Report of First Weekend of Public Masses

[starlady]

I’m glad that Masses have become available again (with precautions in place). I am also in Nebraska. It has been interesting to see how different parishes have responded to the Archbishop opening churches again to public Mass - some jumped in right away and others have taken a more cautious, “wait and see” approach.

I think that I will be waiting longer to go back to Mass, only because I am currently pregnant. I have been working from home for over a month now, even though our office buildings also opened back up.

I fear that going back to Mass will be difficult for our almost two year old, being out of practice, but maybe by the time we decide to return, he will be a little easier to control (or a little easier to distract with other activities).

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The priests have been doing the little drop here for a long time before the shutdown. Some priests do that all through flu season. It sounds way worse than it is. Many traditional priests have also mastered a little drop onto the tongue.

 

[ChuckB]

It does make me pleased to think of all of the sacrilegious communions that have been prevented during this pandemic though.

What “sacrilegious communions” are you referring to?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

He’s likely referring to the common idea among some Catholics that huge numbers of other Catholics are making unworthy Communions by receiving while in a state of mortal sin, because they don’t go to confession enough, or because they practice birth control and don’t think it’s a sin, or miss Mass on Sunday without a good reason and don’t think that’s a sin, etc.

 

[Bluebright]

All of those who now attend mass please pray for those of us still not able to attend mass or have our churches open for private prayer. Thank you. And its lovely to see how it might be done in the future. We are currently petitioning for opening churches at least, so we hope your prayers will get us there. Keep the updates and ideas coming so we know what to suggest to our fighting priests and Bishops.

 

[Diaconia]

All of those who now attend mass please pray for those of us still not able to attend mass

At EVERY single Mass, I offer a prayer for precisely those brothers and sisters who cannot yet receive the Eucharist. And I will continue to do so.

I am the True Bread who came down from Heaven says the LORD,
Deacon Christopher

 

[catholic03]

What “sacrilegious communions” are you referring to?

@Tis_Bearself explained it very well.

Many Catholics support and/or participate in various acts that are against Church teaching. Hence, it is likely that many Catholics receive Our Lord knowing that they are in a state of mortal sin.

I don’t want to go off topic, but that was what I meant.

 

[ChuckB]

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Bluebright]

Thank you, much appreciated… we did the same when we hadn’t gone into lockdown yet and others had.

 

[adamhovey1988]

We seated everyone personally, to ensure six-foot separations between households. I was AMAZED that no one grumbled about not sitting in “their” pew.

Same here, although the lady told us to sit where we wanted because the ushers weren’t there yet. She did come with us to make sure she knew where were sitting though

Far fewer people attended then we thought; about 25% of capacity, at all four Masses.

We’d be lucky if it was even that, we have a big church ,there was barely anyone there

• Many people stayed after Mass to help sanitize the pews.

We had volunteers for that

No one argued about receiving Holy Communion in the hand

Same here, Although our Pastor said for people that want to receive on the tongue, they should come last, to him or one of the Deacons

There were myriad comments, compliments, and TONS of words of thanks that Mass was available again.

I don’t know what the clergy heard, but I just want to say to our priests and deacons, I’m surely glad it is

The crowd was slightly older than normal; a few more seniors than usual, and a few less families than typical.

There were a few families, but not many, and my little sisters were there with me, they are 16 and 17, but most everyone else, with very few exceptions, were much older. God bless our deacons and priests!

 

[PetraG]

There were a few families, but not many, and my little sisters were there with me, they are 16 and 17, but most everyone else, with very few exceptions, were much older.

This reminds me of when there is an ice storm. The people with the SUVs might decide the roads are still not particularly safe to drive on, but here come the older ladies with the walkers that have the tennis balls on the legs, determined to come across the glare ice on the sidewalks.

 

[toddy]

I missed Holy Communion more than mass. Wonder why no Catholic church distribute Eucharists like fast food line for cars!

I must fight with devil spirits every day since the lock down in late March.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Wonder why no Catholic church distribute Eucharists like fast food line for cars!

Because the Bishops did not allow it.
I know that in several dioceses I frequent, the priests were specifically told that they could not have a Communion service in place of Mass.
I think the concern was that viruses would be transmitted via the priest, deacon, or EMHC’s hands and the Host.
I miss Holy Communion too, a lot. I keep track of how many daily Communions I have missed and I think I’m up to about 47 now.

 

[Peeps]

This reminds me of when there is an ice storm. The people with the SUVs might decide the roads are still not particularly safe to drive on, but here come the older ladies with the walkers that have the tennis balls on the legs, determined to come across the glare ice on the sidewalks.

Not liking this, PetraG.

Speaking as one who has a father-in-law who has fallen several times because he’s determined to prove that he is still capable of doing things that he really shouldn’t be doing, and last time he fell, he broke his ankle, which necessitated a hospital stay, which meant that my mother-in-law, who is in a later stage of Alzheimers, had to stay with us, which meant that I didn’t sleep for many nights because I was afraid she would wander and get hurt–I think it’s pridful and selfish for older, infirm folks to take chances that have repercussions for their loved ones.

We need to respect our own weaknesses.

My take on re-opening our country is that those who are at risk should continue to stay home as much as possible and avoid situations that put them into close contact with other people. The rest of us should wear a mask when we may come into close contact with other people. And although I believe all churches and businesses should be open for business, but I believe that these churches and businesses, especially restaurants and bars, should limit the number of customers in their building so that people can be at least 6 feet away from other customers most of the time they are in the building, and that any public restrooms should have a dedicated “attendant” that only allows one person (or mom with kids) in the restroom at any time, and cleans the restroom immediately after each use. (Nice little job for someone who needs some extra cash!).

