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Hi, Isaac —
While I agree with my colleague's
comments, I totally understand where
you are coming from, especially on
the issue of quiet time after Mass.
I live in Natick, Massachusetts and
have the option of going to three
parishes for Sunday Mass. Because
I was brought up with a monastic,
Benedictine spirituality, quiet time
after Mass for prayer is extremely
important to me.
Nevertheless, no matter which parish
I go to, after Mass is over, people
are:
- playing organs or pianos
- think they are Pavarotti and
singing when ever they wish
- practicing with songs or musical
instruments, when the church is:
- not a Symphony hall nor
- not a Music hall.
Although a previous pastor of mine
had started a period of ten minutes
of Holy Silence after daily Mass,
the next pastor didn't like it so
he stopped it!?
The pastors at these parishes are
probably afraid to tell these people
to tone it down or completely stop,
because church attendance, as I'm
sure you know, is very low.
You said:
I'm almost at the point of not staying after
Mass to pray and meditate because of all the
noise and chatting that goes on. If you say
anything, they look at you like who
the heck are you.
I totally understand. What I usually
do is this:
- tap them on the shoulder and
say, Excuse me, if you wish
to talk there is a:
- Dunkin Donuts
- Starbucks
- Krispy Kreme
- Friendly's
- or what ever coffee shop just
down the street.
If they give you that line I've gotten
before: who the heck are you,
I remind them of what
Our Lord say when He got mad
in the temple.
My house shall be called
a house of prayer.
(Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke
19:46)
and then tell them, you want to
pray!
If they give you phony replies like: our
conversation is a prayer,
tell them, no, your conversation
is a distraction to those who
wish to pray privately in the
house of prayer; you
were properly conversing when you were participating in the
Mass.
Social conversation is social
conversation, not prayer.
If required, I would charitably go
to the pastor of your parish,
mention these Words of
Our Blessed Lord and see if that
helps. Also share with him that quiet
time after Sunday and daily Mass
are an important part of your spirituality
and spiritual growth. It may not
help immediately,
but over time . . . it may.
Like Mary Ann said, due to the lack
of catecheses in the Church and poor CCD in general, we have an array
of parishioners who know little to
nothing about the teachings of the
Church to those who should know better.
You should factor this into every
situation you encounter.
Strive to make your point charitably,
while understanding where other people
are coming from. We have a
lot of useless family fights within
the Church today.
Strive to pick
and choose the best ones to
fight.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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