Need help focusing in Mass

[Lost_Wanderer]

Actually this isn’t really a problem with just Mass. I’ve been having this problem during class, when someone is making a speech, when someone is giving a sermon, and anything else that would require me to give a prolonged amount of attention while sitting in an audience.

When the subject/homily doesn’t particularly grab me, my mind just tends to fly off (don’t ask where cuz it’s really awkward ). It gets particularly worse when I can’t even understand the priest (sometimes the Mass is spoken in a different dialect here) or even when in English, the sound system is so bad it gets all garbled.

Has anybody got any… I don’t know… mind tips or concentration techniques or something?

 

[LaMama]

When I find myself fighting my own brain I say the Rosary. A decade or so or at least a Hail Mary. I ask Our Mother Mary to calm my thoughts. Mothers can do that, you know.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

When I find myself fighting my own brain I say the Rosary. A decade or so or at least a Hail Mary. I ask Our Mother Mary to calm my thoughts. Mothers can do that, you know.

Actually stuff like that just makes it worse. In fact, I’ll extend this problem to anything that involves prolonged periods of concentration. Apparently my mind flies away faster than a swallow if something fails to grab it. >_>;;

 

[OldRedleg]

Saying a rosery during the homily is a bad idea because it removes you from the active participation of the Mass.

We are called to be active listeners during the homily. To help you do that I recommend that you try to listen for what the focus of the homily is about and what the Priest/Deacon is calling you to do (focus/function). Listening for the focus and function of a holimy will help keep your mind on what is being said and also allow you to gain the desired benefit.

God Bless!

 

[lyricmac]

First of all, I would sit as close to the altar as possible-it is much easier to lose concentration when one is further away and more easily distracted by people around you or fidgeting children. Being close to the altar and the ambo, I have found, makes it easier for me to keep my mind on the Mass. Observe, really watch what is happening at the altar.

Go before the Mass and check out the seating in the church, get a feel for where the best place to sit and hear is, where the sound system is heard the best.

Make and keep eye contact with Father during the homily-you may find that helps to keep focused on what he is saying.

Finally, when all else fails and I am still distracted, I will stop for a moment and clear my mind and recite a little prayer, such as, “in the Name of Jesus, the Son of the Living God, I command every distraction, anything that impedes my worship of God, to leave me now. In the Name of Jesus, amen.” Remember that there is power in the Name of our Lord Jesus, and nothing, no outside influence of any kind, can withstand it. When I recite this prayer in my mind, it’s like a switch being turned on-I find myself able to concentrate on the Mass and the worship of God. May God bless you and I will pray for your success.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

First of all, I would sit as close to the altar as possible-it is much easier to lose concentration when one is further away and more easily distracted by people around you or fidgeting children. Being close to the altar and the ambo, I have found, makes it easier for me to keep my mind on the Mass. Observe, really watch what is happening at the altar.

Go before the Mass and check out the seating in the church, get a feel for where the best place to sit and hear is, where the sound system is heard the best.

Make and keep eye contact with Father during the homily-you may find that helps to keep focused on what he is saying.

Hmmm… never really thought of that. I’ve always stuck myself to the back for some reason cuz the front rows always look so full. I’ll try that out next Sunday, thanks.

 

[SMHW]

We all have days like that. But since you say this is a constant problem than perhaps part of the problem is that you aren’t getting enough sleep, proper food, or exercise? Our bodies can have an impact on our minds and spirits.

But back to Mass… Sometimes I find that if I look over the readings ahead of time and try to see the relationship between the psalm, the first reading, and the Gospel then I am already anticipating what the priest might speak about during the homily. Then, even if I’m having a day where concentrating is hard, I am at least going to want to compare and contrast the priest’s words with my own thoughts. I would think this would also help to understand a different accent or dialect if you have some idea about what words might be used.

If the real issue is WHERE your mind is wandering, rather than the fact that it is wandering, then that is a whole 'nuther problem.

