Readings for "special masses"

[tac]

My school wants to have a Mass in which the senior class receives their rings. The liturgy lady told us that we can choose all the readings for the Mass. Is this accurate?

 

[bpbasilphx]

No. You can’t.

And what on earth is a “liturgy lady”?

I thought the readings for Masses–even Votive masses or other special occasions–were determined by the Church, and if there are options, decided by the Celebrant!

To my knowledge, there is no such thing as a Votive Mass for Ring Day.

 

[FrDavid96]

There is a little-known clause in the GIRM
358…In Masses with special groups, the priest is allowed to choose texts more suited to the particular celebration, provided they are taken from the texts of an approved lectionary.

So, in a Mass to bless/present class rings it would be within the liturgical norms to choose any readings, so long as those readings actually come from the Lectionary. In other words, one could not simply choose any selections from Scripture but they would have to be the actual texts found somewhere in the Lectionary. This sort of thing should be done with extreme caution, though. The norm is there “for the good of the people of God” but we shouldn’t extend it too much that it becomes abused. And do keep in mind that the choice is made by the priest–the students can suggest readings, and the “liturgy lady” can pass those suggestions on to the priest, but he has the final say.

 

[EasterJoy]

There is a little-known clause in the GIRM
358…In Masses with special groups, the priest is allowed to choose texts more suited to the particular celebration, provided they are taken from the texts of an approved lectionary.

So, in a Mass to bless/present class rings it would be within the liturgical norms to choose any readings, so long as those readings actually come from the Lectionary. In other words, one could not simply choose any selections from Scripture but they would have to be the actual texts found somewhere in the Lectionary. This sort of thing should be done with extreme caution, though. The norm is there “for the good of the people of God” but we shouldn’t extend it too much that it becomes abused. And do keep in mind that the choice is made by the priest–the students can suggest readings, and the “liturgy lady” can pass those suggestions on to the priest, but he has the final say.

This sounds more like it.

The readings in the Lectionary are also put together with a great deal of skill…maybe the “liturgy lady” could give the class some of the readings for special Masses that have already been put together to form a coherent whole.