no such accommodation.

I know that when the music is omitted during Mass, the overall time can be reduced from a normal 1 hour Mass, to around 45 minutes, without seeming to be too fast. I’m not talking about those (which are typically the early morning Masses). I’m talking about Masses which clock in around 30 to 35 minutes from start to finish. During these, everyone (except perhaps the priest himself) seems to just be in a crazy hurry. Lectors read like it’s a speed contest, parishioners anticipating and moving to the next physical position 10-15 seconds ahead of time, gift collectors in almost a jog, etc.). It drives me nuts! It gets to the point where it draws my attention away from the Mass, as I sit in awe of this hurried nonsense. :whacky:

Please share your thoughts. I know it happens almost everywhere, doesn’t it?

SteveGC
 
SteveGC said:
Please give your opinions about Masses which appear to be conducted at such a high rate of speed that they could be considered irreverent, or perhaps scandalous.

I’ve heard that some parishes appeal to the “busy schedules” of their parishioners, especially on weekday morning Masses. I’m not sure I would even be sympathetic to that notion, but my experiences with fast Masses at various parishes are all on the weekends, where there should be no such accommodation.

I know that when the music is omitted during Mass, the overall time can be reduced from a normal 1 hour Mass, to around 45 minutes, without seeming to be too fast. I’m not talking about those (which are typically the early morning Masses). I’m talking about Masses which clock in around 30 to 35 minutes from start to finish. During these, everyone (except perhaps the priest himself) seems to just be in a crazy hurry. Lectors read like it’s a speed contest, parishioners anticipating and moving to the next physical position 10-15 seconds ahead of time, gift collectors in almost a jog, etc.). It drives me nuts! It gets to the point where it draws my attention away from the Mass, as I sit in awe of this hurried nonsense. :whacky:

Please share your thoughts. I know it happens almost everywhere, doesn’t it?

SteveGC
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In my neck of the woods, the half-hour time frame is standard. Remember that a homily is not required for daily Mass. My PV celebrates Mass in about 35 minutes. However, he preaches and we sing the parts of the Mass that should be sung (Alleluia, Sanctus, Memorial Acclamation and Great Amen). He is not a speed reader nor does he rush through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Furthermore, there are those who attend Mass during their lunch hours and others who will attend morning Mass before they go to work. While EWTN’s daily Mass telecast lasts about an hour, that is the exception, rather than the norm.

Now, Sunday Masses are entirely different. When my PV celebrates Mass, his last an hour and 10 minutes. He preaches for about 20-25 minutes. My pastor celebrates Mass in about an hour or slightly under. Believe me, we are in no hurry, nor should we be on Sunday.
 
Understood. And appreciated. I suppose my gripe isn’t actually about the total elapsed time, even though I made the comment about “30-35 minutes”. My gripe is about the unnecessary rush that is so transparent in some Masses. Again, although I aspire to go to more weekday Masses, my particular experiences are almost exclusively on weekends, where there is normally a homily, and certainly shouldn’t be much need for expediting. The few weekday Masses I have attended, ironically enough, have actually taken longer than some of the weekend Masses I’ve attended!
 
Our daily Mass lasts about 25 minutes. There is no singing. There is always a homily, and it never seems rushed. It is peaceful, beautiful, and reverent. Our previous pastor could celebrate daily Mass in about 20 minutes, and he never rushed, either.

Sunday Mass is usually 45 - 50 minutes. There is always singing, though some Masses have more than others. The homily is usually fairly brief, but often memorable. Again, very reverent. Not a rushed feeling. Masses with our previous pastor were usually an hour or longer. His homilies were a little more rambling, he never met a long form of a reading that he didn’t like, and it seemed like every verse of every song was sung. You could tell that he loved celebrating Mass.

I have been to Masses at other parishes, where you want to scream, “OK, we get the point” during the homily or “enough already, speed it up, people” with the singing or the pomp and circumstance. THAT is distracting to me, but I guess it somewhat depends on what you are used to.
 
