Reasons for holding hands in mass during the Lord's Prayer

[sirach2v4]

for me, this is too touchy-feely and redundant.

My pastor ALREADY has us shake hands at the start of Mass on weekend liturgies.

And, a moment later, we’re going to shake hands again, the sign of peace. So, what is gained by this?

Oh, yeah, in the two churches in our parish, at communion, the ushers shake hands with anybody (usually most) of the people who come out from each pew that he’s directing (unnecessarily) up to receive communion.

So, that’s FOUR handshakes, and this last one takes the cake – you get exposed to all the germs of everybody who shook his hand before you.

It’s absurd. Most people are eager to get Mass over with, so I don’t understand why they prolong it with all this handshaking.

And did I mention? People are talking while they’re shaking hands, and it’s not always related to the supposed purpose of the moment – the people doing most of the handshaking are the business people being visible, undoubtedly looking for business, the politicians looking for votes. When they leave office, they’re not to be seen – their motives are plainly not religious.

Why should I shake hands or hold hands three or four times with the person standing next to me? In the Lord’s prayer, it’s the prayer that counts.

ALL the handshaking is unsanitary, to begin with. It’s well-known that people don’t know how to wash their hands properly. The Eucharist is the sign of our unity.

 

[RPRPsych]

The image of everyone shaking their head at each other as a means of conveying a gesture of peace was a most startling one, TWF…especially given that I had the occasion over the years to visit Canada many times and was perfectly charmed by the land as well as the people. It would be a gesture very unlike from what I experienced…although I have been quite assured that British Columbia is unique in many ways.

Have you ever been to India, Father? Here, we use the traditional folded-hand greeting (the “Namaste”) as a gesture of peace during Mass.

 

[Generic_Name]

Threads like these make me even more grateful for Summorum Pontificum.

 

[pianistclare]

thephilosopher6;14039162:

Exhausting. Just exhausting.

I don’t know how you did it, but the post you referenced was not posted by me.

 

[pianistclare]

Inculturation goes far beyond Africa, including the use of dance. One can clearly see in this news photo from the Mass of Canonisation of Saint Juan Diego the indigenous dance that was offered in the context of the Papal Mass: cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/51424349-indians-dancers-perform-in-front-of-pope-john-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=n2WAitdSXUUsKNQBes5a0eGyLbmEjNvqosd8e5NCLiVg0aKtpuD6pnpfX9qCr4JI

If you are not aware of how inculturation of Native American spirituality has been approved and incorporated, I suggest you begin with the National Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee on Native American Affairs, “which is under the direction of and assists the Committee on Cultural Diversity within the Church by working directly with the standing committee and collaboratively with other USCCB committees to address the pastoral concerns of Native American (North American Aboriginals) Catholics to affirm the gifts and contributions of Native American Catholics and to provide more opportunities for Native American Catholics to engage in the life of the Church and help shape its evangelization mission.”

usccb.org/issues-and-action/cultural-diversity/native-american/

You will find information about the practices in the dioceses in the United States on inculturation as it relates to Native Americans here:

usccb.org/issues-and-action/cultural-diversity/native-american/resources/upload/NA-Catholics-Millennium.pdf

Thank you Father.