Meet and Greet

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What is everyones opinion on the “meet and Greet” that goes on before Mass at some churches. Today was the first day of our New Pastor…our parish is on the conservative/Orthodox side and some of the people…were having a cow that we did the meet and greet thing with the new priest.
 
THurifer2 said:
What is everyones opinion on the “meet and Greet” that goes on before Mass at some churches. Today was the first day of our New Pastor…our parish is on the conservative/Orthodox side and some of the people…were having a cow that we did the meet and greet thing with the new priest.
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Well, if it’s genuinely before Mass (and I mean, before the Entrance Procession), I’m ok with it, so long as there was a chance for quiet prayerful recollection beforehand. But I’m not a fan of beginning Mass with a “Good morning” or a meet-and-greet.
 
I don’t like it as it is kinda silly, we are about to have an encounter with Jesus but instead of focusing on that we change focus of the Mass about to start to each other.

Why not announce coffee and donuts afterward and a nice social time after Mass for everyone, especially those who are new or do not know many people there.

I don’t think it is bad to say hi to others, just in this day and age there is a prevelant heresy within the Church where Jesus is denied to be present in the Eucharist.
Unfortunately because of this confusion we have many little actions which help to confuse and mislead people. So all these little actions do nothing to help correct the situation but just further the path to rejection of Christ.

Here is a list of a few different actions done which confuse the faithful,

Directing the Mass to be focused on just a gathering instead of a gathering of believers in Christ with the Priest offering up the one Perfect Sacrifice. (this one is related to the topic of the thread)
Not encouraging kneeling in recognition of the Presence of Christ on the Altar.
Not encouraging some silence but filling every moment with sound and “entertainment”
Getting rid of traditional symbols which point to the Presence of Christ at Mass, such as Bells, Actions and Symbols.

Yes we should be welcoming but a welcome is what you should get when you arrive, that is the reason we have can have a few greeters\ushers outside the door, assisting with entry, finding a place to sit and welcoming people to the Church.

I was at a nice old fashioned Church the other day and for the first time in years I had an usher greet me, give me a Missal and another actually helped us find a pew, it was really nice. It made so much more of an impression than everyone being forced to shake hands with each other right before Mass.

In Christ
Scylla
 
I started the thread. I am leaning towards NOT doing the meet and greet. Mostly due to the excellent post above about it. Some people are immensely shy and the meet and greet thing doesn’t help the issue.
 
Hi,

Exactly what is the “meet & greet” thing? Is that everybody turning to the person next to you? No, I don’t care for that—sorta makes the sign of peace redundant.

An usher meeting and greeting is a nice gesture.

Lux
 
I think the priest should be the one who makes the decision. He will discern whether it will be a good or bad thing for his particular parish, and for specific Masses.
 
A “liturgy” is a public work of worship – we’re doing this together, as fellow believers. Greeting each other prior to Mass doesn’t necessarily take the focus away from the sacrifice of the Mass, if, as a previous poster has mentioned, pre-Mass socializing is discouraged and the the parishioners are allowed a period of quiet prayer (10 minutes or so) before Mass begins.

In our diocese it has become custom for a cantor or lector to welcome visitors to the parish, before Mass begins. It is hard to undo what has become custom.

So what do you think about:

“As we prepare to celebrate this Mass as a community of believers in Christ, let us welcome those who are visiting our parish. Can our visitors stand and tell us where you’re from?”

After this, “Before we begin this Eucharistic Liturgy, let us briefly greet those closest to us (or similar words)…” After ten seconds, the the music begins, the focus is on the singing and processional, rather than our neighbors. No detraction from the liturgy.
 
Hi,

I don’t care for having people stand and say where they’re from, but that is my personal opinion.

While it is true that the Mass is generally the only time most people meet their parish community, I personally do not think before Mass is a time for socializing. Possibly more after Mass, but if there are tight Mass schedules, and crowded parking lots, either time is difficult.

I think Cat’s observation is the best—let the Pastor decide. This is his responsibility.

Lux
 
THurifer2 said:
What is everyones opinion on the “meet and Greet” that goes on before Mass at some churches. Today was the first day of our New Pastor…our parish is on the conservative/Orthodox side and some of the people…were having a cow that we did the meet and greet thing with the new priest.
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if it was during Mass, I share your pain, if it was before Mass, get over it, nobody will catch cooties by accidentally smiling at another parishioner, and it should not chew up more than say 15 seconds
 
The best place for a “meet and greet” is **after **Mass, with coffee and doughnuts (traditional- small t), or 100% juice, water and some sort of healthy snack. If set up in the vesitbule (gathering space) by parishioners who aren’t attending that Mass, it works very nicely. People grab their snack, greet the priest, and talk as they exit. It doesn’t hurt to have extroverted people planted as greeters.

If Mass has not started, well, it’s not the worst thing in the world.
 
