Sign of Peace (handshake) during Mass

[mountee]

I have had 3 hand surgeries and find shaking hands a problem…everywhere. In addition, I completely object to feeling like I have to shake hands as it is a major source of the spread of disease no matter what time of year it is. I am glad to greet others and sincerely enjoy wishing them the peace of The Lord, just find touching going too far. And, lastly, it really bothers me when I have my heart in the right place that if I don’t comply I am judged to be anything but what I try to be, a decent, Catholic human being.

 

[dee_burk]

I am glad to greet others and sincerely enjoy wishing them the peace of The Lord, just find touching going too far.

you find “touching going to far” because of your hand surgeries or germs, or just touching people???

 

[datritle]

i can’t stand the floppy dead fish shake! my father always taught me to have a firm handshake. [edited]

 

[Seeker1961]

i can’t stand the floppy dead fish shake! my father always taught me to have a firm handshake. it lets people know i’m not gay. lol

Yeah, because the strength of your handshake has everything to do with your sexual orientation. Hilarious.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I was taught to shake hands firmly, however, as I grow older, my arthritis interferes with that, and I don’t want anyone to firmly grip my hand either. However, I am one of those that really likes the SOP and the handshake, so I continue to do it, although gently. However I fully respect those that just give a nod or a bow, or whatever and would never force myself on them. And I have noticed during this flu season that many people are voluntarily not shaking hands in my parish. I think that is a good idea.

 

[grasscutter]

I was taught to shake hands firmly, however, as I grow older, my arthritis interferes with that, and I don’t want anyone to firmly grip my hand either. However, I am one of those that really likes the SOP and the handshake, so I continue to do it, although gently. However I fully respect those that just give a nod or a bow, or whatever and would never force myself on them. And I have noticed during this flu season that many people are voluntarily not shaking hands in my parish. I think that is a good idea.

I’m on your side! One poster insisted that a firm handshake is de rigeur as a symbol of masculinity, but even though I can - even as a woman - also provide a firm handshake, I choose to be considerate about the state of other people’s hands and err on the side of gentleness.

 

[mfrances]

Around here we give a little wave instead of a handshake.

 

[Leon_Bloy]

Just wanted to point out that many people don’t realize that the “sign of peace” is not required in weekday masses - it can be omitted by the priest. Also, there’s nothing requiring hand-shaking, which if you really look at it and think about it, is not really appropriate in the mass. For one thing, there was no such gesture (no sign of peace at all, except that given by the priest to everybody) in the mass for at least 1,500 years until around 1970. Over the past few years I have grown to be concerned about (and distracted by) the way the sign of peace has turned into a “jamboree” at a lot of masses, disrupting the solemnity of what just happened (and is about to happen) on the altar.

I realize most people mean well, and they wouldn’t understand why I don’t like it, so I just usually put up with it as politely as I can. But I prefer to just wave, or bow to the people next to me.

 

[millstone]

More than how people shake hands–I wish people would at least make eye contact. The Sign of Peace means nothing if you don’t at least make eye contact–no matter if the sign is a nod of the head or shaking hands.
But the thing that worries me the most is that we are in the most sacred part of the Mass. The Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ sits on the altar and then we make this huge commotion with excessive movement and raised voices, and then the very next prayer is the Lamb of God. Really? I thought it was to be a “ritual style” sign of peace in keeping with the Mass–not a meet & greet with the one who shakes the most hands wins.

It seems we keep losing more and more the sense of the sacred at Mass.
We have even forgotten that the main purpose of Mass is to Worship God. It makes a person weep.

 

[paperwight66]

The Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ sits on the altar and then we make this huge commotion with excessive movement and raised voices, and then the very next prayer is the Lamb of God. Really? I thought it was to be a “ritual style” sign of peace in keeping with the Mass–not a meet & greet with the one who shakes the most hands wins.

.

I have to say, if there is ‘excessive movement and raised voices’, there is something really wrong.
Raised voices’? I have never been to a Mass where the SOP involved those…

 

[Honour]

I wish my parish would institute the headmistress/wave/bow instead of handshake. I hate shaking hands in a large group. Also, I have bad allergies, so I am constantly thinking about how to make it through mass without blowing my nose, since I don’t want to touch someone’s hand after blowing my nose. I often bring hand sanitizer but sometimes forget, and I feel self conscious using in mass anyways. But when I try to not shake hands, there is always that awkward moment where the person just keeps standing there with their hand out waiting for me to sake it even though my hands are folded and I already bowed and said peace. It’s lose lose. I just try to remember to time my meds right so I am most likely to be clear. I hate being that snotty person all the time. I really wish my allergist had something that could fix me up!