Leaving Mass After Communion

[Brendan_64]

The Communion hymn or chant is a part of the mass as defined in the FIRM is not an extra or an intrusion. It’s a time when the entire congregation at supposed to lift their hearts and minds together in the medium of common sing prayer of Thanksgiving and adoration.

I have a lot of sympathy for people like KrazyKat who feel; this is an intrusion. Immediately after receiving Communion is a time for personal prayer and reflection. Could we not just have 5 minutes of silence after that last person has receiving Communion and gone back to their place? Is that too much to ask for? Could we not just have some time for quiet private prayer and personal reflection without every moment of silence being filled with the choir bursting into communal song, or announcements about the forthcoming local school fete?

I see this time of fellowship as being a vital part of what Sundays are about.

Yes, but that is secondary to our primary purpose for coming to Mass. We come to Mass for an encounter with Our Lord. We do not come to Mass primarily to meet other members of our parish community.

But how can that be if it’s a parish where no one knows the person beside them in the pew?

Certainly it is good to get to know those who attend our Church, but while we’re at Mass that is not the purpose. Meet them afterwards in the Church hall, or outside the Church before and after Mass. But too often these days, as soon as the Mass is over (and before it starts) the racket in the church of people chattering and engaging in noisy ‘fellowship’ makes silent, reflective prayer extremely difficult, and often you end up giving up trying.

Many Catholic parishes are very bad at promoting such a sense of community.

And many more Catholic parishes are extremely bad at promoting a sense of reverence, and a respect for prayer and reflection. Too often it’s all about having a good old noisy chin-wag with your fellows the moment the Mass is over.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

The fact that in a very short space of time after receiving the Most Holy Eucharist we are rudely impelled to listen to announcements regarding crab feasts, etc., I am sure that this is displeasing to God.

But since we none truly know the mind of God, your guess is as good as mine.

We have all been in this place, one time or another. And for those of us who have developed a sense of spirituality, it is very easy to be distracted by things like this. That is why I related this story in my earlier post- here it is again.

These are some wonderful ideas to ponder. Your words remind me of those of a priest that I know, who, when I was recounted my struggles with some of the ‘liberties’ being taken after Communion and before the final blessing, that were making me want to leave right after receiving made no judgement of the situation, and only asked me a question that I will never forget. This wise, kind, and gentle man looks at me and says, in the most stern & authoritative voice I had ever heard him speak in, “If Jesus can put up with it and stick around, who are you to leave?”

WOW! Talk about the mighty falling!

It is all about intention, as far as I am concerned. Yes, there have been times when I have had to leave Mass early due to extenuating circumstances, and I don’t believe that anyone in this thread is saying that one should be worried when “life happens” and they must leave Church before Mass is finished.

To leave because I don’t like what is happening is a horse of a different color. As my priest friend said- if Jesus can stand it, who am I to walk out?

 

[Phemie]

We barely get a chance to kneel after Communion before the singing starts and then announcements begin. These rude interruptions end the Mass as far as I am concerned. I often leave to pray.

So things that the Church says are OK are ‘rude interruptions’?

 

[InLight247]

The fact that in a very short space of time after receiving the Most Holy Eucharist we are rudely impelled to listen to announcements regarding crab feasts, etc., I am sure that this is displeasing to God.

Listening to the announcement is our courtesy as a member of the community even we are not attending the crab feast. Refuse to know what is going on in the parish is indifferent, if not rude. God commands us to love Him and love our neighbor. In addition to our own family, we have our Parish families also!

 

[Brendan_64]

Listening to the announcement is our courtesy as a member of the community even we are not attending the crab feast. Refuse to know what is going on in the parish is indifferent, if not rude. God commands us to love Him and love our neighbor. In addition to our own family, we have our Parish families also!

Nobody is saying that such announcements shouldn’t be made, or that we shouldn’t listen, but is it really too much to ask to want a few minutes silence after Communion to be able to pray and reflect?

Churches used to be a place where people could go to engage in quiet prayer and reflection. Nowadays with most churches being only opened shortly before and after Mass and locked at other times there is almost no time when people can sit in a church in quiet prayer. What is wrong with a bit of silence after Communion? What is wrong with expecting people to wait until they get outside the church before nattering to each other? Is the prime purpose of a church to be a community centre or a place for prayer?

 

[ProVobis]

Nobody is saying that such announcements shouldn’t be made, or that we shouldn’t listen, but is it really too much to ask to want a few minutes silence after Communion to be able to pray and reflect?

Churches used to be a place where people could go to engage in quiet prayer and reflection. Nowadays with most churches being only opened shortly before and after Mass and locked at other times there is almost no time when people can sit in a church in quiet prayer. What is wrong with a bit of silence after Communion? What is wrong with expecting people to wait until they get outside the church before nattering to each other? Is the prime purpose of a church to be a community centre or a place for prayer?

I suppose one can extend that argument past the end of Mass. There is usually a postlude (organ, piano, etc.), perhaps a rosary, perhaps a visit to the parish shrine, light a candle, etc. and numerous other activities before one has to drive home.

 

[Brendan_64]

I suppose one can extend that argument past the end of Mass. There is usually a postlude (organ, piano, etc.), perhaps a rosary, perhaps a visit to the parish shrine, light a candle, etc. and numerous other activities before one has to drive home.

It would be great to be able to do those things after Mass, but it’s hard to even say a prayer after lighting a candle with all the noise, chatter, movement, kids running around you and people tapping you on the shoulder to speak to you. Sometimes you come away thinking that prayer is now viewed as being somehow ‘old-fashioned’ and that noisy ‘community fellowship’ is ‘where it’s at’ these days.

