Weebles wobble in Communion line

[Apryl]

I’m not judging their internals, and I don’t think there should be a church rule about it. I just wish more parish priests would speak up, and/or people would take it more seriously to begin with. I’m not even sure if my kids were taught to keep their head from bobbing side-to-side in preparation for First Communion, but they all know my opinion about it and I hold them to a higher standard.

I hear you and agree!

There are so many distractions from what we are supposed to be there for: The Eucharist.

Sometimes, that wobbling is because it’s ‘time to chat’ with the others who are in their seats. I have had people to come to me, just as I have the Communion on my tongue and I’m praying, and I get someone to grab my hand, shake it, and say to me, ‘it’s so good to see you!’…I go to Mass every Sunday! What? Did you maybe not see me one week? Even if it’s been a month, or a year, I’m praying!

The time from the Lamb of God until the closing of the Tabernacle should be the most solemn, most sacred time in the Mass, but for many, it’s the time when ‘nothing else is going on’.

Yes, that should come from the priest. From his homily. In his discussions with people who are around him (all those committees and sodalities and the like, and the people who work in the rectory and who he gets to visit when he does to someone’s home, these are all his times to address this)

… sadly, we also have the opposite side of it: those who may be offended that he would DARE to say such a thing. Sadly, for many of our priests, they need to get warm bodies into the seats so that those warm bodies can put money into the collections so the church isn’t closed because we need the funds to pay the bills.

I say that anytime the priest may cater to the seat-fillers, they run a stronger risk of running off the foundation people of the church, those people who are the evangelist of our churches by how they live their lives from Monday to Sunday. If you don’t have the evangelist people, who is there to keep the seat-fillers coming back?

 

[Apryl]

All I can say is that if people wobbling in the Communion line is the biggest problem at your parish, just count your blessings and go with it.

I personally have problems with my knee. After kneeling through the Eucharistic prayer and then again after the Agnus Dei, when I get up I either wobble or have pain. I think I’ll wobble. You wouldn’t think I have issues by looking at me, especially since I am relatively young. Cut your fellow Catholics some slack and let them walk as they choose. They could be dancing, after all.

RKrispies (and others of the same mindset) I realize that there is the desire for ‘Live and Let Live’ and ‘Just not, lest ye be judged’ recitations, and we should all show compassion to others.

But do you see how little compassion and tolerance you are showing for someone else when you choose to respond in this way? Your comments I find insultin to me, even though I didn’t post this. You’re saying that whoever notices those who wobble are some how uncharitable.

Right?

If that wasn’t your intention, care to clarify?

That’s not the point, though.

If you have not been in a Mass where the wobbling was enough to be a distaction to you, count your blessings! But to assume that any one who notices such things is bad is an insult to many of us who have as our goal a protection of the Mass and the beauty of the Mass

 

[Apryl]

I concede!

Concede? For why?

It was the way you were taught… has any one explained WHY they are no longer teaching these things - that YOU, the individual, should be moving a certain way - with conviction and direction, rather than as if it was a casual moment - “This is not Crackers and Juice”

No, I say you have nothing to concede. You never suggested that there be some directive that isn’t already out there, there should be any sort of sanctions.

Lookit… you said NOTHING wrong or worthy of any sort of an apology. I don’t think you suggested that those who had any difficulty were any sort of distraction, but you did point out to the notion that those who could should try to move as if they are going to Eucharist, and not as if they are in line for potato chips.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Apryl,

Thank you for the supportive comments.

After thinking about it some, I recognize there are people who physically cannot hold to such a standard, and for them it’s OK.

As far as the majority who just kind of absent-mindedly wobble away, it just isn’t like we were taught. To be fair, we were not told that others in Communion line also knew about this, and for some reason I suspect nobody ever showed that little trick of not going side to side to most people, so I don’t judge them for it. I just become distracted by it.

Luckily for me, my Communion line is never more than about four people long, since the musicians get theirs first, so as a practical matter I seldom have to face the situation.

Alan

 

[BlyssfulDreamer]

Since I was taught to go to Communion when I was small, (kneeling and COTT btw,) I’ve noticed a troubling trend in the way people get in line to approach the Eucharist.

