Why are Sunday afternoon Masses rare?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mijoy2
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Mijoy2

Guest
I’m not sure where to post this. I chose this forum, I hope it is appropriate.

I’m wondering why it is difficult to find a parish that celebrates a Sunday afternoon or evening Mass? Is there a reason for this (such as it is somehow inappropriate or too late)?

The teaching of the Church that we are obligated to our Sunday Mass can be difficult for many Catholics when the only time they can find a Mass to celebrate is Sunday Morning and possibly one Mass (typically 4 or 5 PM) Saturday Afternoon. Sunday afternoon would greatly illeviated the difficulty.

Also, if anyone is from South Eastern Massachusetts, do you know of a parish that celebrates Sunday afternoon Mass?
 
If you are close to a college, link onto their Newman center which is the Catholic presence on campus. They will typically have a later mass…at our son’s colleges, one mass is at 9pm and the other 8pm. to accomodate their lifestyles. So if you don’t mind celebrating with young people, that might fit your option.
 
Mijoy2 said:
Also, if anyone is from South Eastern Massachusetts, do you know of a parish that celebrates Sunday afternoon Mass?
Click to expand...
You may want to check your diocese website. Mine has a parish directory where the mass times for each parish are listed. I takes a little work to go through all the adjacent towns and find the mass times, but if you scribble them down or type them into a document on your computer that you can refer to any time, that will make it much easier the next time.
 
A lot of Latin Masses (to this point) in indult areas are held in the afternoons on Sunday, usually between 1 and 5 p.m.
 
I don’t know if you know this site: www.masstimes.org
It has helped me to find where to go to mass, when I’ve traveled to some other place in the US.
 
A lot of the problem is just practical.

For one, people get set in their ways. So change or addition of more Masses is not likely.

Then, of course, it means extra work for the priests and anyone else associated (music director and such). So if they can avoid that it is to their personal benefit. (They’d like some time off on Sunday, too, afterall.)

A lot of people who attend Sunday evening Masses, typically, travel for them and are not from the local parish where it is offered. So pastors may see it as not their obligation to offer something for those who are not from their local community. Also, often those who attend such Masses (precisely because they are not held at the home parish which they feel an attachment to) don’t put money (or not much, at least) into the collection basket. This factors in, also. Pastors notice this and reason with a cost/benefit response.

So these are at least some reasons which play a part.

There should be at least a couple Sunday afternoon/evening Masses in every community, however, to satisfy the needs of those who require them. I have found that in recent years, there seem to be more springing up around here to meet the interests of young people, in particular. Or sometimes, as a previous poster noted, they get added on to offer something unique from the morning Mass in stylistic.
 
Mijoy2 said:
I’m not sure where to post this. I chose this forum, I hope it is appropriate.

I’m wondering why it is difficult to find a parish that celebrates a Sunday afternoon or evening Mass? Is there a reason for this (such as it is somehow inappropriate or too late)?

The teaching of the Church that we are obligated to our Sunday Mass can be difficult for many Catholics when the only time they can find a Mass to celebrate is Sunday Morning and possibly one Mass (typically 4 or 5 PM) Saturday Afternoon. Sunday afternoon would greatly illeviated the difficulty.

Also, if anyone is from South Eastern Massachusetts, do you know of a parish that celebrates Sunday afternoon Mass?
Click to expand...
Our church has 10 Masses on a Sunday:

5.30am, 6.45am, 8am, 9.15am, 10.30am, 3.30pm, 4.45pm, 6pm, 7.15pm and 8.30pm.
 
if your diocese has a lot of missions you may find more Masses offered later in the day, but be prepared they may be in Spanish. also youth Masses, Lifeteen, or Masses on college campuses in Newman Centers may be later. also look for pilgrimage shrines in your area.

The reason why they are not offered is one there is a limit on how many Masses one priest can offer in one day, and where it is enforced, he has to serve the needs of the greatest number. The more spread out the Mass schedule not only the more work for the priest, but for all the lay volunteers in the various ministries.
 
Believe it or not, the question of an afternoon Mass on Sunday is one of supply and demand. The pastor must determine when to most effectively schedule Mass times. This means looking at the congregation’s preferences. Many parishes have tried to schedule Masses on Sunday afternoon only to find that the number of people attending did not warrant the effort. The priest must have permission to say more than two Masses on a single day if I remember correctly. How many parishes have staff to accommodate the number of Masses?