 

[HomeschoolDad]

I am still annoyed—but I have decided to trust in the Lord and trust that all is going according to God’s plan. It does make me pleased to think of all of the sacrilegious communions that have been prevented during this pandemic though.

Oh, same here, same here! I wish I could put about twenty hearts on your post.

As for what would make those “sacrilegious communions”, you would have to crawl into the consciences of each and every one of those communicants, and none of us can do that.

But what cannot be denied, is that there are many people — percentages would only be a SWAG, and would be deeply disliked by some here on CAF — who live in a state of doing one thing, the Church saying “don’t do that one thing”, that “one thing” being grave enough in the objective order to remove the Grace of God from one’s soul, and we all know what that means. People can read, people have been told, but they do that “one thing” anyway. And yet they go to communion. The charitable assumption is that they’ve simply been poorly catechized. I’m not sure we can make that assumption about each and every person who does that “one thing”. Maybe we can. Maybe we should. I don’t know.

I do notice, though, that Hispanic Catholics tend to be more reticent about receiving Communion at Spanish Masses — about half the congregation abstains, from what I’ve observed. I don’t think it’s because they’ve all had a snack immediately before Mass. I would be interested to know the cultural reasons for this difference. I have wondered if it stems from a greater awareness of the state one needs to be in, to receive communion in the first place — “yes, I do that ‘one thing’, and I know it is enough to separate me from God for all eternity, but life is hard, and I don’t have enough trust in God to face living life without doing that ‘one thing’, so I shall stay away from Holy Communion and beg Almighty God for mercy, pray that He will change my life so I can once again receive His Body and Blood”.

I could respect that kind of honesty and wholesome fear of God far more than the protestations of Anglo Catholics that “there’s nothing wrong with doing that, and I’m good with God, and God’s good with me”.

 

[27lw]

Our pastor said that everyone is required to wear a mask, except children.
That concerns me. I understand that it might be tough to get kids to comply, but that’s a good number of people not wearing masks.
I don’t plan to attend for a while anyway.
I wonder if our pastor would consider “elder only” Mass time? I don’t know why anyone would want to attend when there are a bunch of kids with no masks.
Shrug.

 

[PetraG]

Not liking this, PetraG.

Speaking as one who has a father-in-law who has fallen several times because he’s determined to prove that he is still capable of doing things that he really shouldn’t be doing, and last time he fell, he broke his ankle, which necessitated a hospital stay, which meant that my mother-in-law, who is in a later stage of Alzheimers, had to stay with us, which meant that I didn’t sleep for many nights because I was afraid she would wander and get hurt–I think it’s pridful and selfish for older, infirm folks to take chances that have repercussions for their loved ones.

We need to respect our own weaknesses.

My take on re-opening our country is that those who are at risk should continue to stay home as much as possible and avoid situations that put them into close contact with other people. The rest of us should wear a mask when we may come into close contact with other people. And although I believe all churches and businesses should be open for business, but I believe that these churches and businesses, especially restaurants and bars, should limit the number of customers in their building so that people can be at least 6 feet away from other customers most of the time they are in the building, and that any public restrooms should have a dedicated “attendant” that only allows one person (or mom with kids) in the restroom at any time, and cleans the restroom immediately after each use. (Nice little job for someone who needs some extra cash!).

None of the pastors like it, either. I don’t know of anybody who has broken a hip yet, but you know it has to happen. Older people are clearly at a much higher risk than younger with this stuff.

With brief stints of speaking at normal volume, six feet is a reasonable amount of physical distancing. When talking loudly or singing, however, the known physics of aerosol production and the known history of outbreaks advocates for much more than six feet of distancing.

The good thing about most parish churches is at least that the ceilings tend to be extremely high. Having said that, I think outdoor Masses would be far safer than indoor, even if that is by no means the liturgical ideal. Yes, I’d say that businesses would do well to highly discourage use of their restrooms by the public, to the extent practically possible.

We may find as time goes by that skilled nursing facilities were not just places with a high number of older and frail people but also places with a lot of people living in close quarters and served by staff who don’t have time for proper hygiene procedures. I mean this: we may find that staff working in these homes have higher infection and death rates than people of their age in the general population, because there is such an unusual number being infected by a very high viral load that overwhelms their immune response.

 

[Usige]

I know that in several dioceses I frequent, the priests were specifically told that they could not have a Communion service in place of Mass.
I think the concern was that viruses would be transmitted via the priest, deacon, or EMHC’s hands and the Host.

That might be, but there are also good theological reasons to be careful with communion services. The biggest danger is separating the sacrifice of mass from the reception of the Eucharist as a norm. My bishop has limited communion services for nearly a decade for that very reason. The concern is that people get an idea that receiving the Eucharist is something separate from the mass.

 

[Usige]

I wonder if our pastor would consider “elder only” Mass time? I don’t know why anyone would want to attend when there are a bunch of kids with no masks.

Possibly because not everyone wishes to live in fear and don’t choose to see every child as a plague carrier? The saddest masses I’ve been to are the ones where there are no sounds of children.

The worst part of this pandemic is people looking at each other in fear and questioning their motives as being selfish.

 

[tomarin]

I really hope this to my mind premature re-opening doesn’t result in tragedy, given how old most of our priests are. No one should have to risk their life or their health to do their job.