Place of Announcements in the Mass

  • Thread starter Thread starter KephaKobet
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

KephaKobet

Guest
Hey everybody.
So I was watching a video on the YouTube machine (on the gabiafterhours channel, I think), and an issue was brought to my attention that I never thought about before. Is it appropriate for parish announcements to be read right after holy communion and before the closing prayers? It seems like this should be a time of meditation/prayer/thanksgiving. Lemme know what y’all think.

-Peter
 
Yes, announcements can be given right before the final blessing and dismissal. That is when they are in my parish, but there is usually enough quiet time between communion and announcements.

Other priests will give announcements right after the homily. I find that a more distracting moment because it interrupts any meditation on the homily and then during the Eucharistic prayers I am thinking about the bingo meeting next week or whatever. 😛
 
KephaKobet said:
Hey everybody.
So I was watching a video on the YouTube machine (on the gabiafterhours channel, I think), and an issue was brought to my attention that I never thought about before. Is it appropriate for parish announcements to be read right after holy communion and before the closing prayers? It seems like this should be a time of meditation/prayer/thanksgiving. Lemme know what y’all think.

-Peter
Click to expand...
Brief announcements, if they are necessary, are to be after the Prayer after Communion and before the Final Blessing. Unfortunately, in too many parishes, mine included, they are made before the Prayers after Communion, totally breaking up the Communion Rite.
 
At my home parish, the lector reads any announcements right before the collection.

I find it a distraction at any point during the Mass, and rather they stop doing it, or do it before Mass starts. Bulletins are for announcements.

That’s at the OF. The EF I attend on most Sundays seldom has that nonsense. If it does, it’s before the sermon.
 
KephaKobet said:
Hey everybody.
So I was watching a video on the YouTube machine (on the gabiafterhours channel, I think), and an issue was brought to my attention that I never thought about before. Is it appropriate for parish announcements to be read right after holy communion and before the closing prayers? It seems like this should be a time of meditation/prayer/thanksgiving. Lemme know what y’all think.

-Peter
Click to expand...
It’s done that way in my Parish. We sit when the Priest sits and that’s normally after the the Minister’s of Communion have cleared the Altar.
 
Done in Fl as well, usually right before the final blessing, not always but most of the time it is, didn’t use to be that way,but i understand why it is done, because not everyone picks up a bulletin ! but it does deff break the mass up an i tend to roll my eyes and think about other things during announcements… what ever though, I don’t go to mass for the announcements.
 
Right before the closing prayer and recessional hymn is the perfect time for announcements!

At this point, the Public Work (the Liturgy) is nearly concluded, and we’re about to be Sent Forth (Missa Est) to bring Christ to the world (whom we just received in the Eucharist) and build the kingdom.

In that context, what better place to talk about the work of the parish community and the Church at large? I think we should make better use of the announcements to introduce the various ministries and regularly invite parishioners to get involved in them. Make it easy–have a little contact card that they can drop in a bucket as they go out after Mass so that the ministries can contact interested people to try to get more participation.
 
Yeah, my parish does announcements just before the final blessing.
 
At both of the churches I attend, announcements happen after the prayer after communion but before the final blessing…
 
Our local OF parish does annoucements before Mass begins, prior to the processional. Our EF parish is the same as Saints Alive’s comments. Check the bulletin after Mass.
 
Saints_Alive said:
At my home parish, the lector reads any announcements right before the collection.

I find it a distraction at any point during the Mass, and rather they stop doing it, or do it before Mass starts. .
Click to expand...
I very much agree with this. The Mass is a prayer, not parts of it, all of it - I don’t need to be interrupted while I am praying.
 
Most of the announcements are superfluous. Read the bulletin. If it’s really important then right before the homily is a better time because the homily is a natural break in the Mass.
 
Most parishes I go to, will read off announcements just before the final blessing & dismissal. Its rare to have them before Mass starts.

When I attend the EF Mass, any announcements are read just before the homily begins. Never had them read off at any other time at the EF with the exception of one time maybe two where the priest read off a few important ones before Mass started.
 
What is the significance of the sending forth (ite missa est, from which the Mass gets its colloquial name) if not to go and do the work of God? That’s what the announcements should be about–parish life and what is going on for people to take part in. Mass is your only time of captive audience; many people do not read the bulletin; many more don’t read all of it, even if they intend to. Announcements are to call attention to the most important thing, report on important things that are difficult to convey easily in a busy bulletin, and invite people to do God’s work with your fellow parishioners.

As such, I think their proper place is either directly before or directly after the sending forth. I believe that is included in the liturgical rubrics, if my memory serves from past discussions on this topic.

I would issue this question (challenge, perhaps?) to those who don’t want any announcements included, or who find them a distraction. Do you merely internalize your faith? Is the Mass just an internal worship? Are we not suppose to take our worship (and the Eucharist we just received into our bodily temples) out into the world in living action?

That’s what the announcements and the life of the parish should be about. I would go so far as to suggest that there is not just a missed opportunity but a great gap, a disconnect between faith and our faith alive through works, if announcements are not connected to the Mass. Not connecting them is like saying our prayer and worship is separate from anything else we do, rather than uniting the two and letting the Sacrifice and worship we just committed give life to our parish and our work.

Essentially what I’m saying is that disconnecting announcements (about parish life and ministry) from Mass is like glaringly highlighting that “faith without works is dead…”
 
When there are announcements about youth groups, CCD classes, or other things that don’t apply to me, it’s easy to get distracted. That’s why it’s better before the homily than during the Mass.
 
smndtupidisaftr said:
When there are announcements about youth groups, CCD classes, or other things that don’t apply to me, it’s easy to get distracted. That’s why it’s better before the homily than during the Mass.
Click to expand...
Before the homily IS during the Mass…
 
smndtupidisaftr said:
But it is a break from the rest of the rite.
Click to expand...
How so? It is an essential part of the Liturgy of the Word. It is directly connected to and flows from the readings and psalm. We need to go directly from the Word to the ordained minister’s explanation and application of that Word, and thence to the profession and prayers of the faithful from that word. To break that narrative seems more disruptive to me than to consider how we are going to live out the call of the Word and Eucharist just before we are sent forth to do just that.
 
smndtupidisaftr said:
When there are announcements about youth groups, CCD classes, or other things that don’t apply to me, it’s easy to get distracted. That’s why it’s better before the homily than during the Mass.
Click to expand...
That’s a strange comment. How is that not during the Mass?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top