Leaving right after Communion

[Beautiful]

Leaving Right After Communion

ROME, JULY 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

Q: Unfortunately some in the parish have developed the poor habit of leaving Mass immediately after Communion. I estimate around 30%, or approximately 225 people, leave early. Our church holds 750, so the disappearance is definitely noticeable. Could you provide a theological discourse on why this is not appropriate behavior? – D.S., Port Charlotte, Florida

A: This is a perennial problem, but one which must be faced with patience, insisting, as St. Paul would say, “Opportune et inopportune” (in season and out of season), until the message reaches home.

You can read more of Fr. McNamara’s reply here

While it is true that Fr. McNamara’s reply is nice and truthful to a certain extent he fails to realize that priests and laymen have made the time at the end of the Mass hour into a live radio announcement or broadcast time for just about everything and everyone under the sun. Personally - I hate to sit through that superfluous noise - I’d rather get up and run away from those ‘unpaid’ advertisers and solicitors. Maybe the problem isn’t so much in the pews as it is at the pulpit?

 

[PhilotheaZ]

… he fails to realize that priests and laymen have made the time at the end of the Mass hour into a live radio announcement or broadcast time for just about everything and everyone under the sun. Personally - I hate to sit through that superfluous noise - I’d rather get up and run away from those ‘unpaid’ advertisers and solicitors. Maybe the problem isn’t so much in the pews as it is at the pulpit?

Even in parishes that do not have extensive announcements at the end of Mass, the same problem (leaving early) exists.

 

[FrCorey]

Which Pope said,
Mankind must be brought to God, With Love.
or something to this effect.
i.e. we must treat people as Jesus would treat them.

 

[SwizzleStick]

The few times that I have had to leave Mass a few minutes early (not right after Communion, but before the final blessing), I have felt uneasy, sad, unsettled, as if I didn’t really attend Mass. I can’t imagine making a habit of leaving early. Without that final blessing, it is not a complete Mass for me.

I wonder about the people who make this a habit. Perhaps they would never leave anything else of much less importance (a play, a ball game, whatever) during the last act or last inning, yet they feel it is okay to leave Mass before the final blessing? I have to chalk it up to not entirely understanding what a Mass is and how very important it is to attend a complete Mass.

If one had been a follower of Christ back in His time, would one have left Him early? Or would one have stayed until He said from the cross, “It is finished?”

 

[tee_eff_em]

While it is true that Fr. McNamara’s reply is nice and truthful to a certain extent he fails to realize that priests and laymen have made the time at the end of the Mass hour into a live radio announcement or broadcast time for just about everything and everyone under the sun.

The GIRM does that – Well, #90a indicates this is the time for “brief announcements, if they are necessary”, which I suppose is a pastoral judgment.

Also, I can attest to [user]PhilotheaZ[/user] – My parish (incorrectly) includes announcements following the Prayer of the Faithful, and some people still leave immediately after receiving.

tee

 

[Beautiful]

Even in parishes that do not have extensive announcements at the end of Mass, the same problem (leaving early) exists.

The problem has always been around and will continue. Forty years ago some people I knew that left early had a ‘ride’ waiting outside for them.
These days - the number of people leaving early appears to have increased and they aren’t hopping into an escort car.

Extensive or not so extensive announcements - wouldn’t it be great if we could go back to the ol’ days when there were no announcements at all?

I’m betting more people would be more inclined to be respectful if all announcements were cut out - a continuum of the Mass without outside interjection.
The end of Mass shouldn’t be a forced occasion for penance. Mass interruption by a self-serving announcer is a problem that stems from the pulpit. For every action there is reaction. People walk out to protect themselves.

 

[redrosetea]

Unless you are ill or have a grave need to be somewhere this is just plain rude to the clergy, and more importantly it is disrespectful to God

 

[nicolep]

We have a new pastor at my parish. He moved the announcements from after communion. We now have them a few minutes before Mass starts. I agree that the liturgy flows better without them.

As for people leaving, I haven’t seen this at my parish except two or three times. Maybe the folks sitting in the back (I’m always up front) do it though.

 

[Beachcomber]

We have a new pastor at my parish. He moved the announcements from after communion. We now have them a few minutes before Mass starts. I agree that the liturgy flows better without them.

As for people leaving, I haven’t seen this at my parish except two or three times. Maybe the folks sitting in the back (I’m always up front) do it though.

That’s a really good idea, moving the announcements to before Mass begins. I’m going to mention that to the priest where I attend Mass.

And with regard to the original question about leaving Mass early, yes, I’ve done it. And for not compelling reasons, either.

 

[sbriton]

I know for me and my wife, the Mass is a prayer, an intimate meeting with our Lord and Savior. The priest is, during the Consecration, “in persona Christi”. So, at least during that time he is in place of Jesus. To us, we need to be in place and prepared before the priest enters for Mass and we will not leave until the priest exits after Mass. Just as we wouldn’t intentionally end a rosary in mid-decade just to run off and do something more fun, we won’t leave Mass until the prayer has ended with the priests exit. We don’t even take our cellphones in so even life threatening family situations will have to wait until we get back to the car to see who called. We’ve known people to leave right after receiving Communion so they could get to the coffee and donuts before anyone else. How incredibly un-Christian is that!!!