 

[KrazyKat]

Listening to the announcement is our courtesy as a member of the community even we are not attending the crab feast. Refuse to know what is going on in the parish is indifferent, if not rude. God commands us to love Him and love our neighbor. In addition to our own family, we have our Parish families also!

Everything they announce is in the bulletin.

 

[Corki]

I once heard on a talk show that if you leave straight after communion you will not receive the appropriate graces from the Eucharist. You must wait until the priest gives the final benediction in order to receive the full grace from the Eucharist. Is this true?

If you leave before the final blessing, you lose out on the grace from the blessing but it has no effect on the grace from the Eucharist. So, if you do not stay for the whole Mass, you do not receive all of the grace available from the whole Mass. There are many parts of Mass that impart specific blessings. The Eucharist is only one of those parts albeit the source and summit.

 

[InLight247]

Everything they announce is in the bulletin.

Many people do not read the bulletin but they will listen to the announcement. Or they may glance the bulletin without catching a particular news. Announcement reinforces the written message in the bulletin and catches people’s attention more directly.

When my ministry sponsors spiritual activities for the parish (such as adult education programs, Lenten Retreat, etc.) we always put it in the bulletin for six weeks and do at least one podium announcement, plus asking all the priests help promote it at the end of Mass.

Can we have a little patience, humility, and charity to listen what’s going on in the parish that is important to certain group?

 

[fastenatingguy]

Many people do not read the bulletin but they will listen to the announcement. Or they may glance the bulletin without catching a particular news. Announcement reinforces the written message in the bulletin and catches people’s attention more directly.

When my ministry sponsors spiritual activities for the parish (such as adult education programs, Lenten Retreat, etc.) we always put it in the bulletin for six weeks and do at least one podium announcement, plus asking all the priests help promote it at the end of Mass.

Can we have a little patience, humility, and charity to listen what’s going on in the parish that is important to certain group?

One thing is for certain…you can’t make everyone happy.

 

[maryjk]

I rarely leave early. When I do, it is because I am greeting people after Mass or once, when I was dashing back to the hospital to be with my father.

We barely get a chance to kneel after Communion before the singing starts and then announcements begin. These rude interruptions end the Mass as far as I am concerned. I often leave to pray.

I cannot speak for others, and I do not always leave right after Communion, it depends on the severity of my pain as I have to be able to drive home and make it inside. The Lord knows.

Maybe I am just confused, but do you leave because of the “rude interruptions” or because of the pain?

I don’t mean to pick, and I get that people leave because they can’t stand to sit or stand any longer. Heck, I have been in that position.

But it sounds like you are leaving because you don’t like to have to sit through the announcements. And to me, that is a totally different situation.

 

[ProVobis]

When my ministry sponsors spiritual activities for the parish (such as adult education programs, Lenten Retreat, etc.) we always put it in the bulletin for six weeks and do at least one podium announcement, plus asking all the priests help promote it at the end of Mass.

I agree that we should stay for the end of Mass but what possibly could such announcements be that they couldn’t be promoted during the start of the sermon instead?

 

[felsguy]

I agree that we should stay for the end of Mass but what possibly could such announcements be **that they couldn’t be promoted during the start of the sermon instead?/**QUOTE]

Surely you’ve read the 57,000 complaints here when that very thing is done

 

[Brendan_64]

ProVobis;11612954:

I agree that we should stay for the end of Mass but what possibly could such announcements be that they couldn’t be promoted during the start of the sermon instead?/

Surely you’ve read the 57,000 complaints here when that very thing is done

I believe that is forbidden by Redemptionis Sacramentum.

Linking the Gospel to the forthcoming local school fete might be a bit of a stretch for even the most liberal ‘Spirit of Vatican 2’ priest to be able to manage.

 

[FrStevenJones]

I agree that we should stay for the end of Mass but what possibly could such announcements be that they couldn’t be promoted during the start of the sermon instead?

The GIRM specifies that announcements are to be made after the closing prayer and before the final blessing.

 

[FrStevenJones]

I once heard on a talk show that if you leave straight after communion you will not receive the appropriate graces from the Eucharist. You must wait until the priest gives the final benediction in order to receive the full grace from the Eucharist. Is this true?

The missal itself tells us the appropriate time to leave Mass: after the final blessing, when the priest says “Go forth, the Mass is ended”!

 

[thistle]

Disobedience and lack of respect are the problems highlighted-- do we need to “document” that these are displeasing to God!?

You are claiming a person leaving early after receiving Communion does not receive the full grace of the Eucharist. That is simply untrue.
You may not receive the full grace of the Mass in its entirety but that has no affect on the grace of the Eucharist.
You should not be making such assertions.

 

[ProVobis]

The GIRM specifies that announcements are to be made after the closing prayer and before the final blessing.

Sorry, an oversight on my part. But I know not once I’ve heard appeals from different organizations during the sermon. A lot of times before Mass as well.

 

[KrazyKat]

I rarely leave early. When I do, it is because I am greeting people after Mass or once, when I was dashing back to the hospital to be with my father.

Maybe I am just confused, but do you leave because of the “rude interruptions” or because of the pain?

I don’t mean to pick, and I get that people leave because they can’t stand to sit or stand any longer. Heck, I have been in that position.

But it sounds like you are leaving because you don’t like to have to sit through the announcements. And to me, that is a totally different situation.

As the Spirit moves, sister maryjk, as the Spirit moves.