"Praise Night" in place of Mass?

[Aumbry]

For many years my parish has celebrated a Mass in Spanish on Thursday evenings, with a (sorta) bi-lingual Mass on Sundays.

Recently a Mass (now 1 of 8) in Spanish was added to Sunday evenings, a good addition. Unfortunately instead of retaining the Tursday night (it’s very well attended), they turned it into:

“Praise Night
Third Thursday
All Ages!
Sing and Pray!”

The little cartoon ad in our bulletin has a child saying “My mom says singing is like praying twice, she’s into multi-tasking.”

Aside from messing around with an important quote from Augustine, dosen’t this seem extremely Protestant? We have no shortage of priests. Why are we having a “Praise Night” instead of a Mass?

Our pastor is an extremely rude and curt type who refuses to discuss the reasoning behind this change. My guess is that the concept will die within 6 months or so, but it still bothers me a great deal.

 

[genealogist]

Maybe the Thursday night Mass attendance was abysmal and he decided to try something else. Just because he is rude does not mean his actions are always wrong.

We must remember that daily Mass is nice but NOT required. If it were maybe we would all live in a monastery.

Likewise Father’s job is NOT to make Mass available 24/7. Sounds like he has ample Mass opportunities for the parish and a Spanish mass allows new residents to ease into English but abviously in the US it is understood(or it used to be) that they will eventually learn the English.

 

[Aumbry]

genealogist:

Maybe the Thursday night Mass attendance was abysmal and he decided to try something else. Just because he is rude does not mean his actions are always wrong.

We must remember that daily Mass is nice but NOT required. If it were maybe we would all live in a monastery.

Likewise Father’s job is NOT to make Mass available 24/7. Sounds like he has ample Mass opportunities for the parish and a Spanish mass allows new residents to ease into English but abviously in the US it is understood(or it used to be) that they will eventually learn the English.

As I noted above, the Thursday night Mass is very well attended. It’s even attended by those who do not speak Spanish very well because it’s the only weekday evening Mass my parish still celebrates (we had a nightly 7pm Mass until 1985 or so.)

It’s also a strong evangelization tool because our church is in the center of town and the evening Mass attracts tourists and shoppers.

 

[SMHW]

While I would think that a Mass is always more appropriate, could it be that there was more and more demand for praise and worship style music which is not really appropriate for Mass? Perhaps this is your pastor’s way of keeping the musicians happy so they are more willing to play appropriate liturgical music on Sunday.

And just because you have plenty of priests, that doesn’t mean there are plenty of priests who are willing to say Mass. Are all the priests from your parish? If not, then perhaps then there is a monetary aspect to this.

 

[netmilsmom]

SMHW:

While I would think that a Mass is always more appropriate, could it be that there was more and more demand for praise and worship style music which is not really appropriate for Mass? Perhaps this is your pastor’s way of keeping the musicians happy so they are more willing to play appropriate liturgical music on Sunday.

If this mass was well attended, the wishes of the Musicians should not be put above the wants of the parishioners.
If they don’t want to play liturgical music, why are they playing in a Catholic church?

 

[Aumbry]

SMHW:

While I would think that a Mass is always more appropriate, could it be that there was more and more demand for praise and worship style music which is not really appropriate for Mass? Perhaps this is your pastor’s way of keeping the musicians happy so they are more willing to play appropriate liturgical music on Sunday.

And just because you have plenty of priests, that doesn’t mean there are plenty of priests who are willing to say Mass. Are all the priests from your parish? If not, then perhaps then there is a monetary aspect to this.

Though I’m sure it’s not the case here locally, it would be sad if a Mass was replaced by “praise and worship” to placate musicians.

It would be doubely worse if the Mass was not celebrated because no priest wanted to, but this quite possiblely could be the case here locally.

Even if that were the case, (even though my parish has multiple priests), the faithful could easily recruit others (retired, etc.) to celebrate the Mass.

What strikes me as being truly bothersome is the how Protestant the new service ad appears in the bulletin.

 

[Aumbry]

netmil(name removed by moderator):

If this mass was well attended, the wishes of the Musicians should not be put above the wants of the parishioners.
If they don’t want to play liturgical music, why are they playing in a Catholic church?

The notion that this came about because of our musicians is incorrect.

 

[netmilsmom]

Aumbry:

The notion that this came about because of our musicians is incorrect.

Well that’s good!
I vote for the Mass. Maybe praise and worship at another time. See if it works, then go from there but I want some Historically Catholic evenings in my parish.

Would this be like a communion service?

And my other question would be, why replace the popular mass?
Why not another night?

 

[Aumbry]

Exactly. This “effort” could be any other weeknight in our church, or almost any night in one of our halls.

It almost seems a bit sinister to replace the Mass with a “praise and worship service.”

No, Holy Communion will not be distributed.

