We were admonished prior to mass today.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Crystal_H
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Crystal_H

Guest
Well, not really…Today, our priest let us know that there will no longer be any hand holding during the Our Father… and one should not leave their place to “pass the peace”. Whew…
I have been waiting( and praying) for this to happen. I hope that next week he asks us not to clap at the end of mass for the choir! (even though they are wonderful!)

There were lots of befuddled looks though.:eek: I hope they find out why and not just complain.

Peace to you all,
Crystal
 
Crystal_H said:
Well, not really…Today, our priest let us know that there will no longer be any hand holding during the Our Father… and one should not leave their place to “pass the peace”. Whew…
I have been waiting( and praying) for this to happen. I hope that next week he asks us not to clap at the end of mass for the choir! (even though they are wonderful!)

There were lots of befuddled looks though.:eek: I hope they find out why and not just complain.

Peace to you all,
Crystal
Click to expand...
Hi Crystal;

Did he say why? Just curious. (not the peace part, but the holding hands during the Our Father part)
 
He did say why we do not hold hands. He explained that it was never part of the mass. It originated aver the last few DECADEs as an ecumenical sign of unity with protestants and was introduced illicitly and does not have a place in our mass. We have been asked to pray in the orans posture with our hands open to our Father.

Did this help?

I know this really rankles some of our parishioners and the more I read about the Reformation the more I need to remain steadfast in our HOLY tradition. (another subject)
Crystal
 
Yes, thanks Crystal. I was just curious if he expounded upon the request.

We pray with our hands held open, also…but that even feels so different to me as well. Whatever happened to folding our hands, in the form of a …prayer? lol
:o
 
Crystal_H said:
Well, not really…Today, our priest let us know that there will no longer be any hand holding during the Our Father… and one should not leave their place to “pass the peace”. Whew…
I have been waiting( and praying) for this to happen. I hope that next week he asks us not to clap at the end of mass for the choir! (even though they are wonderful!)

There were lots of befuddled looks though.:eek: I hope they find out why and not just complain.

Peace to you all,
Crystal
Click to expand...
He doesn’t have the authority to insist upon that. While he can most certainly say there is no requirement to institutionally hold hands and that people should not initiate hand-holding with people they are not already certain want to hold hands with them, he lacks the authority to make a sweeping claim across the board.

Sometimes when my girlfriend attends Mass with me we unobtrusively hold hands – and not just during the Lord’s Prayer. If my pastor made such a declaration I would quietly ignore it.
 
Crystal_H said:
Today, our priest let us know that there will no longer be any hand holding during the Our Father.
Click to expand...
Rickwood said:
Sometimes when my girlfriend attends Mass with me we unobtrusively hold hands – and not just during the Lord’s Prayer. If my pastor made such a declaration I would quietly ignore it.
Click to expand...
I don’t go grabbing for hands during the Lord’s Prayer, but my wife and I always hold hands at that time. While we wouldn’t make a big production about it, we would probably also ignore those instructions.
 
I am sure the Priest was not speaking against couples\families holding hands, my daughter will even hold my hand sometimes. He was speaking against everyone holding hands in imitation of the style of the non-catholics.

It is better to rediscover our Catholic faith and not be so eager to imitate other religious groups as it has led to a massive amount of confusion and loss of our Catholic identity. I don’t think holding hands is really a big thing but clapping is something that is totally inappropriate and doesn’t belong in every Sunday Mass.

There are a few exceptions to clapping such as the ordination of Seminarians. Yet when we start to change the Mass to a sort of performance where everyone is applauded for their parts we misrepresent the Holy Faith as taught by Christ which should worship God, not man.

In our culture today it is common for us to want to seek prominence and get people to clap for us which is why people enjoy it so much. It is natural to us as it is part of our non-christian culture these days to clap and seek approval from each other.

Mass is about worshipping God and doing it as the Body of Christ, all too often we have changed the focus on how can we together enjoy each others company. The Priest is probably trying to bring a little bit of God back into the Mass and highlight the fact that we are there for God first and then we exhibit our love for each other in our lives.

God Bless
Scylla
 
whatevergirl said:
Yes, thanks Crystal. I was just curious if he expounded upon the request.

We pray with our hands held open, also…but that even feels so different to me as well. Whatever happened to folding our hands, in the form of a …prayer? lol
:o
Click to expand...
I fold my hands in prayer during the Our Father (and during most of the Mass). My family does the same.
 
rick43235 said:
I don’t go grabbing for hands during the Lord’s Prayer, but my wife and I always hold hands at that time. While we wouldn’t make a big production about it, we would probably also ignore those instructions.
Click to expand...
I completely agree. I totally accept a pastor’s authority to forbid “group hand-holding” during Mass (although we don’t do this at our parish, and I find it awkward when I experience it elsewhere). I *don’t *accept his authority to tell me that I can’t hold hands with my wife and daughter, however.
 
