Posted on 10/23/2007 4:25:18 PM PDT by NYer
ROME, OCT. 23, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: My parish priest made a regulation that anyone who arrives in Mass after the Gospel is not allowed to take Communion. According to him, the reason is that Jesus is "the Word made flesh." Therefore we must recognize Jesus in the Word before we recognize him in holy Communion. Another priest, who is a professor of liturgy, has another opinion. He said that people who arrive late in Mass with a valid reason (for example, an unusual traffic jam, attending sick children, etc.) should not be denied Communion. Could you please give a clarification on this matter? -- B.E., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A: We dealt with the question of late arrivals at Mass in one of our first columns, on Nov. 4 and Nov. 18, in 2003.
Then as now, I would agree more with the second priest: that someone who arrives late out of no fault of their own should not be denied Communion.
I also consider it unwise to set any barrier point; I continue to insist that the faithful should assist at the whole Mass.
It is quite possible that some members of the faithful could begin to see the Gospel as the cutoff moment and feel comfortable in habitually arriving for the second reading, thus assuring that the Mass is "valid."
It is true that the Mass is a whole and that we must first recognize Jesus in the Word before we recognize him in the Eucharist. But this would include the entire Liturgy of the Word and not just the Gospel.
Also, while there is some certain logic in choosing the Gospel as such a moment, the reasons given are not sufficiently well grounded from the theological, canonical and moral standpoints to support such a blanket impediment to receiving Communion.
The pastor has a duty to direct and inform the consciences of the faithful entrusted to him. And while I disagree with his suggesting the Gospel as a demarcation point for receiving Communion, it is at least clear that he his trying to perform his sacred duty.
Therefore, the onus of the decision whether or not to receive Communion, in this particular case of a late arrival, falls primarily upon the individual Catholic rather than upon the pastor who can hardly be expected to be attentive to every late arrival.
It is therefore incumbent on those arriving late to examine their conscience as to the reason behind their tardiness. If the reason is neglect or laziness, then they would do better attending another full Mass if this is possible. Even those who blamelessly arrive late should prefer to assist at a full Mass although they would be less bound to do so in conscience.
At the same time, there are some objective elements to be taken into account besides the reason for lateness. Someone who arrives after the consecration has not attended Mass, no matter what the reason for his belatedness. Such a person should not receive Communion, and if it is a Sunday, has the obligation to attend another Mass.
It is true that Communion may be received outside of Mass, so Mass is not an essential prerequisite for receiving Communion. This would not, however, justify arriving just in time for Communion at a weekday Mass, as all of the rites for receiving Communion outside of Mass include a Liturgy of the Word and one should attend the entire rite.
* * *
Follow-up: Mentioning the Mass Intention
After our commentaries on reading out Mass intentions (Oct. 9) a priest observed: "At a concelebrated Mass, each concelebrant conceivably has a separate Mass intention. At my monastery, we have daily concelebration, and we have a policy of never mentioning any Mass intention at Mass. Otherwise, it could happen that if one Mass intention is mentioned by the presiding celebrant, someone may be present who has requested a different intention from one of the concelebrants, and would have the impression that the requested intention was not fulfilled."
This is certainly a legitimate policy given the circumstances. There might be particular occasions, however, when the fact that several priests are concelebrating specifically allows for more than one intention to be mentioned, provided that the faithful know that each intention will be entrusted to a different priest.
Even though only one Mass is celebrated at a concelebration, each priest legitimately celebrates a Mass and may receive a stipend for the corresponding intention.
There is, however, a strict norm that a priest may never receive a stipend for a concelebrated Mass if he celebrates, or more rarely concelebrates, another Mass on the same day.
For example, if our correspondent, besides concelebrating at the community Mass in the monastery, were to also celebrate for the people at some other time, he could only accept a stipend for the second Mass.
He could have any number of personal intentions to offer at the community Mass, but none associated with a stipend.
* * *
Curious minds want to know ping!
I’ve always been curious about how a priest denies communion to a parishioner. I’ve never seen it, so I wonder he does it. Does he just withhold the host, does he say something to them? Any insight? Thanks.
