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.
* * *
“I believe the official requirement is one hour before Mass, but most people I know don’t eat a big breakfast.”
But you see, the official requirement is the source of the problem, AAM. Officially, there’s nothing wrong with that big breakfast.
“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.”
The only part of that statement I disagree with is that the Greeks might otherwise have been a good example over the past 30 years! :)
The Greek Orthodox here have traditionally been quite insular, don't welcome folks to their church (which really is odd in the South - the classic gambit to welcome somebody into the community or to invite them to be friends is to invite them to go to church or Sunday School with you). One of my dad's best friends fell in love with a Greek girl and to say he was shut out doesn't even begin to describe what went on.
It may just be because they feel even more embattled and outnumbered than Catholics in the South.
But BXVI is changing that - it just takes awhile for the Ship to turn.
“It must be getting late at night ‘cause I’m not sure I follow that last one.”
I think you understood just fine! Perhaps the part about them being a bad example even if they were friendly is what threw you.
As for you Dad’s friend, well depending on what part of Greece his girl’s family, or indeed the parish you are familiar with, came from, well it might explain the unfriendliness. There’s another thing too. As recently as 100 years ago, in Wisconsin of all places, a Greek was lynched for consorting with a “white woman”. Greeks weren’t considered “white” into the 1920s. In the South it was bad, very bad, into the early 1960s. Greeks didn’t find friendliness in the WASP South, AAM.
You know, there’s still a concern all of us parents have about our kids marrying outside the Orthodox Church. Indeed, for ethnics, there is even concern about our kids marrying converts. Marriage to other “cradle Orthodox” is fine though; thus Greek/Serb or Greek/Arab etc is OK. To an extent this is a relic of the days when we couldn’t accept marriage outside the Omogenia, the race group (the volk). This was true for all Orthodox so it wasn’t just an issue of religion, it was also an issue of ethnicity.
I grew up here in Georgia, in the 60s, and I had a good friend who was Greek. Nobody treated her badly because of her ethnicity, she was considered a little exotic because there just weren't that many Greeks around, but no more so than the kid from Peru or the girl who was the daughter of Lebanese missionaries (now THERE's exotic for you), and it certainly wasn't negative. She was popular in school (a very preppy sort of private school) and had lots of friends.
I can't think of anybody I knew who was prejudiced against Greeks, in fact my dad was the campaign manager for Nick Lambros (may his memory be blessed) who was a VERY popular State Court judge here and just as nice a man as you would ever want to meet. Even those horrible racists in the Georgia General Assembly thought so too.
It was just that the local Greek community tended to keep their religion very private and did not invite folks to church. People thought that was a little odd, but figured (correctly I think) that it was just an ethnic thing. Shame, though, because if they were holding the line on religious discipline they could have shared that with other people.
And, no, I don't "just fine" understand what you mean. Enlighten me.
“And, no, I don’t “just fine” understand what you mean. Enlighten me.”
The Orthodox are very, very seldom a “good example” for Western Christians because we approach religion differently from the way you do, no matter how friendly we might be. We just don’t have the same mindset when it comes to our relationships with God, the Church or for that matter each other. I used to think it was an ethnic thing, but its not, really. Its based in Orthodoxy. Most people, when they convert as adults, don’t fully “get” the Orthodox mindset...but their kids do.
I'll agree. Kolokotronis, have you ever even spent time in the south? (Resort areas of Florida don't count.) Greeks were certainly considered White in the South (for that matter, Japanese were as well).
“When I was in graduate school at Purdue I attended Mass at the student parish. Four Masses each Sunday. When Mass started, a sign was posted: “You are late for Mass.” After the Gospel, that was taken down and another sign posted: “You have missed Mass. Next Mass at _____” After the Gospel of the last Mass of the day, the sign read: “You have missed Mass. Confessions 7 AM Monday.”
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. “
More than fifty years ago I was taught that, if you were present by the Offeratory, you have not missed Mass.
Have a name and/or date? I've done several searches, can find no lynchings in Wisconsin after 1891, none of those lynched before 1891 seem to have Greek sounding names & I could find no lynchings with anything like the cause you cite. I'm not saying it didn't happen as you said, but I can't find anything about it.
We were told in RCIA that for Mass to be considered valid, one had to be present for the Gospel reading. So is this not correct? It doesn’t really matter, since it is a good way(if one really needed it) to get yourself in gear and get to Mass on time.
You don’t receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist. You receive the Lord through salvation, which is by grace through faith. Furthermore, the elements of the Eucharist are symbols of Christ’s body and blood. They don’t become Christ’s body and blood through the saying of words, and they don’t contain Christ’s body and blood, either.
You don’t “receive the body of Christ” in your hands and run off with it. The idea that you can is blasphemy. It’s an insult to Christ. The bread in Communion is not Christ’s body. The bread represents Christ’s body.
I have no doubt that what you say is true for what occurs at the worship service for your faith community. You are incorrect about what happens during a Mass in the Catholic Church.
That's how I learned it too -- and the old distinction between the Mass of the Catechumens (up to the Offertory) and the Mass of the Faithful (starting with the Offertory, when in the early Church, those not yet baptized would have to leave).
In my church, a lot of people bring young children up when they receive. The children just get a blessing because they haven’t received First Communion yet. If it’s not obvious (i.e., the child is 5 or 6), the priest asks if he’s received First Communion yet, and gives Communion or a blessing as appropriate.
“It’s an Orthodox thing, you wouldn’t understand.”
““It’s an Orthodox thing, you wouldn’t understand.””
Now you understand! :)
I think it happened in 1907. Whether I was told this or read it I don’t remember but something tells me that I read it.
Though he wasn’t lynched, my own grandfather, as a 12 year old shoeshine boy, was told to move from in front of a local hotel because “Only white boys can shine shoes here”.
Frankly, I’m a little surprised that some of you have a hard time believing that Greeks faced what amounted to racial discrimination here in America. Do you also deny that the Irish faced discrimination at the hands of the WASPS?
Probably. Our priest uses about 30 seconds for announcement and people still trip all over each other to get out after communion. At our parish, there is a window towards the front that faces the road out of the parking lot. There is a stream of cars rolling by as Father gives the final blessing.
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