[mlizzy]

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A CATHOLIC CAUCUS THREAD
(See Free Republic's Caucus guidelines here.)

[mlizzy]

Our previous Sunday parish? I lost count!!

[Notwithstanding]

This seems like an oldie but a goodie.

Bottom line: the only one Who should surprise us at Mass is God. The actions of all other persons at Mass should never be a surprise, save for the homily. And even then, the surprise must never be heresy, heterodoxy, or disobedience.

The Mass is a ritual. No one should EVER be surprised by the form of a ritual.

[Judith Anne]

Great thread.

The use of Eucharistic Ministers during mass is the one that bothers me most, every time. Deacons are okay with me, but please, not the women of the parish, during mass.

[Desdemona]

As a postscript, I mention something that might be categorized as an abuse by the laity: parish-hopping. The Code of Canon Law provides that "The precept of participating in the Mass is satisfied by assistance at a Mass which is celebrated anywhere in a Catholic rite either on the holy day or on the evening of the preceding day" (1248, para. 1). Consequently, you can fulfill your Sunday obligation by going to a Mass anywhere. While your legal membership still remains in your local parish, the only times you are required to check in there are when you want to receive a special sacrament (e.g., marriage, confirmation) for which the priest needs the jurisdiction to administer. Nevertheless, if you flee your home parish when things get ugly, you are in a sense not living up to your responsibility as a lay person.

Pardon me? Liturgical abuses aside, sometimes you have to do it for spiritual survival. In the parish where I grew up, there is currently quite a bit of turmoil not due to liturgical abuse or scandal, but some really unjust stuff that's gone on, and there are people attending Mass at other parishes. Frankly, after hearing about all that's gone on - again, having nothing to do with liturgy or abuses - I'm shocked some of these people are still technically members of that parish.

[Salvation]

[CATHOLIC CAUCUS] THE TEN MOST COMMON LITURGICAL ABUSES
Another Look at the Orans Issue
THE TEN MOST COMMON LITURGICAL ABUSES And Why They're Wrong
Liturgical Abuses: Summarized from Redemptionis Sacramentum
Discipline Regarding Reception of Holy Communion