This happened during mass and I was upset

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1Lord1Faith said:
This man in question had an experience with the Holy Spirit and what have most people here done? The same thing the crowds on the street did to the Apostles at Pentecost, accused them of all manner of things. Wow, just wow.
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So in your opinion should we all be sharing our spiritual experiences at mass by shouting them to the rest of the congregation throughout the holy sacrifice of the mass?
 
There’s something about late Masses that just makes them crazy…
 
LaughingBoy1503 said:
People do all kinds of things because they feel the spirit is moving them. All I’m saying is that I can’t judge correctly but I look at people making scenes at Mass with suspicious. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong but I don’t think so.
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Ah, the magic word that I was just going to post: “Judge.” With all due respect to everyone here, I think we responding with speculation only. We were not all there. I mentioned my private Mass after a Cursillo weekend where men were so moved that they were sobbing, although quietly, during the Mass. During the weekend, some felt healed, vindicated, and filled with the Holy Spirit. We become suspicious of things like this because it is out of the norm for almost all of us.

Then again, perhaps this person was mentally ill and if connected with the Cursillo weekend, was “disruptive” not on purpose. We cannot judge that.

Case in point: One of my choir members has a 33 year old son who always sits in the pews and helps the ushers with the collection with help. He has the mental capacity of a 5 year old. At the end of some songs, he will shout out loudly, “WOW!” During mass, if some laugh at something the priest says during a Homily, he laughs the loudest just because others are laughing. Everyone at every Mass knows him and accepts his outbursts.

All I’m saying is that there are too many variables here and the fact that the priest did not stop or correct these outbursts or have someone correct the situation, perhaps, just perhaps, this may just be the same case as I mentioned. I cannot make any judgment call on this one unless I was there and familiar with the parish and I do not think anyone here can either.
 
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I come from a pentecostal background. It’s not out of the norm for me because I saw it a lot growing up. I’ll keep my mouth shut because it’s too easy to be misunderstood online, as I proved by misunderstanding you earlier (sorry again btw) but absolutely I look at the charismatic stuff with a bit more caution Due to my previous experiences. Not because I’m not use to it. I have my reasons.
 
LaughingBoy1503 said:
Sorry. It seemed like you were making a accusation at me so perhaps I was a bit rash. I misunderstood
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My friend, no worries, all is well. I don’t think I was clear enough. No accusations at all, just dialog voicing my opinion, just like the one I just wrote regarding this topic which, IMO, has too many variables to make a judgment call. My “case in point” is true and and any visitor might see this as unacceptable behavior and confused as well.

Just read your additional post. As a member of a Pentecostal church, I think I know what you saw and heard. Now, as far as “my reasons,” that is your private experience.
 
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QContinuum said:
Nope, it wasn’t you at all. That is definitely weird
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Only because this is not the norm for us, so it is considered “weird.” We were not there. Any disruptive, out of the norm for any church, any mass, would have been handled to correct it.

Please read my post to LB1503, part “Case in Point.” This “boy” I speak of is not “weird.” He cannot control his mental illness.
 
rondirect said:
Only because this is not the norm for us, so it is considered “weird.” We were not there. Any disruptive, out of the norm for any church, any mass, would have been handled to correct it.

Please read my post to LB1503, part “Case in Point.” This “boy” I speak of is not “weird.” He cannot control his mental illness.
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rondirect, please understand I mean no offense, but I’m not interested in examining every possible outlier explanation to normalize an odd situation.

You may accept such outbursts as natural in your universe.

From my Episcopalian viewpoint, it is most strange. And that is saying a lot, considering we are known to push the boundaries on strange behavior.
 
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This is very strange. I would be very skeptical of it and would talk to the priest. I could be wrong, but every time I’ve heard of a saint having a vision, they respond with awe-struck silence and reverence…not screaming and sobbing. If he did suddenly believe that Christ was in the Eucharist, then he should have been silent and reverenced the Blessed Sacrament and prayed quietly to God, not drawing attention by screaming “Look at me!” After the mass he could have shared with people what he felt or saw. But I do think this behavior was inappropriate. However, we don’t know all the extenuating circumstances. Even if he did have a mental illnes, I’d be surprised at the others in the group encouraging him instead of trying to quiet him.
 
