Please STOP Leaving Mass Early Right After Communion!

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The truth is that there is this singer in my parish and frankly her voice is, for me, too loud and sensual sounding. After the announcements and final blessing I dont want to stay to hear her sing the final song, clap and then leave. So lately I have been “sneaking out” as much as an almost 6 foot 8 month pregnant woman can. I hope that’s ok.
 
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MarthaSo said:
The truth is that there is this singer in my parish and frankly her voice is, for me, too loud and sensual sounding. After the announcements and final blessing I dont want to stay to hear her sing the final song, clap and then leave. So lately I have been “sneaking out” as much as an almost 6 foot 8 month pregnant woman can. I hope that’s ok.
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I thin that’s perfectly acceptable. The Mass is finished, after all.

But I don’t think we are talking about that, are we? It’s those leaving after Holy Communion, I thought.
 
PetraG said:
I think the article was aimed at people who had been poorly catechized concerning what it meant to meet their Sunday obligation.
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As far as I know, there is no church requirement that you need to stay to the very end of the Mass in order to meet your Sunday obligation.

Canon lawyers differ on this issue. I’ve read that Ed Peters blog before, it’s on the “Greatest Hits” list for everybody who carps about people who come to Mass late or leave Mass early.

Your Mass attendance, including whether you’re early, on time or late, and whether you leave early, on time, or last one out of the church because you were praying right up till the sacristan threw you out and locked the doors, is between you and God.

As much as people would like to enforce some “rule” about “if you weren’t there for X then you didn’t really attend Mass”, there isn’t one, and it’s not enforced.

I have better things to do than get upset about when people come and go from Mass. The ChurchPop piece and Ed Peters piece and so forth are meant to encourage people to stay for more of the Mass, which is fine, but that’s not the audience on CAF. Which is, I think, what you said also Petra.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
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PetraG:
I think the article was aimed at people who had been poorly catechized concerning what it meant to meet their Sunday obligation.
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As far as I know, there is no church requirement that you need to stay to the very end of the Mass in order to meet your Sunday obligation.

Canon lawyers differ on this issue. I’ve read that Ed Peters blog before, it’s on the “Greatest Hits” list for everybody who carps about people who come to Mass late or leave Mass early.

Your Mass attendance, including whether you’re early, on time or late, and whether you leave early, on time, or last one out of the church because you were praying right up till the sacristan threw you out and locked the doors, is between you and God.

As much as people would like to enforce some “rule” about “if you weren’t there for X then you didn’t really attend Mass”, there isn’t one, and it’s not enforced.

I have better things to do than get upset about when people come and go from Mass. The ChurchPop piece and Ed Peters piece and so forth are meant to encourage people to stay for more of the Mass, which is fine, but that’s not the audience on CAF. Which is, I think, what you said also Petra.
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Its not a rule but I would think, like the issue of arriving “late” for mass, it would depend on why one would leave early as to whether your obligation was fulfilled… to me it wouldn’t be if you just wanted to leave and couldn’t be bothered staying…
 
I wasn’t sure actually what was considered the FINAL moment one should leave, but thanks for clarifying.
 
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Yes, exactly. The piece is making a distinction between the question of whether it is OK to leave early in terms of the letter of the law of meeting the obligation–that isn’t the point–and whether it violates the spirit and reason for the obligation to make leaving early a habit. The author is encouraging people to see leaving early without a compelling reason as a spiritually-unhealthy habit. He is NOT encouraging those who stay in the pews to make the reasons of those who leave early their business. Honestly, I think that concern for whether we personally have a duty to render aid in a particular case is about the only reason to concern ourselves with what anyone else does.
 
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I can’t make a broad sweeping statement that says everyone that attends an OF mass is more reverent, but out of the dozens of masses that I’ve attended at different parishes, the reverence at the OF mass was much greater. You didn’t see people sitting around talking about their weeks and things unrelated to church while people were praying the rosary or anything of that sort.
 
One can always bring up these kinds of questions with a priest in confession, if it’s a big concern.

I was late to Sunday Mass a couple weeks ago because I happened to be driving 5 hours on the turnpike that day, had not gone to the morning Mass because I thought I’d arrive in time to make an evening Mass, and when the weather turned bad and it became apparent I would not make the evening Mass, I used MassTimes to find a Mass near where I was at. Unfortunately, that Mass was not accessible from the part of the turnpike where I was, so I had to drive another 20 miles and find another Mass, and there was an ice storm going on, and I ended up arriving during the homily.

I did not confess this in confession because I made not only a good faith but a rather heroic (in my opinion) effort to get to Mass at an unfamiliar church in an area I’m only noddingly acquainted with.

I am sure somebody in the pews saw me coming in late and concluded I did not meet my Sunday obligation and that I’m a big slacker. So what? They’re not supposed to be judging me, just like I didn’t judge the two people in my pew who left after receiving Communion.

I did tell God that in hindsight I should have gone to the morning Mass before the weather changed and filed the lesson away for next time, but hindsight is always 20/20.
 
