Leaving Early After communion

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most people leave early due to traffic, is what I have heard. the "beat everyone else out of hte parking lot " mentality.

it was interesting to read the replies. And I must confess, I have left early many times myself.

something I am trying to improve on.

also, when you leave early, you miss out on the FINAL blessing.
 
No as never had to leave early

but know that when people have had to then nothing is said about them what so ever. They even get to jump in line before the choir because they have made it known as such what they are going onto eg rememberance sunday at the town hall duties. main time it happend. but on the whole no one leaves early after communion. Last year we were sharpish and got out of gown without doing any after duty things but the head server knew why… but never early. Anyone who is, we do tend to know why before hand.
Yeh reading on people bow out to do coffee and I do think they could in fact wait for the priest to enter the vestry before bowing out because they are only serving coffee to those in church so no need for them to be before the priest goes into the vestry. But no one actually leaves church without us knowing why so no biggy for us.
 
for me the Mass beings with the sign of the cross and ends with the sign of the cross so i want to be in attendance to everything that takes place in between. normally, during the weekend masses, the priest will remind those attending mass to remain until the mass has ended. i have to admit to being guilty of leaving shortly after the ending of the first verse of the last hymn or when i am certain the priests and altar servers have exited.
it annoys me when people arrive late to mass also. i have seen some people arrive almost before it is time to begin serving the Eucharist and that doesn’t seem right to me.
we live in a resort town, so when people leave early right after communion, i just figure they are visiting or perhaps they don’t completely understand the mass and that it doesn’t end just because you have received the Eucharist. so to me it is disrespectful to arrive late as well as to leave early.
 
johnnyc176 said:
I just listened to a Steve Ray talk where he mentioned he sometimes stands in the back of the church and says have a nice day Judas (Judas left early) to people that leave early…lol.
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I’ve enjoyed listening to Steve on CAL, and it’s really disappointing to hear that he would be so arrogant and judgmental. Sometimes people have perfectly valid reasons to leave. This really diminishes my opinion of him.
 
In Steve Ray’s defense I’m not sure if he was making a joke or if he was stating that this is something that he actually does. Has anyone listened to the audio?
 
agnes_therese said:
I’ve enjoyed listening to Steve on CAL, and it’s really disappointing to hear that he would be so arrogant and judgmental. Sometimes people have perfectly valid reasons to leave. This really diminishes my opinion of him.
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i have never heard of steve ray, but i agree with you, if what the poster says is true, it seems self righteous, arrogant and judgmental on his part. if i were the priest and got wind of what he was telling those who left early, i would pull him aside and have a talk with him.
 
agnes_therese said:
I’ve enjoyed listening to Steve on CAL, and it’s really disappointing to hear that he would be so arrogant and judgmental. Sometimes people have perfectly valid reasons to leave. This really diminishes my opinion of him.
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I’ve never heard the man at all, so I don’t know him. But on the face of it, the comment seems more like a bad joke than anything else. And, haughty though it is, I wouldn’t judge the man strictly on something like that. Just my feelings . . . 🙂
 
thewanderer said:
I agree that if you see someone leaving early you should most certainly not assume they are being disrespectful. As has been pointed out, there are many people in all different sorts of situations that may require them leaving early, even on a sunday, perhaps they need to get bakc to care for someone who is sick, or catch a plane, train. bus etc to a ___ (fill in any good christian charitable action, or anything required by law etc.) We have no idea what there situation is so we should not assume.

If it becomes evident that there actually is a problem of people leaving early due to a lack of respect (which needs actual evidence, since, as mentioned above there can be many legitimite reasons for leaving early) then it is something to talk to your parish priest about and it is time to pray for serenity and the ability to let go of those things you cannot change.
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I personally see the same ones trucking out the door. I asked one (got up the nerve) and they don’t like the lines at the local eatery (the special will run out) so I guess “beating the Methodists to the salad bar” is the reason at least 3-4 in that one group hurry like fire on their heels to “escape”. I personally wish mass was longer. I love it so much. I sit in the front so their rudeness isn’t an occasion to sin.
 
MissRose73 said:
I used to be a leave early person and didn’t have a good reason. I’ve repented my ways and no longer leave until after the priest has left & singing is done. If people leave early to beat the traffic leaving the parking lot, that is not good. If you leave early due to having to go to work, then that’s not an issue with me.
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I went to a church I had never been to before that day. At the closing hymn EVERYONE left, there was no one in there when the hymn was done except me. I was stunned. I’ve never seen anything like it. People even pushed past me like they were getting a 100 dollar bill if they hurried to the back. I was shocked to say the least.
 
yeah, leaving mass usually feels like trying to get the doorbuster deal at wal-mart on black friday.

old ladies have pointy elbows.
 
