I agree...I cannot see myself not kneeling after communion. To go back to the pew after receiving the Eucharist and begin singing to me limits my focus on Christ and distracts from the reverence and prayer from the real presence at that moment. It takes away from Christ and focuses ones attention on the congragation and music. It should be a deeply personal moment of prayer and reflection and an opportunity to be in communion with Christ. Not liking this at all.....
Wait a minute... EVERY diocese in America? Did I miss something... when did the Vatican/US Bishops decide this?!
There is singing in my church during Communion now, but it's the choir doing the singing, not the congregation. Everyone else kneels and prays. And I don't see people hugging during the sign of peace unless it is immediate family. People hesitate now to shake hands when people are sick.
For me it all comes back to this human worship. When I go to Mass it is all about worshiping God. When I leave I can give 'high fives' and human interaction that is desired, but when I enter the house of God is all about HIM. All this hugging and 'selfies' during the Mass is not giving God his due, but turning to the human efforts. How many times have you seen the priest or bishop clapping for the choir, the lector, the servers the dancers etc......... during Mass? It's like God takes a back seat to human congratulatory and we become the focus. After the beginning of the sign of the cross to the end blessing is about worshiping God, not mammon.
In my diocese we have remained standing and singing after returning from communion for some years now. At first I was very resistant, and briefly disobeyed (and on a few occasions even counseled others to do so). But I came around. I have to confess, I'm a pretty conservative guy. But truly, I find it to be a much more powerful and liturgical expression of the communal celebration the liturgy is meant to be. How do I say it in a way that doesn't sound all washed out and... liberal? <shudder> For me, I enter into deep personal prayer well prior to the liturgy, and long after it is concluded. But during the liturgy it is an experience of heaven for me. In heaven we will be all one, all completely engaged in the heavenly choir of the blessed, worshiping and celebrating in the marriage of the Lamb. During the feast, will we be isolated in our private cells and saying our own personal prayers? Not during the marriage feast. When I walk back the aisle and I see faces raised to heaven, many of them beaming, many of them singing, I feel like I am in heaven with all my brothers and sisters. It is not to be compared with the prior years of returning back the aisle and being surrounded by individuals engaged in their own personal prayer time and space. I really, really have come around on this one. And if you knew me, you'd realize that is saying something! I do think that if we open our hearts and not fight to remain in an entrenched position and opinion, and try to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying, I believe many will find this experience transformative. I haven't spoken to all of them, but most of my conservative friends have undergone the same change. They, too, have said it is a decidedly truer manner of liturgical worship. In Christ's peace, Mark
This article states the Bishop... "Cleveland Bishop Anthony M. Pilla plans for the changes to be implemented in all of the diocese's 234 parishes by Nov. 30, the first Sunday of Advent." Bishop Emeritus Pilla is retired now since 2006 per Clevland Diocese web site http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/about-our-bishops/ New Bishop appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in APRIL 2006. Reverend Richard Gerard Lennon, Bishop of Cleveland http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/bishoplennon/ Thanks to BrianK pointing out on another thread this story is from 2003 under Bishop Pilla. Good looking out Brian!!!! Ive been to Mass once in Boardman Ohio at St Lukes....what a nitemare. everyone stood thru the Mass, no kneelers and communion in cube ( like the Byzintine rite) and wafer. It was like this article described. Needless to say I stuck out in that crowd. I copied this from Briank post This story is from 2003: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/970243/posts
Whew, good catch guys. I wondered why when I clicked the hyperlinked symbol from Fatima's post that the story wasn't there. I have heard we have some change coming re. the sign of peace, that they want it to be shorter and less hugging, etc.
I read the Vatican text of the changes and couldn't find any reference whatsoever to this hugging bit. I'm suspecting a red herring. I personally find even the handshake very distracting. It completely shifts the mood away from reverence, for me. I would much prefer a slight turn and head bow to those nearest. That's what we do at weekday Mass and I love it. Hopefully this post has a supplemental sort of tone to it so my previous one is read in a more solemn context. Otherwise, in our "spirit of the age" perspective, it could read like I was looking for some sort of party atmosphere. In reality, I'm looking for a more monastic atmosphere. Speaking before Mass drives me absolutely bananas. Speaking after Mass drives me absolutely bananas. I bleed inside while that goes on, and have openly scolded those who do it. Who are, sadly, usually our ministers of various sorts, setting that kind of example for others, for our youth. I think our society goes the way our liturgies go. So what I see in our liturgy is a complete and total collapse. I think I'm optimistic by nature, but I cannot imagine a return to any sort of true, profound solemnity in our parish liturgies until the Holy Spirit renews His Church. We've lost our way, and our addiction to all our various devices of entertainment play no small part. How can we focus on the first Eucharistic Prayer when our attention span has plummeted to mere seconds? Our participation at Mass is directly related to our life outside of Mass, which for most of us is dissipation, the "cares, worries and pleasures of life which choke the Word" (Luke 8). Come Holy Spirit, Come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved Spouse, Mark
A disturbing sight: removal of church crosses: https://www.yahoo.com/news/severe-crackdown-china-church-crosses-draws-backlash-051713909.html#_=_
The world is growing darker each day.....but, we know how the book ends...God wins! Let not your heart be troubled!
Thank goodness!! And many thanks for catching a 12 year-old article and putting my anxious mind at rest, too!
Former Director of the OMB under President Regan....The China Market video is 8:30 min... he says alot http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/stocks-are-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen-stockman/ar-BBludbI part of interview from CNBC yesterday David Stockman has long warned that the stock market is on the verge of a massive collapse, and the recent price action has him even more convinced than ever that the bottom is about to fall out. "I think it's pretty obvious that the top is in," the former Ronald Reagan OMB director said Thursday on CNBC's "Futures Now." The S&P 500 (.SPX) has traded in a historically narrow range for the better part of 2015, having moved just 1 percent higher year to date. "It's just waiting for the knee-jerk bulls, robo traders and dip buyers to finally capitulate." Stockman, whose past claims have yet to come to fruition, still believes that the excessive monetary policy from central banks around the world has created a "debt supernova," and all the signs point to "the end of the central bank enabled bubble," which could cause a worldwide recession. "The larger picture has nothing to do with the jobs report [Friday] or even the September decision by the Fed," said Stockman. "It has to do with the the fact that the world economy, including the U.S., is heading into what is clearly going to be an epical deflation to the likes of what we have never experienced in modern time." According to Stockman, it's only a matter of time before the collapse in China (.SSEC) trickles down to other markets. "The whole global economy since 2008 has been driven forward by this massive investment and construction and borrowing spree in China," said Stockman. "The point that I'm making is that it's over." For Stockman, there's no reversing the artificially inflated bubbles created by the Federal Reserve. "I think what we are seeing is the beginning evidence that the central bank-driven credit economy is over and we are in a new era," said Stockman. "It's a huge disaster waiting to happen."
I know one thing that is being discussed...they want to change the order when we do the sign of peace. For many churches it becomes a great distraction during the holiest part of mass. Brother al
IIRC, it was put there because Mat. 5:23-24 talks about reconciling with your brother before offering your gift to God. To me, that means we should do it at the VERY beginning of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, either before the priest has begun preparing the altar, or immediately thereafter.
What if the sign of peace came when Mass started. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (P) THE Lord be with you. (R) and with your Spirit (P) Let us offer each other the sign of Peace. Priest says opening prayers and all flows well on up to the Heavens