This thread is not any sort of attempt at sarcasm, irony, or satire. **** I actually get distracted by this, even though I don’t try to. It’s right there in front of my face so unless I close my eyes, hello! ****
Here it is. When I was taught to receive Holy Communion, the nuns made a huge deal out of the way we walked. We were to remain straight and rigid, moving forward gently but precisely when it came time to move forward. When they looked at us second graders from either the front or the back, everyone’s head was in a straight line, as we stayed perfectly lined up at all moments.

Now, I cannot get that same experience. When I am in a Communion line, people waddle from side to side more than they move forward. The result is that there is a disorganized movement of heads back and forth which looks, to people with training like what I had, as very careless and sloppy. Instead of Catholics lined up as soldiers to receive their spiritual meal, they look like fish circling or something

I’m not judging their internals, and I don’t think there should be a church rule about it. I just wish more parish priests would speak up, and/or people would take it more seriously to begin with. I’m not even sure if my kids were taught to keep their head from bobbing side-to-side in preparation for First Communion, but they all know my opinion about it and I hold them to a higher standard.

Alan

Why do get so distracted? IMO…you should be concentrating on the great privilege you are going to be having of receiving our Lord in the Eucharist. There are many reasons people cannot walk the way *you *feel they should do. Pay attention to yourself and just be glad they are approaching for Communion.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Why do get so distracted? IMO…you should be concentrating on the great privilege you are going to be having of receiving our Lord in the Eucharist. There are many reasons people cannot walk the way *you *feel they should do. Pay attention to yourself and just be glad they are approaching for Communion.

Agree.

Alan

 

[Indyann]

Agree.

Alan

Alan, I think you just hung out in that thread about “its all about externals” too long. Yuck

Just purge your mind. We know “you can’t judge a book by its cover” is an old, but true adage.

 

[tee_eff_em]

In my parish, it is not so bad on Sundays, when the ushers guide the procession, but it does look funny to me at weekday Masses – When Communion time comes, the congregation floods into the aisle all at once and waddles forward in procession.

I don’t mind that we are directed to approach in procession, but nothing says I need waddle up behind 30 or 40 (at best) others – And I would, I expect, waddle too if I joined that mob. Rather I try to time it so that when the line is down to 10 or so, I walk quickly but dignified to join the end of the queue.

I’m not judging their internals, and I don’t think there should be a church rule about it.

Me too.

tee

 

[rkrispies]

RKrispies (and others of the same mindset) I realize that there is the desire for ‘Live and Let Live’ and ‘Just not, lest ye be judged’ recitations, and we should all show compassion to others.

But do you see how little compassion and tolerance you are showing for someone else when you choose to respond in this way? Your comments I find insultin to me, even though I didn’t post this. You’re saying that whoever notices those who wobble are some how uncharitable.

Right?

If that wasn’t your intention, care to clarify?

That’s not the point, though.

If you have not been in a Mass where the wobbling was enough to be a distaction to you, count your blessings! But to assume that any one who notices such things is bad is an insult to many of us who have as our goal a protection of the Mass and the beauty of the Mass

I hope I can clarify. I never said that those who notice “wobbling” are uncharitable or bad. What I did say is that there are those of us for whom wobbling is inevitable. And before we should be chastised for daring to not walk ram-rod straight on our way to the Eucharist, why not stop to think that all might not be what it appears. Again, as I stated earlier, you wouldn’t think by looking at me that I would have problems like that. And yet I do.

On your broader point, I do count my blessings! I have never noticed wobbling in the line. And I would love to have a simple, by-the-book Mass as much as the rest of you. I would be willing to have the line sway back and forth across the aisle if it meant the priest was saying Mass reverently and by the rubrics. I also have a feeling that by making people walk to communion a certain way one wouldn’t increase the reverence at the Mass. Instead, there will now be offended people in the line, wobbling on purpose, as well as those of us who might have wobbled beforehand. I just think that all of the energy, time, resources, etc. spent debating whether one should be allowed to wobble in line to communion could be much better spent working on something that really truly mattered.