Keep in mind that if the Mass is celebrated in a chapel, rather than at the High Altar, it will perforce be quicker.
 
Our Sunday Masses average 65-70 minutes, while our weekday Masses last about 35-40 minutes. Our Christmas and Easter Masses usually run about the same as our Sunday Masses, maybe a few mintues longer, but our children’s Christmas Mass last evening began at 4:30 and ended about 5:50. (I glanced at my watch and it was 5:55 as I was waiting in the crowd moving toward the exit leaving Church). Those who were arriving for the 6:30 Mass had no place to park, since one has to arrive here–and likely most other Churches too–an hour before Mass starts on Christmas and Easter to get a seat, so it was a bit chaotic in the parking lot after 4:30 Mass.
 
acadian said:
Our previous pastor could celebrate daily Mass in about 20 minutes, and he never rushed, either.
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Wow. Talk about something I’d have to see to believe. Good for him, and you and all in attendance, if that is indeed the case.

Good for God, too?

Certainly not for us to decide. But, not sure I would agree that 20 minutes of reverence is preferable to 40, but hey, who am I to judge? I guess if it’s done right, and it’s complete, then maybe if you can get out the door in 10 minutes vs. 45, then more power to you. I guess.

For all who suggest that the added pomp and unnecessarily extended portions of Mass are more distracting, I do see your point. I’m not suggesting that those things are at all preferable to a simple celebration of the Mass. All I’m saying is that, in my experience, what I see MORE of is people quite obviously in a hurry. No, I can’t read their minds, but rush is rush - you can sense it in people. And it serves as a huge distraction to me. After 8 years of going to Catholic Church (2 of them as a Catholic), I’m still getting used to the reality that most Catholics (not all, but most that I know) just really like short and sweet Masses so they can get on with their day. Seems to me like Mass has become to them an extra chore in their busy lives. And when I say that, believe me that I draw NO comparison to them and those in this thread who describe very short and very reverent Masses. That does indeed seem to be different from my experiences.

From the replies so far, perhaps it’s just MY experience. Wasn’t expecting that.
 
It should take a normal person about 15-20 minutes to read just the text of the Missal, probably longer for the EF. I don’t consider that irreverent. If you add in music, communion, and the sermon, presentation, handshake of peace, and other short breaks of reflection and meditation, yes, it can easily go to an hour or so. But if any of these are cut down or out, so be it. It’s still a Mass.
 
That kind of Mass irritates the stew out of me. Fortunatly The 2 priests we have do not do that.
 
ProVobis said:
It should take a normal person about 15-20 minutes to read just the text of the Missal, probably longer for the EF. I don’t consider that irreverent. If you add in music, communion, and the sermon, presentation, handshake of peace, and other short breaks of reflection and meditation, yes, it can easily go to an hour or so. But if any of these are cut down or out, so be it. It’s still a Mass.
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Just to re-clarify. I also do not find it objectively irreverent to hear about a Mass that takes 20-30 minutes. Nor do I argue the “invalidity” of a Mass simply based on its brevity, or its length. I’m sure they’re all valid Masses. I’m mostly looking for others’ experiences with the seemingly irreverent “hurry-up” tendencies that people participating in Mass have. Normally, this manifests itself in a much shorter Mass length - and that is why I describe it mostly by time.
 
