Why even go to Mass on Sunday

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SueG:
If you ever see my children being disrespectful before the Lord, please feel free to tell ‘em to knock it off. Why did adults stop correcting children that were not their own? Not physically, but with a kind, FIRM voice. If the kids’ parents get offended, then let them explain why their child is so ill-mannered or badly educated. No wonder the country is so messed up…children rule the roost, and the adults are too nervous to discipline them. Time to take back the controls. Time for PC-ness to end. I long for the way things were when I was a child. I’m sick of explaining to my children why they can’t watch the tv shows their classmates watch, or listen to the popular music. Dear God, I’m mad as heck, and I’m not going to take it anymore! Who’s with me?! :mad:

Thank you for the rant. 😃
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My husband and I used to attend a certain Mass at our former parish, we a couple had twin sons who were deaf. The boys were about 4-5 years old and were completely unruly. They yelled, threw missiles at each other, ran around the front of the altar yelling and screaming (the parents always sat in the first or second row), ran up and down the pew in heavy shoes. It was so distracting and loud, most parishoners just stiffened up when we saw that family come in. My husband made the mistake of suggesting to the priest that the family be advised just how loud the children were and ask them to either sit in the back or take the children outside for a few minutes when they began to get loud or out of control - BIG MISTAKE!!
Not only was my husband given a tongue lashing by the priest, but each time these children were at the same Mass we went to Father would begin his homily telling everyone what a great blessing and joy these children were.
We do not deny these children are a blessing and joy, but they were also very loud and disputive. However, our attempt to quiet things down ending with us being reprimanded.
 
Sir Knight:
Not to take this thread off topic, but my wife also takes her purse with her when going for communion. Not because she’s going to walk out the door but because several years ago her sister had her wallet lifted from her purse when she went up for communion. Since then, we exercise extra caution.
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My take on this is not a popular one. Not on this specific case but more of overall property protection philiosophy.

I look at it this way (I’ll use the above case as an example):

the likelyhood of having a wallet liftedat Mass is probably in the small fraction of a percent catagory. Probably can be measured by 1 in thousands of trips to the Eucharist… (I am not implying this is insignificant I am just trying to make a case based on stats.)

The alternative to this is to carry the purse to the Eucharist. Therfore I weigh it this way (if I were a female). Is it worth my carrying my purse to the Eucharist thousands of times to prevent the statistical theft that will either never happen in my lifetime, or possibly once, twice at the outside (where the ramification is a little cash will be taken).

This also explains why I leave my doors open to my house more often then not when taking a short trip.

Again, I realize I am in the minority, but my life is uncluttered by a typical day being filled of locking all doors, and taking every precaution to “protect my possesions” which are the Lords anyway. Doesn’t seem worth the trouble.
 
People will attend mass for their own reasons, often for all the wrong reasons. I attend because spiritually it like robbing the bank – grace wise. I think sometimes God lets us witness such bad behavior for our benefit, it should cause us to pray and pull closer to Him.

A nun in our parish never shuts up. Whenever I am preparing for reception of the Eucharist she is busy playing Master of Ceremonies and Grand Hostess. I want to tell her “One day you will desperately want to pray while all those about you chatter like birds in the trees. You will then know that you are dead & in purgatory.”

I participate in the very best mass as I can. It is God’s will for me. I have been canonically restrained from slaying infidels in the sanctuary.
 
Many forget why they go to Mass.

First of all we keep Holy the Lord’s Day by our attendance at Mass. Beyond that we assist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass not as observers but as participants. We are there primarily to worship God, not to be entertained or feeling that I get nothing out of it. It is for us to “give”. In doing so we receive graces.
 
Hi everyone! 👋

Reading these posts has brought two scriptures to mind:

Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but don’t notice the log in your own eye (Matt 7:3)?

The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, "I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there (Luke 18:11).

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
Jesus did not tolerate unacceptable behavior when people were disrespectiveful in His Father’s house. Nor, should we tolerate it.
 
Sir Knight:
Jesus did not tolerate unacceptable behavior when people were disrespectiveful in His Father’s house. Nor, should we tolerate it.
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:amen:

I also find it interesting that when errors are brought-up, the one bringing them up gets the “plank and speck” verse thrown back at them. Why can’t we just admit that there are things that go on during Mass that are wrong, work to correct them, and then get on with our lives?

Scout :tiphat:
 
I have never found others at Mass a problem, since my interests were the word just spoken and the Christ just made present. These issues supperceade all others which become easy to ignore. By my pure reverance of these things, I find others getting in line to find out what is up. **
Change attitutes with a greater reverance, it work every time.**
 
I’m in RCIA, and sometimes I’ve corrected my small group leaders.
  • They got Our Lady of Lourdes and Fatima mixed up.
  • Last lesson was on the Old Testament and they didn’t have a favorite story in the OT.
Those slight mistakes are nothing compared to my willful sins.
I still need to work on repentance and learn RCIA subjects.

When I see something wrong, I hope to remember Matthew 7:1-5.
Sometimes I don’t remember until later, and then it hits me harder because I’ve already made a fool of myself.

Matthew 7:1-5 (Jesus speaking) Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.