Now, I do understand there are reasons some must leave before Mass ends. I once had a job where I was responsible for blood processing systems and was on-call 24x7. If my pager went off (always on vibrate) I had 5 minutes to respond by phone and 20 minutes to be on-site. I feel certain that Christ will not hold me accountable for leaving Mass early in such instances.

But for coffee and donuts?? GOOD GRIEF!!!

Simon

 

[lak611]

The problem has always been around and will continue. Forty years ago some people I knew that left early had a ‘ride’ waiting outside for them.
These days - the number of people leaving early appears to have increased and they aren’t hopping into an escort car.

Extensive or not so extensive announcements - wouldn’t it be great if we could go back to the ol’ days when there were no announcements at all?

I’m betting more people would be more inclined to be respectful if all announcements were cut out - a continuum of the Mass without outside interjection.
The end of Mass shouldn’t be a forced occasion for penance. Mass interruption by a self-serving announcer is a problem that stems from the pulpit. For every action there is reaction. People walk out to protect themselves.

We used to have extensive announcements after Communion at my parish. When my pastor took over 3 years ago, he eliminated these announcements. He told the parishioners that they should read the bulletin to find out what is going on. Nothing is added to the Mass.

 

[Feedmysheep]

The priest at my last parish, who would rather bite his own tongue than offend anyone, once made the following announcement,

"Mass is not over until the final blessing. Those of you who leave directly after receiving Communion are leaving before Mass is over. And remember at the first Mass- the Last Supper- only one person left early.

See me after Mass if you can’t remember who THAT was."

He got a few uneasy chuckles, and everyone DID manage to stay for the entire Mass that day.

 

[muffinmojo]

The priest at my last parish, who would rather bite his own tongue than offend anyone, once made the following announcement,

"Mass is not over until the final blessing. Those of you who leave directly after receiving Communion are leaving before Mass is over. And remember at the first Mass- the Last Supper- only one person left early.

See me after Mass if you can’t remember who THAT was."

He got a few uneasy chuckles, and everyone DID manage to stay for the entire Mass that day.

ROFL that is the greatest! I wish there were more priests like him

 

[Frosty]

At my parish, if there are any announcements that aren’t in the bulletin, they are always done before Mass begins. No one ever leaves right after Communion, rather everyone stays right through the last note on the recessional hymn. I used to wonder at this because back in the old days I remembered many leaving before the Mass had ended. At one point, the pastor got so fed up with it that he had the ushers lock the doors from the nave into the narthex. Of course, this was against fire codes and the fire chief was a parishoner so that practice didn’t last long. The pastor then had the three curates go and stand at the doors immediately after Communion and give the evil eye to those who tried to sneak out. That did seem to work to some extent!
As to why people in the parish I belong to now [and other parishers in my city] don’t leave, I pondered this over for quite awhile and came to the conclusion that the people here are polite and very law-abiding. Why, hardly anyone even jay-walks. They will walk a block to cross at a light or crosswalk even when there is no traffic in sight!. I guess that attitude carries over to Mass as well although I’d much rather prefer to believe that it is reverence for the Mass.

 

[HoosierGal]

The priest at my last parish, who would rather bite his own tongue than offend anyone, once made the following announcement,

"Mass is not over until the final blessing. Those of you who leave directly after receiving Communion are leaving before Mass is over. And remember at the first Mass- the Last Supper- only one person left early.

See me after Mass if you can’t remember who THAT was."

He got a few uneasy chuckles, and everyone DID manage to stay for the entire Mass that day.

I’m going to share this with my priests someday. We also have the problem of people leaving early, and every now and then the priest will remind people that they are not supposed to leave early without a good reason. But many still do. I guess they want to get out of the parking lot without waiting in line.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I had an unusual experience of people leaving early at a daily Mass. This was a parish I was visiting, by the way, not my own.

The Mass itself was quite short. The priest skipped the homily, skipped the prayers of the faithful, skipped the sign of peace. There was a definite sense of “let’s keep things moving right along.”

At communion time the priest stood in the front while the minister with the cup stood off to the side near the door. People went to the priest, went to the minister, and went right out the door. Of the 20 or so people at that Mass, I was one of about five who went back to my pew after communion.

I looked at the clock when I got in my car afterward. It was 18 minutes from the start of the Mass…and a bit shorter for the people who had communion on the run.

Never want to go back there again…

 

[dconklin]

I grew up in South Florida - the land of retirement communities and early-bird specials. Folks would leave to beat the crowd to their favorite post-mass restraunt. We had a young priest that at least once went out into the parking lot to bring them back in. Woohoo! Go get 'em Father!