 

[Cat]

I have an idea–look for liturgical abuses and liberal leanings in your Masses! And count all the times that the hymns are “me” centered! This seems to keep a lot of people focused on the Mass!



No, don’t do any of that. I’m just being a smart aleck.

I agree–sit close to the front.

But remember, your faith is greater than someone who is on task every minute of Mass because you keep on attending even though you have to struggle to pay attention. You’re obviously not attending for the emotional high or the good times. Good for you for having fortitude and for loving Jesus enough to keep obeying Him, even though it’s not full of jollies for you!

Perhaps as you get older and your life slows down and is less full of a million distractions, people, places, and entertainments, you might find it easier to be totally engaged during Mass.

 

[Cat]

Here is one more suggestion that has worked for our family for years. We read about this in a Christian joke book, and laughed. Then my husband and children started doing it for real, and it’s amazing how it can keep you focused during church. My kids still do this at times. Even my husband will do it when he attends a boring seminar or business meeting.

Write the down letters of the alphabet in a column:

A

B

C

etc.

Then listen for a word that begins with the letters. Rule: you have to go IN ORDER of the alphabet. For example, start by looking for a word that starts with “A”–easy–Amen! But maybe the priest will say, “Apple pie sale today in the Church rectory!” or “Abortion is a grave sin.” etc.

Then comes B, C, etc.

You CAN’T skip letters! If the priest says “Take your children to the Zoo today” at the very beginning of his homily, you aren’t allowed to skip all the other letters and write down “Zoo” after “Z”! That would be cheating!

The tricky words are those that start with Q, but at least in the Catholic Church, you often hear the Blessed Mother referred to as “Queen of heaven” etc.! (Never heard this in the Protestant church!) And there’s “quiet” and “quick” and “quit.”

X is also a challenge. We usually allowed words that had “ex” in them, e.g., “excitement.” But you don’t get as many points.

Perhaps it sounds kind of irreverent, but it really isn’t because it truly helps you to focus and stay wide-awake. And you are listening very hard to everything that is said and sung because you want to finish your “Mass Alphabet.”

If you finish it early, start over, but you have to use different words than you used in the first alphabet. Or start from the opposite end of the alphabet and work your way back.

TRY this with your school-aged children during Mass. Guaranteed to stop the shuffling through the hymnals, the requests to go to the bathroom, and the whispered, “How much longer?” And after Mass, you’ll have 26 words from the Mass (more if you have multiple children) to think about, discuss, and meditate on.

Just be careful that you don’t get too emotionally involved. It’s kind of bad if you suddenly jump up, pump your fist, and say, “Yes! He said xylophone!”

 

[ElizabethPH]

I get distracted by folks that cant’ keep still in the pew in front of me. The constant movement for me is a distraction that forces me to close my eyes so’s I can focus on the Homily better. I’m going to move up to the very front row and see if that doesn’t take care of it.

I think a lot of our minds can wander during lectures, Homilies etc. ADD folks must have a heck of a time.

I find closing my eyes helps with that as well. But then it looks like I’m sleeping. That might work for Mass…but I’m not sure that would work for school.

 

[Sancto_Spiritu]

Saying a rosery during the homily is a bad idea because it removes you from the active participation of the Mass.

That is wrong. “Active participation” can mean any number of things, and saying the Rosary is one kind of participation.

 

[OldRedleg]

: “Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations, which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy.”

Paragraph 14 of Sacrosanctum Concilium

In all charity, if you are praying a rosary during Mass you are performing a personal devotion. You are not engaged in “full, conscious, and active participation” of the liturgical celebration of the Mass with the assembled community.

But lets keep on focus of the OPs original question.

God Bless.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Hey everyone. Thank you so much for all your advice and soooo sorry for not updating.
You’re right, I find it easier to distinguish between “a” and “e” when sitting at the front (or at least close to some speakers ).