Matthew
 
The parish we belong to does not have an afternoon or evening Mass on Sunday (latest is noon). But there are three others near us that have Mass times at 6:00, 7:30, and even 8:00pm.

I agree - it is extremely helpful, especially if we have been traveling and getting home on Sunday, then we know we have somewhere to go to fulfill our obligation.

~Liza
 
Mijoy2 said:
Also, if anyone is from South Eastern Massachusetts, do you know of a parish that celebrates Sunday afternoon Mass?
Click to expand...
I grew up on the South Shore (Weymouth, Norwell) and visit often with family in Plymouth. You might try Sacred Heart in Weymouth, Holy Family in Rockland, near S. Weymouth, and St. Thecla in N. Pembroke; they all have Sunday afternoon Masses listed on masstimes.org. I would go to their own websites, or call to make sure, as these things change.

While traveling up there recently, I also tried to find a Sunday afternoon Mass and it wasn’t easy. Fortunately, I discovered that a town near where I had dropped hubby off at the airport in CT had a Mass at a perfect time, so all was well.

Good luck!
 
dixieagle said:
I grew up on the South Shore (Weymouth, Norwell) and visit often with family in Plymouth. You might try Sacred Heart in Weymouth, Holy Family in Rockland, near S. Weymouth, and St. Thecla in N. Pembroke; they all have Sunday afternoon Masses listed on masstimes.org. I would go to their own websites, or call to make sure, as these things change.

While traveling up there recently, I also tried to find a Sunday afternoon Mass and it wasn’t easy. Fortunately, I discovered that a town near where I had dropped hubby off at the airport in CT had a Mass at a perfect time, so all was well.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks to all who replied. Thank you Dixieagle. Some of those parishes are very nearby. Especially St Thecla in Pemborke. I am in Kingston. The Holy Family in Rockland has a truly outstanding pastor who I know from my childhood.

Thanks much!
 
Pretty much all of the churches around here offer at least one service on Sunday afternoon and one on Sunday evening.
 
It is also worth noting here that only the pastor can change the Mass schedule in a given parish, and there are guidelines on how he is to do it, so it may have been tried and found not to work in that parish, or too much hassle, esp. if neighboring parishes already offter alternate times.
 
There’s three that I know of in this parish, one at the Cathedral, and two at local colleges (during the school year).

I’m not sure why the lack of them, but I think it has something to do with the priest shortage. By Sunday afternoon, they want time to decompress. There’s one priest that I know that is handling three parishes. A very good friend of mine is on one of the parish councils and said that although Father is putting up a brave front for the parishoners-he’s not neglecting them or saying he’s too busy, by Sunday afternoon, “his brain is about ready to melt.”

OK, I think I got off topic, but I think you get the idea. There aren’t enough priests to offer more Masses.
 
I agree that it is because of the priest shortage. When I lived in a large city, there were several churches which had Sunday afternoon Masses, but in this town, that isn’t the case. None of the churches here have a Sunday afternoon Mass, but our Catholic hospital has Mass at 3 p.m. I wouldn’t think one would want to make this their “regular” Mass, but for those occasions when none of the others fits your weekend, it’s a handy option.
 
Check masstimes.org for your area. Sunday afternoon/evening Masses are pretty common around here, so I’m sure you’ll be able to find at least one church by you that has one.
 
Another reality is that traditionally, there were no Masses after noon. Until the 1950’s, Masses had to be in the morning. Many people were conditioned this way and passed the same habits to their children.
 
drafdog said:
Believe it or not, the question of an afternoon Mass on Sunday is one of supply and demand. The pastor must determine when to most effectively schedule Mass times. This means looking at the congregation’s preferences. Many parishes have tried to schedule Masses on Sunday afternoon only to find that the number of people attending did not warrant the effort. The priest must have permission to say more than two Masses on a single day if I remember correctly. How many parishes have staff to accommodate the number of Masses?

Matthew
Click to expand...
I think in many cases it’s a matter of tradition and habit. In the past, fasting began at midnight and people were very eager to attend Mass as early as possible. It was also true that Mass was rarely if ever celebrated at night outside of Christmas and Easter and those began at midnight. I think both of those bits of history still influence parishes, even brand-new parishes.

I am thinking about asking that a Tridentine Mass be added to my parish’s schedule at 2:00pm every Sunday (just about the only open time) and I do wonder how people would respond.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top