Dear Parishioners,
On the weekend of February 2-3, I spoke at all the Masses,
after Communion, during the regular “announcement time” to prepare the ground
for the Our Catholic Appeal that was launched last weekend. While waiting in
the narthex of the church, I had the occasion to witness first hand a
“phenomenon” that I had often noticed from the altar. I refer to the fact that
at some Masses, as many as a hundred people leave the church directly after
receiving Holy Communion.
As I thought about this, I make several observations. First,
I am happy that these people are in church and that they feel that receiving
Holy Communion is important. Second, I give the advantage of the doubt that
some of these folks are rushing to work or are keeping an important
appointment. Third, I am wary about broaching this topic face to face for fear
that I will be perceived as a “priest-bully” “who won’t ever again have the
opportunity to harass me, thank you very much.”
Fourth, I choose to not talk about this during announcement time because
those who need to hear the message have already left the church. Fifth, I am
hesitant to refer to this problem during a homily because, at all costs, I want
to avoid even the appearance of scolding. And, lastly, many of the folks who
were in hurry to leave did not take a Bulletin, so I doubt the written word
here can effectively address the problem.
I doubt that this “eat and run” phenomenon (receive Holy
Communion and leave) would be found in other social settings – at least not the
ones where a relationship of friendship or family tie connects us to the place
and people we are visiting. The context of a meal or picnic calls us to realize
that more than simple biological sustenance is happening here. It appears
inconceivable that we would make a hurried departure from such a social setting
before the event itself was over.
And yet, that is what I see happening when people make one
continuous action of getting up, standing in line and receiving Holy Communion,
returning in the general direction of one’s seat, leaving the church and going
to the car. These people are missing the reflection time provided by the
Communion meditation song, the few moments of silent prayer, our common Closing
Prayer, news and announcements of the parish family business and activities, an
opportunity to greet our visitors and tip our hat to those of us who are
celebrating birthdays or anniversaries. And then, of course, there is our
common dismissal – “Go, love and serve one another in the name of the Lord …! our blessing and recessional song.
All of this takes no more than ten minutes at most Masses. A
common word and meaning that runs through the preceding paragraph is “our”,
“family.” Maybe that is part of the problem. Some of us don’t feel connected,
part of, belonging to, important to the community represented by the crowd at
Love and prayers,