The Great Post-Eucharist Stampede

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Because there can be extenuating circumstances. I wouldn’t be able to go to mass at all on my work weekend if there was not an 8pm mass at one church, which is across town from me. I get done with report at 7:30 (if the nurse relieving me is on time) and have to rush to get to church on time. Sometimes, report runs late and I am late to mass. If nobody was allowed to be late, I would miss mass the entire weekend, instead of missing the opening hymn or maybe the first reading. People need to focus on what is going on between them and God, not judging others for circumstances they know nothing of.
 
Yeah, it’s probably “disrupting” when I’m crying due to grief or having to get up and leave because I feel like I’m going to faint or be sick.
Maybe I should just stay home and not come to see Jesus till I’m perfect and non-disruptive.
Maybe the same goes for the other girl I heard crying in the confessional and the mom with the little kid who climbed all over the seats and everybody else who doesn’t live up to your standards.

Mass is not a movie. It’s not a dinner out in a restaurant. It’s not a voluntary activity. it’s something that people attend because they feel a NEED to be there for whatever reason.

Quit being so unkind.
 
You never see this sort of thing at the Traditional Latin Mass. It might just be a case of catechesis. Maybe if the priest was informed about it he could address it in the homily. Also maybe getting into the practice of saying the Leonine Prayers after Mass or the Litany of Loreto might help.
 
I don’t believe I ever said nobody was not allowed to be late and I understand
extenuating circumstances.
Because I notice someone coming in late does not mean I am not focusing on God.
Would your boss be okay if you arrived to work everyday 10-15 minutes late everyday because of extenuating circumstances?

I don’t keep track of names or faces of those arriving late. I don’t know if they are repeat offenders or if it is a one time
thing.

Being on time is important to me.
 
Noticing is not judging. Likewise, being put out over a disruption is as human as the reasons people are late, so neither should the people be judged who huff and puff to themselves. Emotions are not sinful. As long as we catch ourselves quickly and move on the best we can, or as long as we do the best we can to be on time or enter/leave quietly during Mass, so what?

It is really hard to put up with each other, but we should try.
 
Quite.

Although, I’m never quite sure why threads on this topic always descend into complaints and accusations of judgementalism.

The OP was quite clearly just talking about noticing a cultural difference between some Catholic parishes and other Christian congregational practices and wondering why that was. It’s something I have wondered myself, not out of taking a negative view of others, purely because it’s not what I am used to and I wondered why it happens.

I have always found it best, in online interaction in particular, to believe the best of intentions are behind a statement until proven wrong.
 
blackforest said:
Guilty.

I’m married to a man with no internal time clock,
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Oh, me too! I honestly didn’t believe him when he told me that. I’m obsessively punctual and just didn’t understand how this could be possible. I asked him, “How do you function at work?” Bell schedule. (He’s a teacher.) Being married to him has given me so many opportunities to work on the virtue of humility because I hate arriving late. Then along came 6 kids, at least one of whom shares his “disability”. I’m still working on humility and patience for myself, but it has really helped me be less judgemental of others.
 
7_Sorrows said:
I don’t believe I ever said nobody was not allowed to be late and I understand extenuating circumstances.
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I think we as a society have a problem with being punctual. There are aspects of presumption and trying to do too much. You’ll notice most people can be on time when they have to be, such as for an airplane flight.

But of course some people have circumstances beyond their control or other challenges to being on time.
 
babochka said:
Being married to him has given me so many opportunities to work on the virtue of humility…
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That is the great grace of Holy Matrimony! It is interesting that this is also a grace we can get by a charitable response to others at Mass and elsewhere in public. I think a good article could be written on viewing scooting to the middle ten minutes into Mass to accommodate one arriving late; enduring the stare of the one who is in a snit over moving over when you arrive late; or sitting nest to a crying baby on a long flight as sacramentals.
 
I certainly don’t stare at someone or get in a snit! People here must either be guilty of leaving early or arriving late because they certainly are overly sensitive about the topic.
 
Colonel, you beat me to it. I was going to post the same thing. I once wanted to hang a sign saying “Judas left first” over the back doors of the sanctuary. The pastor told me in no way would he tolerate something as judgmental as that, but then he chuckled and said, “even though I agree 100%”
 
twf said:
I haven’t seen this. Most people at the parishes I’ve been at wait until the final blessing.

At one parish, can’t remember where now, I tried to leave after the final blessing but was blocked by ushers… told I had to wait for Father to leave! Not a joke.
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That is true, and it actually a policy the Church has regarding proper etiquette at Mass. No one is to leave until the celebrant has processed down the aisle. In my church, most parishioners observe that policy.
 
The only time I ever left early was when my mother was sick or after she died when I would start crying uncontrollably. And I always tend to get there aroound 15 minutes before Liturgy starts. That experience taught me not to complain or judge what my fellow parishioners are doing. We simply do not know all the circumstances of their lives (and all the circmstances really aren’t a stranger’s business).

I think if anyone is easily distracted or find themselves too bothered by what others are doing, it might be a good idea to sit in the first pew, or as close to the front as possible. Fewer distractions and fewer opportunities to take ones mind off the Liturgy.
 
Generally I sit towards the front, but some people want to walk all the way in to sit on the north or south sides of the altar, while I am facing the altar. I don’t know if the back of the church is full.
So they are basically walking in full view of everyone when they walk to the pews on the north and south sides of the altar and it is a big church so it takes awhile to
walk that far.
 
I think people who are getting defensive should realize, I don’t think anyone is judging people who happen to be running a few minutes late or who have a legitimate reason to leave a few minutes early.

The problem is that many people leave early every single week, just because they want to. If this doesn’t happen in your parish then you don’t realize that it’s a chronic problem. Many people take their purses or jackets with them to receive communion and then head for the door immediately after. The church always feels noticeabley emptier after communion, it’s not just a few people who have a reason to leave early. It’s a decent chunk of the congregation.

This has been happening a lot less in my parish ever since a visiting priest came. During the homily he told everyone explicitly not to do that. He said, “If you can’t spend one hour of your week with Jesus, you need to get your priorities in order.” I think it really helped people who never thought about it before. That was several months ago, but it made an impression. Some still leave early, but it’s not very noticeable.
 
7_Sorrows said:
I certainly don’t stare at someone or get in a snit!
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Good. I didn’t say you were, nor to I think it is a bad thing for those who do have a moment of snittiness. It is human nature. I was speaking generally and was thinking of no one in particular. There is no cause to take it personal.
 
Magdalene said:
If this doesn’t happen in your parish then you don’t realize that it’s a chronic problem.
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I just thought of something. While the numbers that leave in my parish are few, there was a problem with people leaving early an Ash Wednesday after receiving ashes (according to the priest. I am not in position to ever notice.) So one year he moved the reception of ashes to the end. That year, there were people coming in early for the next Mass who received ashes and skipped Mass, so he moved it back.
 
Please actually read the whole thread and be merciful. A good number of these posts are going out of the way to make clear that no one is being condemned.

I’d also advise caution - It’s judgmental to denounce others as judgmental. 😉

Oh, wait . . . . ((ducking sheepishly)).
 
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