Lollipops are not even close to what I’ve done. Any time I’ve sinned willfully – I have had the same attitude (“Jesus go away and leave me alone”) and I am just as guilty as:
(a) Those who hit Christ and said prophesy and tell me who hit you?
(b) The man who pushed the crown of thorns down on Jesus head a little harder so it would hurt and make Him bleed more.
(c) Spitting in His face.
(d) Anything else anyone has ever done to Jesus.
Now that I am thinking more Catholic, I not only need to pray to ask God to forgive me. I also go to Mary and ask her to forgive me for what I did to her Son Jesus. I am just the same kind of person who put nails in His hands. I am a mocker. etc. etc.

One time I sat next to a really squirmy kid – who didn’t seem to want to be there. I was proud of myself for wanting to be there. Until I got home and remembered Matthew 7:1-5.

I think the sins that other people do that bother us the most are often somehow closely related to things in our own lives.

I’m not excusing the lollipops. If it happened to me, I suppose I’d think about how little I might think about Mass within a half hour after I left Church. What is the difference? If I forget Christ within 30 seconds or if I forget Christ in half an hour. Sometimes illustrations are for a purpose. It is possible to learn from almost any situation.

Aside from that, remember Matthew 13:24-30. I am convinced that the enemy has planted more weeds in the Catholic Church than anywhere else. In an effort to hide the truth from others. If you see a lot of weeds, it may be proof that you are in the right place.

Mass is OK, even if it seems that some parishioners are not OK.
And sometimes some lessons we need to learn are not from the readings or the homily.
 
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jmm08:
I’m in RCIA, and sometimes I’ve corrected my small group leaders.
  • Last lesson was on the Old Testament and they didn’t have a favorite story in the OT.
Those slight mistakes are nothing compared to my willful sins.
I still need to work on repentance and learn RCIA subjects
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Hi jmm08! 👋

How is not having a favorite OT story a mistake that requires correction?

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
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Catholic4aReasn:
Hi jmm08! 👋

How is not having a favorite OT story a mistake that requires correction?

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
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I suppose you are right. But the correction is to at least crack open the good book sometime and read something. It seems pretty silly to me not to have a favorite OT story (one of the questions the group was supposed to answer). Y’all hear the Bible readings at mass even if you don’t read it yourself.

Actually I now find it very difficult to think that the group leaders didn’t have a favorite story. One of the group leaders was in Navigators home.navigators.org/us/ during their college days so I know they know their Bible. Instead, I’ll bet they were told to let only the RCIA students come up with answers to the questions. They already mentioned once that they were told to let the students do most of the talking. It must be hard to be an RCIA group leader. In the early sessions of my small group, most RCIA students didn’t want to say too much.

I’m almost 50, so I can be somewhat stupid sometimes.
 
Maybe I’m too bold for my own good but I had an experience at the Easter Mass with 2 young girls sitting behind me and talking and laughing through the entire Mass.

Well, I politely turned around and explained to the girls that this was a very holy time for alot of people, including me and they were being very disruptive. I also explained that I expected them to repect others around them and STOP TALKING!!! If they did not want to behave they could take their conversation outside where they would not have to worry about disturbing anyone!

I think their mother was sitting a couple of rows behind them. If she was, she obviously didn’t care about their behavior and irreverence to Our Lord on His Ressurection! I expected to get stopped by an angry parent for correcting her children - but I didn’t.

I do not hesitate to correct disruptive teenagers that are without their parents at Mass. How else will they learn?

In this situation, I certainly would have at least told them to go trow away the lollipops and told them to behave. They had no reason to be there, obviously! That kind of behavior makes me angry!
 
It stems from a lack of teaching about being reverent at Mass. They think they are at a show to be entertained, instead of assisting in the Holy Sacrifice.
 
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DianJo:
I do not hesitate to correct disruptive teenagers that are without their parents at Mass. How else will they learn?

!
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Teenagers? Adults too! A few years ago, at Christmas Mass, there were two ladies in front of me gabbing at a conversational volume the ENTIRE Mass. It was absolutely the most ridiculous thing I’ve every witnessed at church. I assumed they weren’t regular church-goers but rather part of the bi-annual crowd, if that.

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
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Catholic4aReasn:
Teenagers? Adults too! A few years ago, at Christmas Mass, there were two ladies in front of me gabbing at a conversational volume the ENTIRE Mass. It was absolutely the most ridiculous thing I’ve every witnessed at church. I assumed they weren’t regular church-goers but rather part of the bi-annual crowd, if that.

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
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Did you see them there at Easter with their bonnets? Well then they could have been annuals 😃
 
‘If more would give a good example, they would improve their behavior… or just leave altogether.’

heaven forbid.

i know how incredibly annoying it can be when people aren’t respectful during the mass. my biggest pet peeve is when small children are screaming throughout the mass, and the parents - for whatever reason - don’t correct them or take them outside.

but we have to remember - we are a group of silly, bedraggled sinners. every last one of us. no matter how often we go to mass, how seldom we fall into willful sin, how many rosaries we pray, how many years we’ve been catholic, or how perfectly we behave when in mass.

it would be good for people to learn to come to mass respectfully. but it would be horrible for these people, who need Him as much as i do, to leave and not come back.

let’s remember charity (even as hard as it is for ME when there’s a screaming baby in my ear) in the midst of our annoyances about surly mass behavior.
 
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