Okay for lay person to preside at Mass?

[Chortle]

At our parish council meeting tonight, our pastor told us that he would not be able to preside at this weekend’s Masses because he will be out of town. He has assigned a lay woman, the head of religious education at our parish, to preside and preach at each of the three Masses.

This struck me as odd, so I asked him if this arrangement was okay with the bishop. He said that it was okay to appoint a lay presider if no priest was available to offer Mass. I’ve never seen a lay person offer Mass before.

Any thoughts or comments on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

There can’t be a mass without a priest. There is a provision for a Communion Service in the absence of a priest. This is the same as EMHC’s do at retirement homes etc. It follows the missal through the Creed, then jumps to the Our Father - i.e. omits the Offertory and Eucharistic Prayer and Consecration. Communion is distributed using hosts consecrated at a previous mass.

 

[Walking_Home]

At our parish council meeting tonight, our pastor told us that he would not be able to preside at this weekend’s Masses because he will be out of town. He has assigned a lay woman, the head of religious education at our parish, to preside and preach at each of the three Masses.

This struck me as odd, so I asked him if this arrangement was okay with the bishop. He said that it was okay to appoint a lay presider if no priest was available to offer Mass. I’ve never seen a lay person offer Mass before.

Any thoughts or comments on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

---

Without a priest–there is no consecration–therefore no Mass.
Hopefully --your priest was referring to a communion service.

 

[Eileen_T]

And, the lay presider can read a homily prepared by a priest but cannot give one of their own.

Also, the Sunday obligation is to attend Mass where possible. If you are able, ie, transport-wise & financially, to attend a neighbouring parish, you should do so.

If I remember correctly, there is no obligation to attend Liturgy of the Word and Holy Communion on a Sunday. When we faced this and I mentioned I would be driving 15-20 kms to another parish, I was told that I was very short-sighted over the matter.

 

[Titus]

The simple answer to the question in the title is under no circumstances. Your priest could be in danger of giving scandal if there is no notice regarding the fact that these are Services of the Word and Holy Communion in the Absence of a Priest and not mass.

I’d stay away if I was you. Go to a nearby parish. Or stay home and pray if you can’t go elsewhere. It has all the hallmarks of a scandalous occasion. Be careful, and talk to the Pastor.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

At our parish council meeting tonight, our pastor told us that he would not be able to preside at this weekend’s Masses because he will be out of town. He has assigned a lay woman, the head of religious education at our parish, to preside and preach at each of the three Masses.

This struck me as odd, so I asked him if this arrangement was okay with the bishop. He said that it was okay to appoint a lay presider if no priest was available to offer Mass. I’ve never seen a lay person offer Mass before.

Any thoughts or comments on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

You misunderstand what he is saying and I would suspect many others will also unless great care is taken.

She is NOT presiding at this weekends Masses. She is conducting Lay lead Communion services because no Priest is available. She should NOT “vest” to look like a priest or deacon, this only adds to the confusion. It should be announced at the beginning and clearly printed in the bulletin that these are “Communion Services”, not the Sacrifice of the Mass. Anyone capable of going to another parish for Mass on Sunday is obligated to do so. She cannot give a Homily, but may read a reflection prepared by the pastor before he left for his trip.

I assume that you have no Deacon otherwise it would be his responsibility to conduct the Communion Service.

 

[Chortle]

Thanks for your responses. It could be that I misunderstood what my pastor said. He probably meant that the lay person would preside over a communion service (hopefully!). I’ll give him a call today for clarification. I’ll also try to attend a Mass at a nearby parish.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

. . .If I remember correctly, there is no obligation to attend Liturgy of the Word and Holy Communion on a Sunday. When we faced this and I mentioned I would be driving 15-20 kms to another parish, I was told that I was very short-sighted over the matter.

Our priests all go on retreat together with the bishop one week a year. However, order priests in a nearby parish continue to say a daily mass. A seminarian, a good friend, was conducting a Communion Service each morning at our parish and asked why I wasn’t coming. I told him I would come next year when he could offer the whole banquet. Meanwhile I would skip his K-rations in favor of the banquet down the street.

