Comments on: Just a musing thought

By: Luke J.

Luke J. — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:54:52 +0000

It doesn’t seem too much to just read the three readings at home before Mass either, if that is the main concern. It’s not like the readings are a surprise at Mass.

By: Clara

Clara — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:39:12 +0000

This is one of those old controversies that Trads frequently like to rehash. I have no drum to beat here, and I certainly don’t think it’s necessary for the laity to be glued to their missals following every word of every Mass, but it does seem to me far from ideal to just blithely go your whole life without bothering about the words at all. They’re beautiful, they’re at the heart of the Church, and as a Catholic you should get to know them at least a bit. You’ll be able to assist at Mass much better when you have some inkling what’s going on there. If following along at Mass itself is difficult for whatever reason (because your children need constant attention, because your priest does Mass turbo-style and you can’t keep up, because you don’t know a lot of the words, etc.) you might try going over them sometime at home, with a dictionary at your elbow if need be. But there’s surely a reason why the Church wants the faithful to be AT MASS at least once a week, rather than just praying rosaries at home for the intentions of their priest.

By: JSP

JSP — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:46:07 +0000

Shirley wants easy words because she misunderstands her role at Holy Mass. Most lay Catholics shouldn’t be even reading hand missals at all. Let the priest do his job. God is listening to the priest. God is listening to the laity through the priest. Most Catholics would be better served taking the 45 minutes during Mass every Sunday to silently, prayerfully, and individually make their acts of contrition for their sins, petitioning for graces, or meditating on something holy.