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That is my biggest peeve to be honest, I don’t care if I’m called “judgy”, in the days I arrive at Mass just about 5 it 10 minutes early I like to pray a quick prayer before it starts and people are talking loud!! The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing I was one of them many years ago out of ignorance and I just try to tune them out. I have done the half turn my head to show a little of my disappointment but then I feel bad because it feels wrong, meanwhile a tougher Catholic woman than me would be bold enough to ask them to tone it down in a diplomatic way. Or,…maybe this is what the gathering is about and people should talk before Mass and greet and be loud. I really don’t know but i’m a quiet sort of introverted person so it affects me as an intrusiveness.
 
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There is every opportunity for people to talk outside of mass. Honestly sometimes I think we need more people to tell them to be quiet if they are in the sanctuary. They can step outside of the sanctuary and have conversations. What bothers me still is I have seen priests and deacons who will interrupt people during their rosaries to ask them about their weeks. I know people just want to be nice, but there’s a lot of other times you can be nice and talk with others before mass or throughout the week.
 
Clementine14 said:
Nobody should be blocking doors. And if they are, nobody should need to explain to them why they’re leaving to get them to move.
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Fully agreed. There have been times where’s I’ve exited at communion rather than doing the shuffle of letting people out…sitting back down…then trying to let people in again.

Having people “guard” the door sounds super strange to me.
 
I will just say that people should do their best to attend the entire Mass, whether EF or OF. That should be the personal/family goal for Catholics.

But for various reasons., good, bad, or neither, they sometimes arrive late and/or leave early. But considering how many people don’t bother to attend Mass at all, I am happy to have people come for as long as they can.

And as for whether or not the EF versus OF Mass makes a difference…
People have been arriving late for Mass and leaving early for years before Vatican II. So as long as people can self-select which Mass to attend, I don’t think any statistics on the EF versus the OF are particularly noteworthy.
 
yankeesouth said:
It’s my experience so it certainly is true. Obviously I ain’t the only one as per the OP. It is an issue of poor catechesis. Since when are the Spiritual Works of Mercy uncharitable?
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When your “spiritual work of mercy” is just complaining about other people on anonymous Internet boards, but without you getting into the trenches and working towards a solution. The real spiritual works of mercy are admonishing the sinner and instructing the ignorant. You’re not doing either of these. You’re just complaining on an Internet board. Those people you see are presumably not here.

You admitted yourself that you no longer attend the OF as a general rule. This tells us you are not involved in the OF community. Did you bring up your concerns with the pastor? Did you offer your services in your parish adult catechesis program? Did you try to form a Bible study group to form friendships and learn how God’s Word and the Mass tie together? Are you forwarding your name for inclusion in the parish council? Something? Anything?

So far, all you’ve done is post the link and complain about people you don’t even generally associate with. In the corporate world, it’s poor form to complain without bringing one or more potential solutions. The same principle applies in church. If you complain, bring suggestions, even if they won’t be adopted. Otherwise, you’re just a complainer, and no matter how valid the subject matter is, you won’t be taken seriously, and quite frankly, rightly so.

And just so you know, your brush is broad. My OF people stay through the last line of the final hymn.
 
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Howdy,

Sorry I did not read every post but perhaps we can solve this by advising our pastors and lectors to NOT take us a captive audience.

Last week I was at a parish where the priest took 10 minutes before final blessing to explain that he’d be out of town and and if need be you’ll get an email from him. It applied to basically 5-10 people who would get the email any ways but he felt the entire congregation had to know…

Often we’ll get further pleas from KofC or the entire bulletin read! If Mass is not actually over there is no place for this!

When I was a kid coffee and donuts were part of after Mass and most of the congregation stuck around. KofC was outside in a booth. Priest milled about (smoking cigarettes as I recall! 1960’s!). Now its a mad rush for cars. I think a lot of it is the above.

Say the blessing; invite to stay after or see KofC etc and give us time for fellowship outside.

I think the above is the same abuse as leaving after communion…

EP
 
Here is my two cents worth. Yes it happens too much. Now @yankeesouth directs this at OF masses, which is where most of us see it. But I have a big problem with this targeting of OF form, as it implies there is something about the EF that keeps it from happen. I have little doubt it happens less in EF masses, but that is just due to the fact that a much higher percentage of EF attendees today are, for lack of a better term, more devout. But, and this is my main point, the problem goes back a long ways, as I remember being lectured about it by nuns as a kid. I believe the habit among Catholics started way back before Vatican II, when everyone was taught that to meet their obligation they needed to be there before the offertory and stay until communion. So lots of people did just that. And the cultural habit has stayed with us until this day. So the blame should NOT be laid on the Ordinary Form of the mass, it should more accurately be blamed on poor catechesis prior to Vatican II.
 
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It’s annoying and not the way to be. But some folks just apparently do not want to stick around for the final blessing.
 
They don’t put anything in front of the doors. They just stand there looking intimidating.
 
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