At today's Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the crowd in Vatican City by speaking to them about Sunday Mass. The Holy Father said that participation in Sunday Mass should not be seen by Catholics as an imposition or weight, "but as a need and joy." According to Zenit via Catholic Online:
Pope John Paul II had convoked the Year of the Eucharist "to reawaken ever more, in the consciences of believers, wonder toward this great Sacrament," said Benedict XVI, eliciting applause from his listeners several times.
"In this singular Eucharistic time, one of the recurring topics is Sunday, the Day of the Lord, a topic that was also at the center of the recent Italian Eucharistic Congress, held in Bari," he said.
Read more: Sunday Mass Should Be Seen as a Joy, Says Pope
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3 comments:
I certainly want mass to be a joy for me, and I always go into it, I hope, with an open heart and mind. But our church is SO UGLY and the kids are so noisy that it distracts me from what is going on. Our church looks like a Quaker Meeting House it is so plain. I kid you not. sigh... There is always the joy of the eucharist, and nothing can distract from that, but the rest of the mass can be disconcerting.
This is something that all Christians need to understand. Church is not a burden, but a blessing.
I guess some Catholics see it as a burden because some masses tend to be boring or the homily too long-winded.
My advice is to "shop" around. Hear mass at different churches at different times, and when you find a mass you like, stick to that.
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