THurifer2 said:
What is everyones opinion on the “meet and Greet” that goes on before Mass at some churches. Today was the first day of our New Pastor…our parish is on the conservative/Orthodox side and some of the people…were having a cow that we did the meet and greet thing with the new priest.
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I am not comfortable with it at all. I value that time for quiet prayer time and preparation for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass… We can “meet and greet” after mass in the social hall if we like. I never cared for the ‘sign of peace’, and now we have to do, basically, the same thing twice! Seems redundant to me!
 
I think it’s a good reminder that we’re here as a community to worship. Catholics don’t do the “me and Jesus” thing, we do the “us and Jesus” thing.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
I think it’s a good reminder that we’re here as a community to worship. Catholics don’t do the “me and Jesus” thing, we do the “us and Jesus” thing.
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Except at the particular Judgement. Then it is “me and Jesus” ALL by our lone self.
 
It seems a little superfluous to me. Almost like a “pre-sign of peace”. I think the few moments before Mass would be much better spent, in everyone assuming an attitude of quiet… for the Miracle which is about to take place. God bless.
 
Maybe Communion should be replaced by Coffee and Donuts. That way we’ll have more time to really get to know each other in a forced situation! :rolleyes:
 
Are you trying to be obnoxious or does it just come naturally?

Lux
 
Lepanto said:
Maybe Communion should be replaced by Coffee and Donuts. That way we’ll have more time to really get to know each other in a forced situation! :rolleyes:
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😉 Now Leptano, you are a traditionalist in the best way, and you know coffee and donuts is properly for after Mass. How can mothers get their children to behave if they can’t threaten them with loss of their donut?
 
MarieVeronica said:
It seems a little superfluous to me. Almost like a “pre-sign of peace”. I think the few moments before Mass would be much better spent, in everyone assuming an attitude of quiet… for the Miracle which is about to take place. God bless.
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I’m of the similar opinion with this. We already do this during the sign of peace, so whenever I attend a parish that does this, it just seems forced and repetitive. It always appears to be me that they are trying so hard to be viewed as a friendly parish when the incorporate this. They don’t need to have that to prove that they are a good community. They just look like they’re overcompensating which isn’t needed in the first place and I just end up feeling sorry for the person who came up with the idea and the people who look just as uncomfortable and awkward as I feel when I’m placed in this situation. Anyway, the community is fine, but that is a far second to the mass, so as long as the mass is reverent and holy nothing else matters.

I sometimes attend a wonderful parish when I can’t make my parish for mass and they do this. It’s a great parish in many respects, but that meet and greet thing really takes away from the parish and in some respect, for me and my husband at least, from the mass itself before it begins. I like to be praying and quiet to prepare for mass and you get jolted out of prayer when they do this. But I also don’t want to be rude by not acknowleding the others around me. The first time we experienced this, my husband continued to kneel and pray with our eyes closed, but after the mass, I felt that it could have been construed as something totally different than what we were actually doing. So the next time, we did what some of the other parishioners did who looked just as uncomfortable as us - we just nod and smile and stay in our seats. It seemed to take hold because the last few times we went, everyone will now just smile and nod to people rather than stand up and shake hands. I guess more people were as uncomfortable about it as we were. BUT it is an extremely friendly and active parish community. Almost everyone will go to the hall for refreshments after the mass and talk. It’s usually packed and that’s great.
 
At the parish we go to (cathedral parish) they do a “meet&greet” but in an odd way. As people come in and sit all sorts of chit-chat goes on making it rather noisy. A few minutes before Mass starts the cantor will make a standard announcement that we’ll have a few minutes of quiet time for prayer and that all cellphones and pagers should be turned off/muted. I’m usually already in prayer at this point. The funny part is right after they say that they tell everyone to stand and greet one another so there is NO time to pray if you just came in. The entrance hymn then begins almost immediately.

One thing I’ve noticed is many people want to shake hands but many others do not and so there’s a great many awkward moments all around. Personally, I hold the hymnal open with both hands and just nod a greeting to those around me. As someone else mentioned, this is just redundant as we already do the Sign of Peace, so I don’t fully get into it.

One thing that used to happen that no longer does (thank God!) is the priest not being fully a part of the procession at the end of Mass. While the altar servers, crucifix bearer and deacon are walking down the aisle the priest is lagging behind shaking hands with folks in the pews. Not a huge problem, I guess, except that the rest of the procession has exited and he is still only half way down the aisle. Since I don’t leave until the priest exits it’s annoying. But enough people spoke up that he now exits with the procession and greets people outside like every other priest does.

trob
 
Our parish got away from the “meet and greet” before starting Mass. We now have “greeters” at the doors, I like that much better. I still get a nervous sweat at the part of the Mass where we do the sign of Peace w/each other.

I was away from the church for several years when I returned the Tabernacle was no longer on the altar, I still have not gotten over that. When I asked my pastor this was his reply. " its so the priest does not sit in front and block it", how ridiculous!!! he told the 2nd communion class that! I agree with th email response about rituals ceremonies being stopped; this was one thing that I thought of when I read it.
ccJude
 
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