I’ve never assisted at a “rush” Mass, that I could tell anyway. Sometimes the homily is 5 minutes shorter or longer than other times and sometimes the priest allows the Sign of the Peace to become a social activity with all sorts of people running up and down the aisles from the front to the back of the church (that’s something that really bothers me, along with a total lack of reverence and with loud talking from many who are apparently not hearing impaired). But, a rush Mass from the priest is something I never saw. If I did, I would assume a health problem.
 
brigid12 said:
I’ve never assisted at a “rush” Mass, that I could tell anyway. Sometimes the homily is 5 minutes shorter or longer than other times and sometimes the priest allows the Sign of the Peace to become a social activity with all sorts of people running up and down the aisles from the front to the back of the church (that’s something that really bothers me, along with a total lack of reverence and with loud talking from many who are apparently not hearing impaired). But, a rush Mass from the priest is something I never saw. If I did, I would assume a health problem.
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I agree, brigid. Regardless of the length, it frustrates me to no end when I see “social hour” in Mass, either just before, during the Peace, or (more frequently) just after the recessional. And no, I don’t see “rush” Masses occurring as a result of priestly intent - rather, the hurry-up always seems to come from the laity (parishioners, lectors, etc).
 
I only once saw a “speed mass”, when I was traveling through an unfamiliar town. And it really was rushed to the point of irreverence. The priest didn’t even give us enough time to finish the responses, he just plowed right on through. And he was nearly shoving the Eucharist into our hands, trying to get us through faster. I think we managed to get through the whole Sunday mass, with a packed church, in about 20 minutes.

I was really taken aback.

But then, after mass, I was walking out to my car, and I saw the priest slumped in the backseat of a car, being driven away to his next parish for mass. (Apparently, he covered several parishes over quite a large geographical area.) And I realized that he looked in pretty ill health, and was quite elderly.

I did feel a bit sorry when I saw that. I like to think that I just caught him on a bad week.
 
Daily mass is 20 minutes. The pastor has streamlined the mass. During the Offetory he has rewritten the prayers so that he offers up the bread and wine together. He has also omitted handwashing. When new associates arrive, the pastor has tried to have them do the same things. I know of one in particular who had resisted. His three years in the parish were very difficult!!
 
Due to the priest shortage, we only have Mass on Wed and Sun. The Wed. Mass lasts about a half-hour, and the Sun. about 50-60minutes. Neither seems to be rushed and both have a short homily and singing. Only about 25 show up for the Wed Mass, mostly retired people.
 
The last “speed Mass” I saw occured when I was a child, and the priest said Mass in Latin in 7 minutes… Our principal was horrified.

Daily Masses around here last between 20-30 minutes, dpeending on the celebrant and the number of people in attendance. Sunday Masses last at least 45 mnutes, usually an hour and 10 minutes.
 
SteveGC said:
Wow. Talk about something I’d have to see to believe. Good for him, and you and all in attendance, if that is indeed the case.

Good for God, too?

Certainly not for us to decide. But, not sure I would agree that 20 minutes of reverence is preferable to 40, but hey, who am I to judge? I guess if it’s done right, and it’s complete, then maybe if you can get out the door in 10 minutes vs. 45, then more power to you. I guess.
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Yep, good for God, too. There was nothing that went on at those Masses that God would take issue with. Hands were washed. Prayers were said in their entirety, bells were rung, and a homily was given. Best 20 minutes of my days most days. Maybe 22 or 23, but I was routinely at work before 7:00 from 6:30 Mass 5 minutes away.

If it had been 40 or 45 minutes, then I would have been unable to attend at all since I had to be at work by 7:05.

There was one parish nearby that was famous for a 30 minute Mass on Sunday evenings. Homilies were literally 3 sentences long. That used to bother me. If it wouldn’t have been for the huge volume of people for Communion, we would have probably been out of there in 20 minutes. I have in-laws (and a husband) who love their religion, but think the less time they spend in church, the better. I don’t quite get it, myself. Sometimes I feel like a religious freak because I LOVE to attend Mass.
 
SteveGC said:
I’m mostly looking for others’ experiences with the seemingly irreverent “hurry-up” tendencies that people participating in Mass have.
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Yes, but what is more “hurry-up” than using EMHC’s to distribute communion, mmmm?
 
brigid12 said:
I’ve never assisted at a “rush” Mass, that I could tell anyway.
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Neither have I. In my experience there have been many more people rushing out of church right after communion than “rush” Masses.
 
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