What verb do you use to describe going to Mass?

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Just to nitpick, Mass and Church are not always the same thing… I will sometimes point that out to friends/family- We’re going to Mass, not just ‘church’ . 😃 😃 just my .02$
 
I’ll alert the media here so they can let everyone know we’re doing it wrong.

Oh, the joys of CAF…

Unsubscribing
 
DeniseNY said:
Well considering that I live in a majority Catholic area, (and we say it to each other) I don’t really think that’s the motivation.
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I was just reflecting on my own experiences. Sorry if you are offended. Can’t win for losing, I suspect.
 
I often say going to church, even if for Mass. I am a Protestant convert and am pretty used to saying going to church. Along the lines of what other have mentioned going to church is always the case even if you are going to the Good Friday service or some other non Mass event or just to pray. Mass would be something specific at church. If my wife and I are discussing which Mass well attend I’d more likely say ‘which Mass do you want to go to’. But if we are running late I might say “hurry up or we’ll be late for church!”
 
Of course, as a deacon, you have an official role at the Masses at least in your parish.

If you are on vacation, or just attending a Mass for a funeral or other life event outside of your parish, and not “serving” it, what terminology do you use.
 
For me its Going to Chapel or going to mass. I’m in Glasgow in Scotland where church is generally regarded as being of a non Catholic denomination hence the use of Chapel instead.
 
It all depends on the context. If I am teaching RCIA or preparing adults for Confirmation, I use the term “celebrate”. If I am talking with someone and saying that I will be somewhere on Sunday, I generally say I am “going” to Mass.
 
I don’t just hear it, as “hearing” doe not imply, generally, any participation. I participate with the priest. I am there to offer up the sacrifice along with the priest.
 
Like Denise, everyone where I lived and now live says "I am going to church. "

No need to correct us, that’s just what we say. We know we are going to mass, we just say church.
 
Okay - but much ado about nothing. I don’t know if I could say many priests coming out of seminary do this or that; and I am relatively familiar with one seminary (Mount Angel, in Oregon).

From the current GIRM: "In truth, the nature of the ministerial Priesthood proper to the Bishop and the Priest, who offer the Sacrifice in the person of Christ and who preside over the gathering of the holy people, ".

I also note that the GIRM refers to the priest, and the priest celebrant; but one who presides over something is a presider…
 
if anyone bothers to ask me as i am on my way; i just say " i am going to Mass"

never thought about the complexities of this…
 
brian_custer said:
if anyone bothers to ask me as i am on my way; i just say " i am going to Mass"

never thought about the complexities of this…
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Well now, you had best get started thinking about the complexities of it, Sonny Jim. The correct verb is “assisted”. 🧐

Here is an emoji of a mermaid: 🧜

brb, going to Mass.
 
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assisted at mass? haven’t done that since i was an altar boy many, many moons ago
 
Jerusha said:
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DeniseNY:
“Going to Church”. That’s what most everyone around here says.
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That is what I would say when speaking to non-Catholics. To be a stronger witness, I should be saying “going to Mass”. Desire to not offend those who might be anti-Catholic is not an excuse for softening it.
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Like @DeniseNY, I attend the Divine Liturgy, so saying that I’m going to Mass wouldn’t be correct. If I’m talking to someone who knows what I am talking about, I say that I am going to Liturgy. Otherwise, I also go with “going to church”.
 
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I usually keep it simple: I’m going to Mass, because that’s what I’m doing. I’m actually driving TO the Mass. Though I might vary it by saying: I’m heading off to the Mass, or I’m taking off to the Mass, etc.

🙂
 
Because I usually go to Mass straight from work, depending on who is asking I may say, “going to Mass”, or for some who may not know what that is I’ll say, “going to church”. For those I know particularly well I might say, “I’m going to pray for your miserable souls”. 😎

Whatever I say, I am fortunate enough to be the senior employee where I work and, if they think it odd that I go to church in the middle of the week, they never say so to my face.
 
Past: “going to church” at the time, I used the same phrase when going to fix the linens or decorate.
Present: “going to mass”

Just finished reading letters exchanged between St Gianna Beretta Molla and her husband. He always wrote that he “assisted at holy mass” or “heard mass” or “served mass.”

The book did not specify, so I wondered, for the times when he said “served” did he mean, at the altar assisting the priest.
 
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