Irishgal49 said:
I went to a church I had never been to before that day. At the closing hymn EVERYONE left, there was no one in there when the hymn was done except me. I was stunned. I’ve never seen anything like it. People even pushed past me like they were getting a 100 dollar bill if they hurried to the back. I was shocked to say the least.
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This happened to me when I went to Easter Morning Mass while visiting Orlando. Now I do admit the parking and the traffic were a real mess. They made me turn the opposite way and I was afraid I wouldn’t find my brother’s house But I had the same shocked feeling when I was alone in my section of the church

But if EVERYONE leaves early to beat the rush then the rush is just early too
 
thewanderer said:
Yes, but sometimes there are legitimite reasons, for example if one has other duties which are not possible to fulfill without leaving early. We are supposed to put God first, but not to the extent that it causes us to fail to live out our other duties, fulfilling all of our duties is a way of putting God first in our lives.
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i couldnt disagree, i will advise that anyone who leave should truly excercise prudence, the reason should be legitimate.
Ubenedictus
 
I have to work every third weekend from 8-6 so to fufill my Sunday Mass obligation I attend a 7am Mass. Unfortunately I have to leave right after Communion to make it to work. Today I witnessed a middle-aged couple receive Communion and proceed to talk loudly inside the church to another man before returning to their seats or exiting the church. I try not to be judgemental when I see people leaving early but I thought this to be such a disgrace to our Lord. He only asks for an hour out of our week and people can’t even give him that.
 
KateKimmer said:
how prevelant is leaving right after Communion at your church?
Does it irk you or are you one of those who leave early?
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I observed that also before and our Priest noticed it too that is why he does always remind the congregation not to leave after communion for that the mass is not yet finished. And now many are not doing it again.
 
The way our parking lot is configured, it doesn’t do much good to leave after Communion, unless you are parked first in a line. Personally, from where I sit, I can’t see that it is much of a problem. There must be some who leave early, though… Father made mention of those who will leave Mass early because “Jesus isn’t worth their time” in a homily the other day, and it is not the first time he has done so. The first time, he pointed out the section where most of the early-leavers sit.
 
johnnyc176 said:
I do not see this in my parish thank God. Everybody stays for the procession on Sundays and during the week we say the St. Michael prayer as the priest leaves. I just listened to a Steve Ray talk where he mentioned he sometimes stands in the back of the church and says have a nice day Judas (Judas left early) to people that leave early…lol. Don’t think I could or would do that but I imagine it probably puts an end to it (if no excuse) for awhile anyway.

Btw…that talk by Steve Ray was done at the 2011 Catholic Men’s Conference. It is available here along with others. Excellent talks.

columbuscatholicmen.com/audio/audio.php
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He should be ashamed of himself. He should also be careful where and to whom he practices this because he might just get popped in the mouth.
 
Leaving early seems to be the coming thing. At a recent Mass, so many people left early that the priest stood before the final blessing and said it was the worst he had seen since his ordination. Maybe it was because the Mass was in an activity hall as the church is getting some major repairs. This one was made more obvious with it being a Mass with no music, so it was over in less than forty-five minutes. Yet at least one-third of the people went straight out the doors after receiving.

This weekend, the place was packed. After communion, I glanced toward the windows and saw a steady stream of cars heading out and people very casually walking toward their cars. The row behind us was pretty much vacated with only two people staying.

I understand how a few people will have work or other obligations that mean they have to get going. Looking out and seeing loads of people who left early chatting in the parking lot leaves me wondering.
 
I am not fond of those who leave early and have no good reason to do so. Its hard to tell who has a good reason, and who does not. Maybe there should be a sign up stating “Only Judas left the Last Supper early” but wonder how many would get the reference.
 
There was a time when I did this myself sometimes in order to get home for the start of a football match on TV… I am ashamed to say:o

I never do it now - I just miss the beginning of the match (these are night games and I go to the Saturday evening vigil Mass).

And, thanks be to God, leaving early really doesn’t happen in my parish. The one or two who do are not the same ones every time, and I 'm certain that those who occasionally do, do so for a good reason (unlike me, when I did it!). We have no parking hassles, and no doughnuts and coffee to lure us out early!! Almost no one goes after communion, and a tiny number (say 5-6 people) leave before/during the final hymn.

So, I’m not even tempted to judge, thankfully. That’d be real hypocrisy on my part!
 
The pew in front of me was empty after Communion yesterday. I could care less why they left early, but those who did, missed a Father’s Day blessing for all the dad’s from the Priest.
 
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