I don’t know if this has changed any opinions or offended anyone. If the latter, I apologize in advance. As a closing point, I will say this: There is a reason the “judge not, lest ye be judged” reading is included in the Mass. We all too often forget it, ignore it, or rationalize it away. If you find yourself distracted by something during Mass or in the line for communion, fix your eyes on God in the crucifix. You won’t see your fellow, flawed human beings, and you will maintain your focus on what is truly important.

 

[ProVobis]

Why do get so distracted? IMO…you should be **concentrating on the great privilege **you are going to be having of receiving our Lord in the Eucharist.

Yes, I tried that once. And walked right over someone genuflecting.

 

[ncjohn]

Yes, I tried that once. And walked right over someone genuflecting.

I know that feeling. I don’t know how many times I’ve either closed my eyes for a second or two while I say a short prayer or am looking up at the crucifix and walk into the back of somebody.

I’m probably also wobbling as I’m doing it.

 

[Apryl]

What I did say is that there are those of us for whom wobbling is inevitable.

And my assumption was that this was never about those for whom the ‘wobbling’ is inevetible and not preventable.

My comments, while addressed to a poster on this board, on this thread, were also directed at others for whom the assumption for them was that the comment was ‘you haven’t considered every one’

Just like I don’t ‘hear’ babies who cry, or who coo, but I do hear the child who screams or is talking about Sponge Bob, even though he is old enough to be in school (old enough to sit quietly for 30 minutes and old enough to be taught this is not the time nor place for that), very often, to comment about ‘the noisy kids’ groups all kids in the same group,. Just like the adults who are not able to care for themselves or control their sounds. They are not seen the same way as the adults who CHOOSE to make noise and be disruptive.

My responses to the OP were based on my visits to a variety of churches in a variety of dioceses around this country where some people do wobble in the Communion line when they wobble no other time. So, yes, I’m still saying that to see the comment as someone directing the ‘why do wobblers wobble’ to someone as if they MUST be talking about those who are not able to walk upright or slowly (it’s so much easier for me to walk without wobbling when I walk faster) is unfair to them.

You never did ask who he was speaking about, but then the comment of ‘if this is all you have to worry about, count your blessings’… I was offended for him.

And before we should be chastised for daring to not walk ram-rod straight on our way to the Eucharist, why not stop to think that all might not be what it appears. Again, as I stated earlier, you wouldn’t think by looking at me that I would have problems like that. And yet I do.

I agree. I see it myself: people who don’t look like they would have trouble walking.

But I wasn’t talking about them. I was talking more to those who speak to those on this side of the church, speak to those on that side of the church, make sure they have their change in their pocket, go back and put the fussy kid in the seat, yadda yadda. All things that are distractions to others, and would be distractions to the people them selves.

What you are calling ‘wobbling’ I call ‘not sure footed’. I’m talking about those who do sway, and sway not in an unintentional manner, but a sway because it’s just kewl… sort of the step march of the bride that was mentioned earlier.

Sounds like we are talking about two different things. Honestly, you are talking about mole hills, which can and should be overlooked. We are talking about mountains, when need to be overcome.

 

[Ponyguy]

Since I was taught to go to Communion when I was small, (kneeling and COTT btw,) I’ve noticed a troubling trend in the way people get in line to approach the Eucharist.

Here it is. When I was taught to receive Holy Communion, **the nuns made a huge deal out of the way we walked. We were to remain straight and rigid, moving forward gently but precisely when it came time to move forward. When they looked at us second graders from either the front or the back, everyone’s head was in a straight line, as we stayed perfectly lined up at all moments. **
Alan

AMEN!

Thank you, Sisters of Saint Agnes!

You trained us well, and made my life in military boot camp a lot easier!

 

[rkrispies]

And my assumption was that this was never about those for whom the ‘wobbling’ is inevetible and not preventable.

You assumed, but the OP didn’t specify. I am assuming here that you don’t wobble (have less sure footing) and therefore, you come from that perspective. I don’t. I guess we needed a better definition of “wobble” and/or “weeble”

You never did ask who he was speaking about, but then the comment of ‘if this is all you have to worry about, count your blessings’… I was offended for him.

. . .

