Mercy - Judgment

[johnnyjoe]

I attended a TLM funeral Mass today. I know this man - the priest - to be well regarded as a spritual advisor, and of some renoun as a homilist.

I must say I was dismayed and saddened by his choice of homily subjects.

The funeral was for a friend - a man who died young, with three small children. It is a perplexing tradgedy that God allows - for ends that are hard to see for now…

The priest said the word “Mercy” but once, and only because he was quoting St. Maria Alacoque.

His manner was cold, his judgment severe, his Latin fast (but accurate), and he seemed to pick and chose what parts of the Mass he wanted to use. My daughter tells me he has the latitude to exclude parts of the Mass if he wishes… a criticism I have often heard aimed at the Novus Ordo.

NONE of the TLM regulars sang any portion of the Mass available to them to sing - something my NO children managed to do at their first TLM Mass.

Well, I did not need to complain here - my real question is fairly technical.

The priest opened the service - I say “service”, for he made the distinction that what he started doing was not the Mass - with a fairly hurried reading of a New Testament passage, and a similar reading of the Gospel, followed by a “homily” that began with an explanation of the actions of the TLM, and ended with a lecture about the enivitability of death, and the ease of entering into mortal sin.

NOT a consoling word about the Mercy of God for the grieving present, or the Hope of Christ for the deceased.

A truly tragic case of the priest seeing a fresh crowd, and deciding he needed to instruct us poor ahearents to the NO just how woeful our faith was…

Is this “prelude” to the Mass common?

Can he pick and choose sections of the TLM Requium Mass that he can use or not?

 

[johnnyjoe]

It seems my test is working out…

If you want a thread ignored on the TLM board, title it with the word “mercy”…

I did think the word “judgment” would get a look or two…

bumpty…bump bump

 

[puzzleannie]

I am like totally not understanding OP
you went to a funeral service
the priest told you up front it was not a Mass
based on his manner of reading the lectionary and his sermon you are making a sweeping judgement of the Novus Ordo mass and all who celebrate or attend it.

If you have a problem with the theme of the funeral sermon, why not discuss that.

if you have a problem with the NO and are dedicated to bashing everyone who follows in obedience to the Church in assisting at this Mass, we have a whole forum dedicated to that pursuit

what exactly is your beef?

 

[Cristiano]

I attended a TLM funeral Mass today. I know this man - the priest - to be well regarded as a spritual advisor, and of some renoun as a homilist.

I must say I was dismayed and saddened by his choice of homily subjects.

The funeral was for a friend - a man who died young, with three small children. It is a perplexing tradgedy that God allows - for ends that are hard to see for now…

The priest said the word “Mercy” but once, and only because he was quoting St. Maria Alacoque.

His manner was cold, his judgment severe, his Latin fast (but accurate), and he seemed to pick and chose what parts of the Mass he wanted to use. My daughter tells me he has the latitude to exclude parts of the Mass if he wishes… a criticism I have often heard aimed at the Novus Ordo.

NONE of the TLM regulars sang any portion of the Mass available to them to sing - something my NO children managed to do at their first TLM Mass.

Well, I did not need to complain here - my real question is fairly technical.

The priest opened the service - I say “service”, for he made the distinction that what he started doing was not the Mass - with a fairly hurried reading of a New Testament passage, and a similar reading of the Gospel, followed by a “homily” that began with an explanation of the actions of the TLM, and ended with a lecture about the enivitability of death, and the ease of entering into mortal sin.

NOT a consoling word about the Mercy of God for the grieving present, or the Hope of Christ for the deceased.

A truly tragic case of the priest seeing a fresh crowd, and deciding he needed to instruct us poor ahearents to the NO just how woeful our faith was…

Is this “prelude” to the Mass common?

Can he pick and choose sections of the TLM Requium Mass that he can use or not?

It is hard to miss a friend. It is harder to see his family missing him. Anything that happens around us in a time like that seems wrong, even a service. It is hard to see justice in an untimely loss and often we turn our disappointment toward other things. Mercy from God is there at all times for all of us, sometimes it is difficult to remember it or accept it and we want to be reassured by a priest that could bring it up a little more often.

 

[Hesychios]

We shall all stand before the Judgment seat. Justice we can be assured of.

We do not want justice, we need mercy!

I agree that the priest could have emphasized the theme of mercy over justice, especially for the bereaved. I am not so sure that we can generalize about any Faith Tradition from this occasion, it may be a shortcoming of the individual. Perhaps it would be best to forgive him and move on. The recently departed (Memory Eternal!) would not want his passing to be the reason for even further conflict and division.

Michael

 

[francesco920]

We shall all stand before the Judgment seat. Justice we can be assured of.

We do not want justice, we need mercy!

I agree that the priest could have emphasized the theme of mercy over justice, especially for the bereaved. I am not so sure that we can generalize about any Faith Tradition from this occasion, it may be a shortcoming of the individual. Perhaps it would be best to forgive him and move on. The recently departed (Memory Eternal!) would not want his passing to be the reason for even further conflict and division.

Michael

Well said!

 

[johnnyjoe]

I am like totally not understanding OP
you went to a funeral service
the priest told you up front it was not a Mass

Well, it was a “Requiem Mass” - The priest in question went through a NT reading, and a gospel reading, and then gave a “homily” before the Mass started. I posted this thread to see if this was a common practice with the TLM crowd…

based on his manner of reading the lectionary and his sermon you are making a sweeping judgement of the Novus Ordo mass and all who celebrate or attend it.

I may have confused you. I attend an NO parish, as did my friend before the last few years. He had decided to start attending Mass at a TLM parish in my area. The priest for the TLM rite - they do not have their own parish - is the priest I was referring to.

If you have a problem with the theme of the funeral sermon, why not discuss that.

I thought I did, though I am sure it sounded confusing. I couldn’t even tell you it was a “sermon”, for I cannot tell when such sermons are permitted during the TLM service.

It appeared to me that the TLM priest saw a captive NO audience and decided to display his views. I very selfish approach to a funeral mass, if you ask me.

if you have a problem with the NO and are dedicated to bashing everyone who follows in obedience to the Church in assisting at this Mass, we have a whole forum dedicated to that pursuit

what exactly is your beef?

I prefer the NO done correctly…