 

[mjdvike]

Our priests all go on retreat together with the bishop one week a year. However, order priests in a nearby parish continue to say a daily mass. A seminarian, a good friend, was conducting a Communion Service each morning at our parish and asked why I wasn’t coming. I told him I would come next year when he could offer the whole banquet. Meanwhile I would skip his K-rations in favor of the banquet down the street.

Are you saying that having the opportunity to receive the Lord’s Body in a Communion Service is receiving “K-RATIONS?”

I certainly am hoping you did not mean that. Because I personally think that is insulting to the Lord and the Church.

Did you know that there are millions of people of this earth of ours that only have the opportunity to attend Holy Eucharist a few times a year - and the rest of the year can ‘ONLY’ attend Communion Services where the Word is heard and Communion is received.

We are fed by the Word and by Bread. At our parish we always have Mass on Sundays. When a parish priest is not available because of diocesan priests’ retreat, priests from orders are invited. During the week we never have Communion Services - if there is no priest available, no Mass is celebrated. This is because it is NOT necessary for the daily Mass to be replaced by a Communion Service when there are so many other opportunities during the week for the Mass.

If I had no way of getting to Holy Mass (such as lack of transportation, distance, etc) I certainly would attend a Communion Service. I do not relish the thought of not being fed.

PEACE.

 

[Aramis]

Tradition provides for the Pastor to grant relief from the Sunday Obligation.

Further, canon 230 permits presiding over prayers by lay ministers.

The pastor is doing the right thing, by providing for a communion service.

If possible and practical, however, one should go to mass on sunday.

 

[puzzleannie]

At our parish council meeting tonight, our pastor told us that he would not be able to preside at this weekend’s Masses because he will be out of town. He has assigned a lay woman, the head of religious education at our parish, to preside and preach at each of the three Masses.

.

please tell me you heard wrong. there is absolutely no provision for anyone other than a priest or bishop to preside at Mass. Please tell me what you heard was that a layperson (in the absence of a deacon) is going to preside at a Liturgy of the Word and Communion Service according to the rules governing such services on Sunday in the absence of a priest. Please tell me people in your parish, esp. PC, are not using the word Mass carelessly to mean a communion service.

 

[puzzleannie]

Our . I told him I would come next year when he could offer the whole banquet. Meanwhile I would skip his K-rations in favor of the banquet down the street.

sorry I hope if the seminarian heard a parishioner refer to reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in a communion outside Mass as “K-rations” that he immediately took advantage of this catechetical moment to instruct said parishioner on the reality of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and reverence for Him in the reserved sacrament.

 

[THurifer2]

DOes your parish have a deacon or instituted acolyte? If the Religious ed director presided over our “communion service” and gave a “homily” I wouldn’t attend. Find a neighboring parish.

 

[otjm]

Our priests all go on retreat together with the bishop one week a year. However, order priests in a nearby parish continue to say a daily mass. A seminarian, a good friend, was conducting a Communion Service each morning at our parish and asked why I wasn’t coming. I told him I would come next year when he could offer the whole banquet. Meanwhile I would skip his K-rations in favor of the banquet down the street.

I am not sure that I would ever refer to the Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ as K rations.

If you were in the hospital and someone brought you the Eucharist, would you refuse it and call it K rations? I fail to see the difference…

 

[G_S]

Tradition provides for the Pastor to grant relief from the Sunday Obligation.

Further, canon 230 permits presiding over prayers by lay ministers.

The pastor is doing the right thing, by providing for a communion service.

If possible and practical, however, one should go to mass on sunday.

He may be doing the right thing. Some city parishes, for example, are very close geographically to other parishes and parishioners might just as easily attend Mass at a nearby parish. A very important additional proviso is that a communion service on a Sunday is prohibited if a Sunday Mass will be provided in the same church. For example, is a visiting priest can only be obtained for the 10:30 when the pastor is absent, the 8:30 cannot be a communion service.