Questionable actions of Priest during Mass

[CRV]

I wonder why we have Canon Law and rubrics then?

 

[stpurl]

Right. I’m just thinking that a priest might be more inclined to read something that was less, “You did this wrong” (because hey, a priest deserves respect and the assumption that he knows what he is doing) and more, “I want to understand something that concerns me”.

The first is likely to get the, “Oh gee, another member of the Liturgy Police is telling me off as if I’m some dingbat who knows nothing” and the second more likely to get, “Here is somebody who isn’t just calling me names or complaining, but is respectful and actually asking my (name removed by moderator)ut and expertise to help them understand” (because, 99% of the time, when a priest DOES change something he is doing it for what he thinks is a majorly necessary reason that will HELP his flock, and so he feels quite certain that just telling WHY he does it will solve any worries!)

 

[Eliza10]

Well, he might be busy, but he just might not care. My guess is that is most likely. He may well think, “You are not the boss of me.” His teachers in seminary and his bishop have made it quite clear what he has to do exactly right in his liturgy, and which parts he has creative license in. His bishop to whom he owes obedience may urge and praise his priests’ creative (name removed by moderator)ut and personal touches in the Mass. He has to answer to the bishop, to his peers, and maybe his parishioners ( if he wants to) - but you? A visitor? I honestly think that you won’t matter to him. And he already has Daily Mass goers who approach him with more suggestions than he’d like.

That’s my thought, from my experience. Our thoughts about how the Mass should go should matter to them, but I have seen rare (or no) cases where they do.

It’s a cross to bear, but shouldering it and offering it up is actually not only way less effort and pain than laboring over proper wording, only to be promptly dismissed and ignored, but also far more efficacious. The odds that a priest has had very poor formation in our time are in fact high. He might be doing really fantastic considering that. So he really needs your prayers.

 

[duganj]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to leave responses. Many of you have offered fantastic suggestions on how to approach this situation. Thank you again.

St. Michael, pray for us!

God Bless you all.

 

[CRM_Brother]

[64.] The homily, which is given in the course of the celebration of Holy Mass and is a part of the Liturgy itself, “should ordinarily be given by the Priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating Priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to a Deacon, but never to a layperson. In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a Priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate”.

In most cases, yes.

There is, however, a special case when a layperson is allowed to give a ‘reflection’ in place of the homily. The document above specifically speaks to the celebrant giving a layperson permission to give the homily. This is correct, he cannot do that. The Ordinary, whether it is the Bishop of the diocese or the Father General of an Order of Pontifical Rite within a chapel of a religious house, can give this dispensation to a layman (or laywoman). It is usually done in cases of seminarians preparing for the priesthood but have not yet been ordained to the deaconate. Our Father General, as our Ordinary, sometimes gives brothers this permission within our chapels because deaconate is held off until after Solemn Profession, which takes place after graduation from seminary, and the practice during Mass is required for their Preaching course as most of their classmates are already deacons. Technically, this permission may also be given to a woman.