When playing the organ at mass, I get concerned about every wrong note I play, because I don’t want my mistakes to draw attention away from the action of the altar. I pray before every mass that everything we do in the choir loft will draw people to a deeper participation in the sacrifice of the mass.

The thought of shouting out how the Holy Spirit is working in my heart at any particular mass is just beyond anything I can imagine as appropriate or even respectful of my brothers and sisters in Christ. There is a certain arrogance about the actions of this group – as if they think the Holy Spirit cannot possibly be at work in the silence of other people’s hearts.
 
LaughingBoy1503 said:
People do all kinds of things because they feel the spirit is moving them. It does not make it true. All I’m saying is that I can’t judge correctly but I look at people making scenes at Mass with suspicion. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong but I don’t think so. You can give someone the benefit of the doubt, that’s your right but I can likewise look at it with caution. I’m sure lots of people get moved by God during Mass but they respect what is going on at the liturgy. What will Mass be like if anyone can yell and do whatever they want and people say “well, the spirit moved them”? God is a God of order, not chaos.
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It can be a few of these things:
  1. It was staged.
  2. They seek attention.
  3. They just followed their feeling, which was too strong to surpressed.
  4. They were unable to control themselves.
1 & 2 were obviously wrong.
3 & 4 probably not their fault that they should manifest.

If it is 4, their friends shoud just carry them away so that they did not disturb the others who wanted to worship.
 
Thankfully, I’ve never experienced such craziness at mass. If you weren’t a regular member, I’d think you were making it up.

As it’s my bedtime now, I’m almost sure to have twilight zone like dreams. Oh well…
 
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Dear April,
It sounds like a Charismatic group was invited to be part of mass. I’ve been to many Charismatic meetings. We would have special masses said for us occasionally. We never interrupted our masses. Asking for prayers was more intimate. We all were avid prayerers. There was a disconnect here. “God is not the author of confusion, but of a sound mind.” The Holy Spirit doesn’t bring discord. Call and ask the parish priest, what happened. Pray for them-That they would be obedient to God, while being sensitive to the Spirit.
We can feel the Holy Spirit’s presence. Seeing??? It is joyous being Charismatic! Even when we were new, some things they did,made us feel strange. Jesus says,”Come to me as a little child.” Praying w hands up is funny to-do. The first church prayed w hands up. Praying in tongues is quiet, but if you feel the Holy Spirit,to pray your tongue out loud, you speak up. But, you should have an interpretation of your tongue. Otherwise, the group won’t understand it. Certain gifts are given. Praying over ppl in need, is moving. Lots of great stuff. Presently, the church is hoping it will die out. If we behave like that, I can understand why.
Enjoy loving God in church
In Christ’s Love
Tweedlealice
 
I don’t know… the conga line out of church shouting ‘God is fire!’ makes me think that they were are inclined to be a little over the top.
 
Hmm I feel like your feelings about this are worth sharing with the priest, even in the off chance that what you described was pre-approved by him. In the end, it’s his job to lead the flock, part of which means not scaring off new/visiting parishioners. I’d let him know you were looking for a parish and considering attending more frequently but are now unsure. This is not meant to scare or threaten him but people who attend this parish weekly won’t likely leave for one bad experience. Priest should be made aware that he had new faces in the congregation who could be swayed by this one day.

I have only been to one truly charismatic event, held outside of mass. It inspired me to grow in faith I suppose, but they certainly have their time and place and they should never distract from God in the Eucharist. I have a hard time believing this particular man was having a real experience as I doubt the Holy Spirit would try to upstage the Son in the consecration and if this man really had come to an epiphany about it, he would likely have demonstrated more respect for the Eucharist. Not saying he acted sinfully or even truly disrespectfully, but it doesn’t sound like he fully, truly gets it.

Also, vague lines like “God is Fire” should be avoided IMHO if you can’t offer explanation or context beforehand. Just my two cents.
 
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This is not appropriate. If this happened once then I would try to let it go. worrying about these kinds of thing all the time is not good. It helps the devil to bring souls to Hell. If this is always happening then I would continue looking for a parish.
 
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