Mega Masses: Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez

[HagiaSophia]

What do you think about mega-Masses? (The kind of Masses we see at WYD, papal visits, etc)?

Speaking yesterday at the Synod of Bishops in Rome, the head of Opus Dei cautioned against the holding of giant masses where many thousands of people worship together and receive communion.

Reuters reports that Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez said such large-scale celebrations could sometimes be a detriment to the “sacred nature” of the mass.

According to an excerpt of his speech given out to reporters and a briefing by a spokesman, Echevarria said the Church should “re-think whether Eucharistic celebrations (masses) with an excessive number of concelebrants is opportune”.

Echevarria said that when there were so many priests saying it at the same time “it does not make the dignified carrying out of the mass possible”.

cathnews.com/news/510/27.php

 

[harinkj]

His ideas are sound. :clapping:

• Kathie :bowdown:

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

Without reading all his reasoning, I can say that I see a definite danger of degrading the sacredness of Mass in huge gathering. I have personal experience of being shoved around by an elderly woman at Mother Teresa’s beatification because the communion line didn’t seem to be moving quickly enough for her.

 

[jetskiters]

I think big masses are okay. They make me feel good knowing that I’m a part of this big body of believers worshipping God together. These help me realize and appreciate better what a big family we are. But I also think we have to adopt some measures to keep the distribution of communion orderly and solemn.

 

[SMHW]

I never really thought about this before but…

Those that like solemn, dignified masses probably are not very comfortable with “Mega-Masses”.

Those that favor Masses where people talk before hand, have louder, jazzier music, more dramatic gestures by the people, etc, are probably those that find Mega-Masses to be especially wonderful and they are re-creating that experience in their home parishes…

 

[JKirkLVNV]

I don’t attend them, because I have a thing about crowds…they make me extremely uncharitable! That said, I think that since they USUALLY feature a pope as celebrant, they’re fine. Most people do not get to worship with the Holy Father. The people that I know who have attended these only had really good things to say about them (one rec. Holy Communion from John Paul the Great himself). I think we can become so overly concerned with “dignity” (what is dignified to one may well not be to another) that we forget who the Mass is for…US. It’s to propitiate God for OUR sins, to render to Him OUR worship. We cannot become so protective of the Eucharist that we forget that Christ instituted it for us, for us to eat and drink and so be united to and with Him. I found the sight of all the people going to Communion at the old Holy Father’s funeral moving. I say more of same, please. Of course, there’s obviously good cause not offer the Chalice at such large gatherings.

 

[Annunciata]

harinkj:

His ideas are sound. :clapping:

• Kathie :bowdown:

Very sound indeed…:clapping:

 

[JSmitty2005]

I don’t like Mega Masses. Attending the Opening Mass at World Youth Day in Bonn was my first Mega Mass and probably the most faith-challenging event that I’ve experienced in a long time. People were clapping and dancing, but I don’t think anyone was very enthusiastic at Calvary, except maybe the Jews. I could hardly recognize that I was surrounded by Catholics, much less, that I was actually at Mass. This superficial Protestant-like emotionalism was hardly the appropriate demeanor for a Solemn Sacrifice. The end of each contemporary song (none of which contained any reverence whatsoever) was accompanied by applause. The applause made me feel like I was at a musical performance like Woodstock. Then when it came to the Our Father, the doxology was added directly onto the end. After that, applause ensued yet again as if the move were some kind of ecumenical milestone. I couldn’t believe that all this occurred at an event that was organized, not by a parish or diocese, but by the highest authorities of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. I say this especially considering how concerned Pope Benedict XVI is with the Liturgy. On April 20th, 2005, at the conclusion of the conclave, he stated that: “The Eucharist will be the center of the World Youth Day in Cologne in August. I ask everyone in the coming months to intensify love and devotion for Jesus in the Eucharist, and to express courageously and clearly faith in the Real Presence of the Lord, especially by the solemnity and the correctness of the celebrations.” I would venture to guess that the Holy Father was disappointed by the results of his request. Not only was there much disrespect, but the priest in our group that concelebrated the Mass told us that almost no-one received Communion and that there were many Hosts leftover. Another quote that I would like to point out is from St. Francis de Sales. He tells us to “behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence.” Once again, I don’t think that St. Francis would have been very pleased by the actions that occurred at this Mass. When the Mass (or should I say “mess”) was over, people were saying things like: “Wasn’t that awesome?” Those kinds of statements made me wonder if the Mass we had in our hotel room wasn’t awesome. I mean, Jesus isn’t any more present at one Mass than he is at another, is he? The other thing that I was asked was whether or not I was having fun. All I had to say to that was that we weren’t there to have fun and that shut them up. I think that I made them realize that their motives for going on this pilgrimage weren’t altogether pure. Actually, I don’t think very many people at all were there for the right reasons, which could be why almost no one received Communion. I was disappointed by the lack of education among my peers who supposedly attended “Catholic” schools their entire lives. The whole experience made me uncomfortable. I have to question an institution that not only doesn’t enforce its own beliefs but actually facilitates the opposite. It’s just sad that this institution has to be the Church. Things like this make me sometimes wonder if groups like the SSPX are right.