Irreverent "Speed Masses"

[Seatuck]

I don’t have a problem with the shorter daily masses- 25-35 minutes long. I was at an urgent feeling " speed mass" once. Right before Mass our priest got a sick/dying call. He let us know he had to get to the hospital ASAP and would speed things along. He did!

 

[KingAlfred]

“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.”

They’re a good option. Not every Mass should be long, elaborate, with a ton of singing and other stuff. We should have options. Personally, I don’t like singing at all, and could live without it, for the rest of my days. I’m also critical of priests who almost deliberately give aweful sermons. IMHO, these things work against the Church. They convey complacency, which is bad. We need more substance, and less form. I don’t care if the priest has a nice singing voice. I don’t go to Mass to hear him sing. I need inspiration. I want to listen to someone smart, with something *urgent *to say about Christ. If, on the other hand, it must be boring, rote, bland, distracting, then at least keep it short.

 

[m134e5]

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 daily Mass, when people are often on very tight schedules, if Mass takes too long, they will not be able to go. I’d rather have a daily Mass that’s 20 minutes long- and be able to go, than to not be able to go because it’s 40 minutes long and I have other things I **must **get to that morning.

 

[Newbie2]

Our Sunday masses tend to run about an hour, Saturday about 10 minutes less due to the lesser number of parishioners.

We do have a visiting priest, whom we’ve dubbed Fr. “Speedy Gonzales”, who finishes 15 minutes earlier than our resident priest. No time for reflection, just boom-boom-boom-we’re outta there. I’d prefer to slow things down a bit.

 

[SteveGC]

This has been helpful to me. Thanks to all who posted, and those who continue to post.

I’m gaining a perspective here that helps me come to terms with the apparent “hurry up” nature I’m occasionally witness to. Perhaps the irreverence I see isn’t really there at all. Perhaps priests need the efficiency to get to other duties at other parishes. Perhaps there’s something going on behind the scenes I don’t realize (I should have said at the beginning that this happens most of the time when I am in another town at various parishes - I work a week at a time in another town, so I’m usually the odd-man-out at Mass).

Then again, perhaps I’m just PRESUMING that the speed of a Mass says something about reverence. Perhaps I need to recognize that parishes have to provide alot of things to the faithful, including daily and weekend Masses, which need to move along so that they do not become pompous performances. Still, you have to admit that there IS such a thing as TOO fast. No?

 

[Light_Seeker]

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!!

Hurrah for this associate.

Omitting hand washing is a violation of the rubrics.