I fully expect it to crash and burn before 01/2006.

 

[SMHW]

Aumbry:

It would be doubely worse if the Mass was not celebrated because no priest wanted to, but this quite possiblely could be the case here locally.

Even if that were the case, (even though my parish has multiple priests), the faithful could easily recruit others (retired, etc.) to celebrate the Mass.

First of all, I agree that it is a shame to eliminate any Mass. I am speculating about possible ‘reasons’.

If the parish priests have said Mass in the morning it IS very likely they don’t want to say another. And yes, your parish could bring in some other priest, which is why I early suggested this might be monetary. Your pastor may not want the expense, particularly if the attendees were not mostly from your parish.

I know I’m rather cynical from back at the time I worked at my parish… But there is a fair amount of ‘background work’ which goes into any Mass and many pastors are more than happy to eliminate what they consider an ‘unnecessary’ Mass.

 

[Aumbry]

SMHW:

First of all, I agree that it is a shame to eliminate any Mass. I am speculating about possible ‘reasons’.

If the parish priests have said Mass in the morning it IS very likely they don’t want to say another. And yes, your parish could bring in some other priest, which is why I early suggested this might be monetary. Your pastor may not want the expense, particularly if the attendees were not mostly from your parish.

I know I’m rather cynical from back at the time I worked at my parish… But there is a fair amount of ‘background work’ which goes into any Mass and many pastors are more than happy to eliminate what they consider an ‘unnecessary’ Mass.

No Mass is “unnecessary.” All of the “background work” (except for the homily) is handled by unpaid lay people.

We have daily morning and noon Masses, yet many people attended the one Thursday evening Mass. It’s easily the most well attended Mass of any weekday Mass.

While my pastor does carefully protect his 20-hour work weeks, we do have more than one dedicated parochial vicar.

 

[netmilsmom]

Aumbry:

While my pastor does carefully protect his 20-hour work weeks, we do have more than one dedicated parochial vicar.

OH MY!

I wish my pastor would cut back to 40 hour weeks! At 37 years old, he starts at 5:30am hearing confessions and ends well after 9pm welcoming new parishioners (he does this personally) and parish meetings.

I’ll be praying for your parish. New priests are coming to us everyday and some are really into the “Catholic Thing.”

 

[Aumbry]

netmil(name removed by moderator):

OH MY!

I wish my pastor would cut back to 40 hour weeks! At 37 years old, he starts at 5:30am hearing confessions and ends well after 9pm welcoming new parishioners (he does this personally) and parish meetings.

I’ll be praying for your parish. New priests are coming to us everyday and some are really into the “Catholic Thing.”

I have read a great deal about priests who work well over 40 hours per week. I even know one or two. My pastor on the other hand is another story. He takes two full days off/week (Monday and Tuesday) and he’s rarely around at other times. I serisouly doubt he books 20 hours/week.

One of his first “requests” when he started a year ago was to move-off the church grounds, even though we have a giant rectory. Although a parishioner offered him an apartment, he’s still living in the rectory for some reason.

 

[puzzleannie]

Aumbry:

Recently a Mass (now 1 of 8) in Spanish was added to Sunday evenings, a good addition. Unfortunately instead of retaining the Tursday night (it’s very well attended), they turned it into:

"Praise Night
Third Thursday
.

my best assumption would be that the priest felt or knew that the Thrusday night Mass was being used by many of the Spanish speaking attendees as a replacement for Sunday Mass, and he wished to eliminate it, so that they would attend the Spanish Mass on Sunday, as required. He may have been wiser to give a fuller explanation, but the decision is his, and he is not required to explain it. He may have felt that the praise and worship music may offer the type of experience those used to this Thursday night service are expecting. He seems to be trying to meet those needs, as well as providing a Spanish Mass on Sunday and ensuring that people attend it.

 

[puzzleannie]

Aumbry:

It’s also a strong evangelization tool because our church is in the center of town and the evening Mass attracts tourists and shoppers.

he may also feel that given the fact that a lot of non-Catholics may attend this service, that an “ecumenical” praise and worship night might be a better evangelical tool as well as reducing the probability that non-Catholics approace for communion. Perhaps he perceived a possible abuse in this area, and in his judgement this is a good solution. He may be rude, but it is still his call. Try to reduce your feelings of bitterness and resentment, for your own peace of mind, and give him credit for trying to meet the needs of the whole parish.

 

[puzzleannie]

Aumbry:

Even if that were the case, (even though my parish has multiple priests), the faithful could easily recruit others (retired, etc.) to celebrate the Mass.

.

maybe in your diocese, but here every priest, retired, sick, or whatever already has multiple assignments and Mass commitments, and if our priest falls suddenly ill or something it is a gargantuan task to find a replacement for Sunday Mass, let alone any other occasion.