Sounds like we are talking about two different things. Honestly, you are talking about mole hills, which can and should be overlooked. We are talking about mountains, when need to be overcome.

No I didn’t, and I probably should have. Point taken. I absolutely see it as a molehill. I can also honestly say that wobblers by your definition are also a molehill when we have priests that do not believe in the Real Presence, etc. One man’s mountain is another’s molehill?

 

[Apryl]

You assumed, but the OP didn’t specify. I am assuming here that you don’t wobble (have less sure footing) and therefore, you come from that perspective. I don’t. I guess we needed a better definition of “wobble” and/or “weeble”

Actually, I am a ‘wobbler’ (knees and hips that zig instead of zag, and equilibrium issues, and a little bit of a limp, and…)

The point I was making, and the reason for my choice of the word ‘assume’ is that what you said didn’t allow for the OP to be thoughtful enough to allow for the wobblers of the world.

No I didn’t, and I probably should have. Point taken. I absolutely see it as a molehill. I can also honestly say that wobblers by your definition are also a molehill when we have priests that do not believe in the Real Presence, etc. One man’s mountain is another’s molehill?

OK… I’m not comparing REAL PROBLEMS to other REAL PROBLEMS. I’m comparing people who may be a distraction because of issues they have no control over to people who choose to not participate in the Mass and are therefore a distraction to others in the Mass. Mountains to Molehills.

Priest who don’t believe in the Real Presence, Nuns who want to protect ‘a woman’s right to choose’, and other such things (we don’t need to list them, do we?) are problems. Nothing to be compared to molehills in any form. They are abominations. Even if people are wobbling and talking, that pales in comparison to the problems that do exist.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Keep in mind, I’m not talking about people who have “silly walks,” either by choice/training, or because of physical limitations.

I’m talking about just mindlessly bobbing from left to right, basically with straight knees … kind of like Frankenstein’s monster but sideways instead of forward.

If 10 or 15 were in line, but one or two people were going sideways, it wouldn’t have given me the “sea of Weebles” image that it did – and I’d have missed the opportunity to start this wonderful thread.

Alan

 

[Shin]

In these days with people not raised by parents or nuns who teach people to sit up straight, walk properly, hold their hands properly, move decorously, etc…

I can’t see a nice solemn Communion line happening too often, though I suppose I’ll keep my eyes open and see if they manage it better at the TLM parishes.

It’s really something though, I must admit… . a beautiful sight to see people taught how to walk, sit, hold their hands, move etc. properly.

I admit to not being one of them. It takes discipline to acquire. And actually… help and peer support I generally think. We tend to move like those around us move.

I remember I used to sit up straight all the time… don’t recall why… think some relative advised me to… or somehow I got it into my head it was right… then as a boy I noticed no one else did when someone commented that I did so… so if I recall correctly I changed the habit – better to fit in than not was the view.

The nail that sticks up gets hammered down so to speak. Even when children might be raised properly in house, stick them in the wrong environment they won’t be able to retain it easily.

 

[ProVobis]

so if I recall correctly I changed the habit – better to fit in than not was the view.

That hits the nail on the head. It still is the view, it seems. I think the Pope mentioned something about not forcing anyone to do anything. Perhaps he’s leaving it up to the nuns?

 

[jmcrae]

The other thing I always found irritating as a kid, and that still catches my attention to this day when I’m at a parish that uses a communion rail, is that we were taught to wait until everybody at the rail had received and then for everyone to get up and depart at once. That was the way we always did it at daily Mass at school but I always noticed that you didn’t see that at Sunday Mass when everybody got up as soon as they had received.

At our EF parish, the custom is to get up as soon as you have received, and go back to your pew to pray. The next person in line then takes your place, so when the priest gets to the end of the row, he just comes back up the row without having to stop, and then back down again, until everyone has received, with no pausing. It’s actually very efficient.

 

[Faith1960]

(ducks for cover)

I concede!

Alan

Ah, don’t do that. I know what you mean and despite all the people here with health problems, generally speaking, there are far more at Mass who don’t have health issues causing them to do that. In fact, a few weeks ago I went to another church and saw a couple walking down the Communion aisle talking and laughing almost the entire way.