I’ve seen it done. He whispers something to the person. Sometimes he will give a blessing instead of communion.
The only instance where I have seen communion denied is with a young child who was never baptized (or catechized, for that matter). Since it is a small parish, Father knows each and every person who presents themself for communion. With visitors, I have seen him whisper something before administering communion. With the young child, he knows the parents have never had the girl baptized; hence, she presents herself each week for a blessing.
I would ask you to please pray for this young girl and her little sister. Neither has been baptized and both are now attending Religious Education classes in the parish. Their faces beam each week when they receive the priest's blessing. How much more beautiful it would be to witness their Baptism and watch them receive our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Thank you!
Why haven't the parents baptized the children? If they're at Mass every week, presumably they are believers - so why have they not admitted their little lambs to Christ's fold?
Not only do we have a few people arriving late, but we have a whole lot of people leaving immediately after receiving communion. Our poor music guy plays the hymn and it’s a regular stampede, particularly with older people (retirees). I complained to my RCIA guy when I was in classes, and he agreed that it was wrong to leave like that. We even had a column about it in the parish bulletin, and they STILL leave right after receiving communion!
We have signs on the doors that say, “Please demonstrate respect by not leaving immediately after Communion.” Maybe it makes a difference for a few.
"Oh we don't believe in all that religious hocus pocus. We're not going to baptize her."
My friend responded, "You know, when someone gets baptized, they using have a Christening party for the child, and all the relatives and friends bring gifts."
"Really? Well maybe we could baptize her."
Oh well, anyway you can get them to do it.
“I’ve always been curious about how a priest denies communion to a parishioner. “
At a Japanese Mass in Tokyo a woman received the Body of Christ in her hand and began to walk away with it. The priest hurried after her, spoke with her briefly, and took it back.
“Not only do we have a few people arriving late, but we have a whole lot of people leaving immediately after receiving communion. “
Am I wrong in suspecting that this wouldn’t happen so much if they didn’t insert a half hour of announcements between communion and the final blessing?
**Why haven’t the parents baptized the children? If they’re at Mass every week, presumably they are believers - so why have they not admitted their little lambs to Christ’s fold?**
I agree with your question. Do you think that sometimes the parents just don’t know? Even after all the announcements for Religious Education Classes? It just doesn’t compute.
With all due respect, this is just silly. Since Catholics don’t fast before receiving communion anymore what possible difference could it make whether one arrived at Mass before or after the Gospel?
If Catholics refuse to properly prepare themselves for the Eucharist, what possible good can listening to the Gospel and a lousy sermon do?
( . . . not for very long, no more draping a towel over the bathroom sink after midnight, but they still do . . . )
Back in the good old days, they wouldn’t have DARED leave before the priest left the altar. Really, it simply never occurred to us to leave before Father was back in the sacristy or at the front door or wherever he was aiming for.
Our good, conservative young priest here had people step out in front of him as he was following the crucifer down the aisle after Mass. He handled it with his usual grace and tact - “Get back in that pew until I leave!” LOL!
He too blesses children who come up with their parents. I've never seen him deny communion yet, but there are those who go to Confession are few and far between in our parish.
“not for very long,”
They do, eh? How long? As long as it takes to get out the front door of the house and through Mass to communion time? In other words, after a fine breakfast of bacon and eggs, toast with butter and coffee with plenty of milk? :) Not good, AAM, not good at all! If the Eucharist isn’t worth proper preparation, how can one expect proper respect for the Mass which centers on that Eucharist?
The rule at the time was, you have to be present for the Gospel to have "heard Mass." I don't know what the rule is now.
I once saw an item in a parish bulletin that advised parisioners, "The first person to leave Mass early was Judas Iscariot."
We know that catechesis has been faulty and in some cases absent since the 70s, and many dedicated people are working hard to fix it. But you don't undo 30 years of laxity overnight, especially when the idea that making it 'easy' doesn't make it attractive hasn't really sunk in yet.
But nobody's church is perfect. If our Orthodox here in town had been more welcoming of those who were not born Greek, perhaps they could have served as a more effective good example over the last 30 years.
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