Mattapoisett64 said:
I completely agree. I totally accept a pastor’s authority to forbid “group hand-holding” during Mass (although we don’t do this at our parish, and I find it awkward when I experience it elsewhere). I *don’t *accept his authority to tell me that I can’t hold hands with my wife and daughter, however.
Click to expand...
I think a few of you are getting your feathers ruffled here when there is no need. :rolleyes: We are not as “a community” supposed to hold hands at the Our Father. It was never instituted by the Church. It doesn’t mean you can’t hold the hand of a family member or girlfriend/whatever when you sit in Church. I think you will see this sort of correction become more widespread.
 
BSHoop96 said:
I think a few of you are getting your feathers ruffled here when there is no need. :rolleyes: We are not as “a community” supposed to hold hands at the Our Father. It was never instituted by the Church. It doesn’t mean you can’t hold the hand of a family member or girlfriend/whatever when you sit in Church. I think you will see this sort of correction become more widespread.
Click to expand...
I don’t think you get it…

Just because it’s not in the GIRM/RS/etc. does not mean it’s prohibited, nor must it be “instituted.” The OP said this:
Crystal_H said:
…Today, our priest let us know that there will no longer be any hand holding during the Our Father…
Click to expand...
Which suggests there will be NO hand-holding allowed at all. The priest doesn’t have that sort of authority.
 
You are certainly over-reacting, as it is commonly understood that communal hand holding is what the Priest is talking about. Where everyone is holding hands with each other while praying in the new-agey, modern evangelical style.

I am certain any Priest in his right mind would not mind and is not thinking about me holding my wifes hand or my childs.

I am not sure if it was communicated in the most clear way but there is no way to object to the Priests point as it is certainly within his authority to discourage practices that are copied from non-catholic\pagan belief systems.

Just because we like to do some things doesn’t mean we should do them in Church, it is up to the Priest to guide us in proper Catholic expression of our faith at Mass.

God Bless
Scylla
 
A beloved custodian at the (public) school I teach at passed away last week. Very devout Catholic man … four priests concelebrated the Mass together assisted by a deacon.

As members of our faculty discussed plans to attend the funeral, my principal and I made it quietly known that we did not hold any one’s hands during the Our Father.

We have a mixture of Catholics and Methodists on our faculty, and it ended up a very interesting scenario… none of the male staff members held hands, and only two of the female staff people did. The rest all folded their hands properly, regardless of denomination. 👍
 
I had the opportunity to attend several Masses at World Youth Day in Australia this past summer, and I made an interesting observation: in the big outdoor Masses where various groups of young people were identified by flags of their respective nations, the only groups that I saw holding hands during the Our Father at the Papal Masses were Americans. In fact, other nearby groups from Spain, Germany, and Brazil were staring at our group when most of our members joined hands.
 
Just to clarify… he did not forbid hand holding for those who are married or with their children… simply that it is not an accepted practice to hold hands during the “Our Father” as a part of the “ritual”
Sheesh… I think that some are too sensitive or read far too much into things.

PS. My DH and I almost always hold hands during the homily :eek:

I didn’t reailze that this was such a sensitive topic…
 
scylla said:
You are certainly over-reacting, as **it is commonly understood that communal hand holding is what the Priest is talking about. **Where everyone is holding hands with each other while praying in the new-agey, modern evangelical style.

I am certain any Priest in his right mind would not mind and is not thinking about me holding my wifes hand or my childs.

I am not sure if it was communicated in the most clear way but there is no way to object to the Priests point as it is certainly within his authority to discourage practices that are copied from non-catholic\pagan belief systems.

Just because we like to do some things doesn’t mean we should do them in Church, it is up to the Priest to guide us in proper Catholic expression of our faith at Mass.

God Bless
Scylla
Click to expand...
No, that’s not commonly understood, nor is it what the OP posted:
Crystal_H said:
Well, not really…Today, our priest let us know that there will no longer be any hand holding during the Our Father…
Click to expand...
One group comes to mind at my local parish. They get to Mass very early and sit in the third row – always the third row. More than a dozen of them. They hold hands during the Lord’s Prayer and no, our pastor does not have the authority to tell them to stop either. He can tell us not to grab at others who might not be willing to hold hands and not to impose our hand-holding on others, but he couldn’t stop this group as one example.

Keep in mind two other points. First the Mass (OF & EF) borrows heavily from both Judaic and historically pagan practices. Second, just because we dislike certain things others do does not make their actions wrong.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top