When I first joined St. Paul the Apostle (my old parish in New York City) I didn’t know a soul. I would occasionally go their Campus Ministry mass with my old college roommate who was the Resident Director of the Fordham dorm at Lincoln Center. I worked Sundays and Fordham’s 8PM mass was the last …
Category Archive: Mass Experiences
Mar
22
Mar
20
Become Like Little Children
Joe Simmons, SJ over at the Jesuit Post is begging parents not to use the cry room. When I’m at Mass, talking adults drive me nuts. But not kids. As they squirm and roam the space with their clear eyes and mouths agape, I smile. As Meg Hunter-Kilmer writes here, we need your wailing kids …
May
31
Are You Welcomed at Your Church?
The good folks at the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston put this together and it expresses the idea of welcome so well. Is your parish like this? Tell us if you feel welcome in your parish.
Feb
22
Thou Art Dust….
My friend Karla mentioned to me today that she found this line that the minister can choose when distributing ashes to be “a bummer”” “Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” She preferred the alternate line: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel.” Or “Repent and believe in …
Dec
05
New Translations: Got It Down Yet?
So I went 5 for 5 with the “And with your spirit” line this week. At our student mass, I thought they did a great job as well as I heard very little mistakes. At other masses with larger crowds obviously it’s still a bit more challenging. People are even saying that it’s even getting …
Nov
30
Lead us Not Into Community, But Deliver Us From Hand-Holding
Bishop of Covington, Roger J. Foys issued some directives on the proper postures at mass. Here’s a doozy. Special note should also be made concerning the gesture for the Our Father. Only the priest is given the instruction to “extend” his hands. Neither the deacon nor the lay faithful are instructed to do this. No …
Nov
29
Have We Become the Pharisees?
I took a random straw poll of friends asking them what are the priorities of the Catholic Church? I asked them what their Bishop has asked them to concentrate on? Almost none of them even knew the Bishop’s name. One didn’t even know the diocese they lived in. I asked about their local parish which …
Nov
29
When Was the Last Time We Had to Learn the Mass?
I’m in 4th grade and my mom and dad asked the Deacon in our church how old one needed to be to become an altar boy. “4th grade or 10 years old” Deacon Al replied. I beamed. I was in. One of the first things that we had to do was to “borrow” a missalette …
Nov
28
Have the New Translations Brought Us Closer to God?
So I’ve now been to three masses with the new translation being used. I haven’t posted much before now because I wanted to have the experience myself and honestly, because I was hopeful that this just might be something interesting and perhaps more prayerful for the faithful. However, I’ve heard much vitriol and anger from …
Nov
27
The Penalty Pew
So I attended mass today and the response I heard to “The Lord be with you” was something like this: “And also with your spirit, yo.” I guess this is going to take a bit longer to catch on than I thought. And that being said leads me to some further new innovations that the …
About the Blogger
Mike Hayes is an author, commentator, Campus Minister and Spiritual Director. He founded the award winning BustedHalo.com in 2001 and wrote the book Googling God with Paulist Press in 2007. Mike is currently a Campus Minister at The University at Buffalo where he serves on the staff of St Joseph University Church. He is available for speaking engagements, retreats and personal spiritual direction.
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