I’ll take the plague Alex:
Mass was not at all what we expected. They made it so obnoxious with all the Covid rules. We had to register in advance and then check in and swear that we were only with our own family. Then, we had to submit to a series of stupid questions, “Have you tested positive for COVID-19?” “Have you been out of the country in the last two months?” “Are you feeling sick today?” As if!
Big blobs of tape everywhere pointing to where we could stand and what direction and where to sit. Huge CAP signs everywhere “NO MASK – NO ENTRY!” and “DO NOT REMOVE YOUR MASK!” Then there were the officious “6 feet spacing Nazis.” Rude laity laughing like the ruling elite but snarling if any poor parishioner lagged in line or strayed from the designated path. We had to be escorted to our designated seat. And then one of the uberlords photographed us in our pew. No singing. No collection. No bathroom. Then, at the end we weren’t allowed to leave until one of the ruling elite gave our row permission. I almost passed out a couple times because of wearing a mask for 90 minutes.
It was hellish. So sad. I started crying. What fools our Church leaders have become.
Completely agree with Barb Nicolosi, especially in regard to her last sentence. Go here to comment.
What Soviet prison state did that happen in?
You could really feel God’s presence in that moving description of a Catholic Mass .
I think they finally have figured out how to kill the Church.
When all the population of England is removed and replaced by native born residents from Saudi Arabia and the King is the Saudi King, is it still England because they so call it. Where would be the real England? There, or perhaps on a small island to which the remnant of the original population has fled, together with the English King? Just sincerely asking???
Given the horrible music at all too many masses, at least the “no singing” part is an improvement.
This describes a mockery of the mass. I will not participate in this. Given the letter we received from our pastor last week I may not even get the chance to refuse participation since attendance will be determined via a sign-up sheet with a set limit (“to be determined later”.) And so the parishioners will be made to compete with one another to see who can sign up their family and friends the fastest to get a spot. Its the spiritual equivalent for lining up for concert tickets.
Oh dear God, have mercy on us. I would walk out of there and never come back.
I will repeat my prediction that mass attendance plummets and contributions to diocesan appeals hits zero, most bishops will respond by lecturing the laity about how we do not take our faith seriously enough.
I will pledge to double my previous year’s donation to the diocesan appeal which was a whopping 0.00.
If mid-Michigan doesn’t have a massive Covid spike, it is safe to say Covid is pretty much died out.
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Maybe the FEMA folks and city survey people have the ability to S.D., but the rest of us are dealing with wet dry wall in our basements and in some cases main floor, and don’t have time for it.
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Please, take my name out of the hopper! Rationed attendance Mass with mandatory masks begins first weekend in June. My mission is a small cinder block hall with 10 ft ceilings, folding chairs, sealed windows and not so great ventilation. No thank you. I’ll continue to stream Mass, daily and Sundays.
When the outdoor Communion services with attendees in their vehicles start second weekend of June I’ll attend. Outside there’s room for ALL who wish to attend and plenty of fresh air.
Communion Service only. Our bishop will not allow an outdoor Mass because it has to be celebrated on a consecrated altar. 2 years ago a funeral Mass with hundreds attending was celebrated under a tent with the altar an 8 foot table on a dais. The deceased was a wealthy donor.
The Resurrection is the reason our religion exists. As far as I know the only Easter Mass in the diocese was at the cathedral. It was videotaped. Elsewhere nothing to signify that April 12 th was the most important feast of the year. No services in the parking lot. No bell ringing, no exterior flowers, no cross with the white shroud looped across it. Nada.
The Baptists had an Easter service in their parking lot and services have continued on every Sunday since.
Why are Catholic bishops so afraid of their flocks being seen worshiping God? Especially when we hear about evangelizing with the almost weekly second collections?
There is air of unreality about Mass and the world at large since the Virus: lockdowns, social distancing, masks. We have in our demeanor become strangers, even potential enemies, to one another. To me it is all very negative, unnecessary, and harmful in many ways. Our parish opened for daily Mass one week ago with all the Virus safety protocols and all so very unnatural. It is difficult to feel spiritually uplifted in such surroundings. The only lesson I learned from this absurd over-reaction, to what amounts to seasonal flu, was that we must do all in our power to make sure it never happens again.
Wait, what? Why in the universe would they have to photograph you in the pew? I wonder what their procedures would be should someone with allergies remove their mask briefly to sneeze into a tissue. Probably excommunication and arrest.
