Question about Mass Readings

[kerytat]

Greetings to all on this fine afternoon. A quick question concerning reading during mass. As an attendee of many youth retreats during my tenure in high school, we would attend daily mass at these retreats. However, the readings used during the Mass were selected to fit the theme of the day ie unity, love, things of this nature. Most of the time these readings did not coincide with the readings specified for that particular day by the Missal. If we are truly united Church then can we choose readings at a whim? Is this a liturgical abuse? Thanks

 

[frommi]

kerytat:

Greetings to all on this fine afternoon. A quick question concerning reading during mass. As an attendee of many youth retreats during my tenure in high school, we would attend daily mass at these retreats. However, the readings used during the Mass were selected to fit the theme of the day ie unity, love, things of this nature. Most of the time these readings did not coincide with the readings specified for that particular day by the Missal. If we are truly united Church then can we choose readings at a whim? Is this a liturgical abuse? Thanks

I would say as long as the texts were biblical, and the mass was not presented as a ‘mass of the day’, you should be ok.

I believe that the rubrics allow for substitution of readings in many cases.

Although, a wise bishop once pointed out to me that perhaps it would be better if we let God speak to us through the readings of the day, rather than adjust the readings for what we want to hear.

 

[jbuck919]

I was a Catholic high school teacher for many years and many liberties were taken that were sometimes and sometimes not allowed by current regulations. National bishops’ conferences have a certain leeway in allowing contextual exceptions, but the only way you could find out if one was an abuse or not would be to get it from the horse’s mouth.

Also, there is still such a thing as a votive Mass. There are certain occasions they cannot supplant, but again I would not be the expert on what they are.

The biggest abuse, according to current official teaching, that I noticed was allowing all students to come forward for communion (we were only about 50% Catholic). We had students who were Sikhs and students who were Jewish. The Sikhs knew from the home (certainly not the teachers at the school) that they had no place taking Catholic communion, but at least once I saw a Jewish student come forward. The non-Catholic (often nominal) Christians are a grayer area, but it is still official policy not to allow them communion under everyday circumstances.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

kerytat:

Greetings to all on this fine afternoon. A quick question concerning reading during mass. As an attendee of many youth retreats during my tenure in high school, we would attend daily mass at these retreats. However, the readings used during the Mass were selected to fit the theme of the day ie unity, love, things of this nature. Most of the time these readings did not coincide with the readings specified for that particular day by the Missal. If we are truly united Church then can we choose readings at a whim? Is this a liturgical abuse? Thanks

There are actually approved readings and prayers for special Masses based on themes. They are found in the back of the RM. For instance a pastor might decide to celebrate a special Mass to kick off a community garden. He might use readings intended for farmers or the Blessing of the Fields.

 

[John_Lilburne]

kerytat:

Greetings to all on this fine afternoon. A quick question concerning reading during mass. As an attendee of many youth retreats during my tenure in high school, we would attend daily mass at these retreats. However, the readings used during the Mass were selected to fit the theme of the day ie unity, love, things of this nature. Most of the time these readings did not coincide with the readings specified for that particular day by the Missal. If we are truly united Church then can we choose readings at a whim? Is this a liturgical abuse? Thanks

On a weekday in Ordinary Time there is a wide choice of readings. For example, the celebrant could decide to have one of “Masses for Various Needs and Occasions”. He might choose number 13: “For the Unity of Christians”. The first reading could be the weekday reading. Or from Volume 3 of the Lectionary it could be Deuteronomy 30:1-4, or Ezekiel 36:24-28, or Ezekiel 37:15-19.21-22.26-28 or Zephaniah 3:16-20.

Alternatively the priest could choose a votive Mass, such as “The Holy Name of Mary”. Then the first reading could be Galatians 4:4-7 or Ephesians 1:3-6.11-12. Perhaps there could be a ritual Mass, such as marriage. This has nine options for the first reading. Perhaps a funeral, with other options.

Other options are saints. The day may have an optional memorial, with particular readings. Even if the calendar has no saint for the day, there can be a Mass for any saint listed in the Roman Martyrology for that day. (From 2002 General Instruction to the Roman Missal (GIRM), n. 355c).

The General Introduction to the Lectionary for Mass (LM) encourages the priest to plan ahead for the week. So if, for example, there is going to be a marriage, then the reading scheduled for that day can be read earlier. From LM n. 82: “The one using the Order of Readings for weekdays must check to see whether one reading or another from the same biblical book will have to be omitted because of some celebration occurring during the week. With the plan of readings for the entire week in mind, the priest in that case arranges to omit the less significant selections or suitably combines them with other readings, if they contribute to an integral view of a particular theme.”

The rules about when the day’s readings can be replaced are given in the 2002 GIRM 352-385, which can be accessed from romanrite.com/girm.html