What got me was that the only insight was: “The first reading was beautiful. Quite poetic.” TO which Fr. agreed, then moved on with the Mass.Oh, brother.
Earth to Priest: Insights into the Gospel is your job and your training. Remember? :banghead:
Even when we don’t circle up we don’t kneel. Our mass is in a tiny utility room stuffed with folding chairs, so there’s not space. From what others have said, it’s okay not to kneel in such a situation (though it does make me quite sad).
Yes, just find another parish. This one is apparently a mess.
Here we go again
Take the bus or stop complaining. Your choice.
Which may not exist. Buses are not taxis and they don’t always go right where you need.Take the bus or stop complaining. Your choice.
Yes, in the situation that you described it would be OK to stand, however, you are not forbidden from kneeling if you wanted too. It would take up little more space that where you are standing. And in these situations it is still proper to kneel even though it may not be required. When our church was being renovated, Mass was held in our gym and we were encouraged to kneel on the hard wood floor if we could and of course it was understood that some people could not endure that.
You’re right, my town does not have any buses OR taxis. The only way I could get transportation would be to rent a car, which is prohibitively expensive.
We really have to be careful about presuming to know the intentions and motivations behind what people do. Your comments seem indicate that you do know what motivates people - apologetic feeling, gesture of apology - that sort of thing. Forgive me if I misread.Ay, there’s the rub, Timothy.
This mostly-absymally catechized generation of Catholics interprets standing around the altar in a very different way than you and your Benedictine friends interpreted it. In the typical modern parish (not a monastery Mass open to the publc), it is one more gesture of informality. It is one more gesture of apology, on the part of some misguided priests, for a distinction between the ministerial priesthood and the royal priesthood of believers. It is one more imprudent and embarrassing attempt to import secular notions of “participation,” “opportunity”, and “equalty” into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, with its completely non-secular and apolitical paradigm.
During the times I myself have seen this done (the “invitation,” the “welcoming” people forward), it is accompanied by a casual air on the part of the priest and a corresponding casual behavior on the part of those who come to the altar, whose body language mirrors what has just been modeled for them.
Look, if a priest feels apologetic for being a priest, he should never have sought ordination, and I guess he should never hear confessions or perform the other sacraments either After all, that would be setting up a “distinction” between him and his flock. (Yeah, no kidding.)
Thank you, Tim. That is one of the major reasons I initially asked this question, to make sure I wasn’t applying my own expectations and injustly think that the priest was doing wrong.
It’s good to ask. He might have been doing wrong. Some think so. I don’t know the rules.
That is absolutely a reason to avoid walking back after dark. Please stay safe. I will be praying for you.
Thanks for the prayers. And yes, that’s why I stopped going to the other parish after the time change.
And illicit Mass does not mean that the Mass is invalid. People should not be made to feel guilty for attending an illicit Mass under situations such as described by the OP. Sometimes an illicit Mass is the only option available.
Yes, you did misread.