All great comments, but Rudolph H. nailed it.
…you can watch mass on TV….mass can be celebrated outside…but always remember where God resides (within you)!
While I mourn for the people who have to undergo this kind of thing in their own Parish Church I also look at the poor Bishops who have been badgered into submitting to the dictatorships around the world who are forcing the Bishops to submit under threat of law like the Nazis in Germany! (Oh, wait, the German Bishops Excommunicated the Nazis. Unfortunately they relented and rescinded the ex-communication.
Up to January 30, 1933, the German Bishops had put the sentence of excommunication upon anyone belonging to the Nazi party. This excommunication was lifted as soon as Hitler came to power. One can imagine Dietrich von Hildebrand’s grief. That was a first Nazi victory.
I live in CA but am overseas. When I return I face Governor Newsom’s edict to not allow more than 100 people in a building or 25 percent of capacity, whichever is lower. I can imagine I will encounter the same garbage as written here. When does the Gestapo stop functioning in the US?
Middle of summer, tops I think.
This is nothing. I’d put my name on a list for the Mass in a heartbeat. Since when is a little inconvenience too high a price to pay for Christ? I get it, governments are a pain. But we put up with this in the Middle Ages. Are we better than the saints of old?
I remember people on this site worrying about future Mass attendance once the habit is broken. Now people are saying they don’t want to go?
Since when is a little inconvenience too high a price to pay for Christ?
Since when Pinky has the Church completely transformed the way the Mass is conducted for fear of a nasty flu bug? Well, since snowflakes got in charge of the Church and Society. This is asinine, and the number of people willing to say so will grow by leaps and bounds as this farce continues.
The Church has suspended the obligation to go to Mass and instituted safeguards before.
Nothing like this Pinky, nothing like this.
The Church has done this before, but never on this scale. But that makes sense. Our advancements in travel have made it possible for a disease to spread across the globe faster, and our medical knowledge has increased so we know how to handle the situation better. The former increases our need for quarantines, and the latter reinforces our understanding of their necessity. I don’t see how any of this gives us the right to complain about how the Mass is reintroduced.
The Church has done this before, but never on this scale.
In prior times it was only in cities in a limited area and for very limited periods. The evidence is getting clearer that the lockdowns were completely unnecessary in almost all of this country. As for precautions at Mass, skip pews for seating, have only household members sit together, don’t do the sign of peace and no congregational signing. Everything else is merely virus theater, of little practical utility.
I’ll grant you the photos aren’t right. The questionnaires would bother me, but I understand them. The rest sounds like reasonable distancing.
The photos only bother you because you haven’t been given reason by an “expert” why it is necessary to take photos. Once someone in authority comes up with an ad hoc reason why photos save lives, you will be here chastising us for not liking getting our photos taken at mass, since it’s such a small sacrifice to make to save lives.
Pinky,
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I hope for your sake you do not have millions (billions?) of muddy, fishy river/lake water and street sewer run-off slam into your home and those of your neighbors…and need help cleaning the wreckage left behind.
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The use of masks, temp taking, ID photos, sign in sheets, haz mat suits. The work would simply not get done, and you’d loose your home (what is left of it) and all remaining contents to Black Mold.
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Sorry if this is harsh, but reality is not kind.
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If this is the New New-Mass waiting for me, I’ll stay in my slum where people are normal, cooperative and helpful, and not fearful of their fellow parishioners.
I’m not fearful of anyone, but I don’t want to spread disease. I’d frankly trust a neighborhood where people wore masks to help me clean up more than I would a neighborhood that didn’t. Pray to God I don’t find out.
I did just find out my diocese may be reopening for this Sunday. Yay!
Um, yeah. Does not work like that in this kind of situation.
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We can barely help ourselves, much less each other. People from all over the country are here. I think we may even has undocumented workers.
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I had a 25 year old, short shorts and sandals, pulling water destroyed books from my basement. A 15 year old boy in waders tearing apart a wardrobe and hauling it upstairs.
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Samaritans Purse was here (another neighbors house). Mormons, Red Cross, Serv Pro, Service Master. And that’s just a start.
Pinky said, “I’m not fearful of anyone, but I don’t want to spread disease.” It’s a virus not a disease. A virus with an incredibly high recovery rate.