There’s still one other problem though: Language. >_>;;

All the masses I attend to always seem to be spoken in Bisaya (that’s a local dialect here). Frankly, I can only understand it on a conversational level. I can’t keep up if it’s spoken via sermon.

What should I do? >_<;;

 

[lyricmac]

Does Father speak English? Or Tagalog? Talk to him after Mass, or make an appointment to see him during the week and explain to him your difficulty with Bisaya.
Maybe there is a local Mass in one of the national languages at a neighboring parish, or perhaps he might see if there is interest in such a Mass at your parish. You may be pleasantly surprised-there might be others who have spoken to him in the past about this.

My experience with Filipino priests generally shows that they are very interested in the salvation of their parishoners. So, do let Father know of your concerns-he may even explain his homily to you after Mass so that you don’t feel left out. I pray for your success.

 

[Lainey63]

Actually this isn’t really a problem with just Mass. I’ve been having this problem during class, when someone is making a speech, when someone is giving a sermon, and anything else that would require me to give a prolonged amount of attention while sitting in an audience.

When the subject/homily doesn’t particularly grab me, my mind just tends to fly off (don’t ask where cuz it’s really awkward ). It gets particularly worse when I can’t even understand the priest (sometimes the Mass is spoken in a different dialect here) or even when in English, the sound system is so bad it gets all garbled.

Has anybody got any… I don’t know… mind tips or concentration techniques or something?

I use imagery when my mind is racing or if I find myself fading away! Sometimes I picture a big stop sign coming towards me other times I have the cop with the white gloves & whistle then the stop sign. So when I see that in my mind I stop my thinking and focus a little bit. At first that was hard to do…I had to practice a lot. Sometimes I just say a little prayer and tell God I’m having a hard time focusing and ask for help. It took me a long time to learn how to quiet my mind and sometimes it’s still hard to just sit & listen. Don’t feel so bad though…most people have very poor listening skills…when we think of communication skills we think of talking but it is also listening. By learning the skill of listening we gain in our communications skills which of course we need in all areas of our lives.
As far as listening to a priest with a dialect try saying a little prayer to the Holy Spirit…you’ll hear what you need to hear…If you’re listening that is.

 

[EasterJoy]

This is the best one I’ve come across. It helps if you read the readings before Mass.

Listen as if you know that right after Mass you are going to be trapped in a situation where you will have to relate the substance of the homily to a third person, with the homilist and several other parishioners standing there. (EEEK! )

Then, add this idea I got from a talk by Matthew Kelly that I caught on the radio: when you get home after Mass, get out a notebook that you reserve for the purpose, write down what the homilist said, and add on a reflection of your own, even if it is that you don’t agree and why. Then write down one thing you’re going to do or pay attention for the next week as a result. Just a sentence.

A few months from now, when you look back on what you’ve heard and reflected on, it is awesome. You’ll start relating this week’s readings to last week’s, and last month’s, because the cycle of the readings was chosen to relate week-to-week. Your adherence to what you intended to do may or may not be too inspiring, but even that is a good thing.

The only problem is that one can get so into the homily that one’s mind can wander during the Euchastic Prayer! In that case, it helps to study the structure of the Eucharistic Prayer and the Mass, as the meaning of things will leap out when you’ve just been reading about them.

Here are some tricks that relate to looking over the readings before Mass: Start by reading the response in the responsorial psalm. That will give you a great hint about a main message of the readings is. Then read the Gospel. Then read the 1st reading, as compare it to the Gospel with the “theme” in mind. Then add the 2nd reading (which may or may not have such an obvious connection with the other two readings.) Then go back and read the Responsorial Psalm.

Preparation, preparation, preparation and devotion, devotion, devotion. Those work the best, I think.

As for the general problem of attention, look into the literature for people with attention deficit disorder. You might also read the book, “Crazy Busy” by Edward Hallowell. He is an expert on ADD/ADHD who contends that modern society is so full of distractions and “multitasking” that it gives everybody the trials that people with full-blown ADD have to deal with!