conducive to worship?

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Sunday Mass is about to begin. I’m kneeling—trying to pray. Senior adults in front, behind, and either side of me are talking out loud. Other people are trying to get a seat, crawling over other seniors who have positioned themselves on the ends of the pews and won’t move. The choir leader is talking so loudly that she can be heard all over the church from the choir loft.

Announcements before Mass begin. The lector makes an announcement about the choir. The choir whoops loudly in unison, so that their whoop can be heard by the entire congregation above the other din. The congregation laughs and applauds.

Mass begins. People continue to talk. Cell phones go off. A child is screaming at the top of their lungs. People continue to come in late and crawl over other people trying to get a seat. Ushers seat people all through the readings. Cell phones continue to go off, people continue to talk, and children continue to scream all during Mass.

After they receive communion people file out of church in droves before the Mass has ended.

It’s the same thing every week. A conducive place for worship? I don’t think so.

PS I tithe RELUCTANTLY at SGG. If we were able to find an alternative place to worship, within a reasonable distance, that is respectful of Our Lord, and those who are trying to worship Him, and respectful of the example being given to children, then we would leave SGG for the new parish--in a New York minute, as they say. We would JOYFULLY tithe at the new parish.

PPS It's the relatively small, disrespectful, rude, minority that ruins SGG for the rest of the parish. They're the ones who talk out loud in church; who sit on the ends of pews and refuse to move in, forcing others to climb over them; whose cell phones are going off during Mass; who leave after communion; etc. Any ideas for how the majority can take SGG back from the disrespectful, rude, minority?

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From: "The Mystery of Faith, Meditations on the Eucharist", by Fr. Tadeusz DAjczer:
"Slowing down involves coming into silence. Within this silence, I can discover God. I can only live the sacrament of the present moment by this silence." pg. 45
"God is silence. When I try to be still, pushing my way towards the invisible one, I am entering the extraordinary circle of His amazing, saving, eucharistic presence. With this He will be embracing me more and more." pg. 47


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John, Chapter 6

66 As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.
67 Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
69 We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

personal reflections

Do I see REAL, tangible evidence that my going to daily Mass is making me a better Christian? If not, then I must analyze why.

Could it be distractions?
- People talking out loud before and during Mass
- Able bodied fellow parishioners who plant themselves on the end of a pew and force other less able bodied parishioners to climb over them
- People leaving while communion is being distributed
- Fellow parishioners who butt in line during Penance services
- Fellow parishioners who are rude and disrespectful to guests and their fellow parishioners during parish presentations/meetings
- Not being able to hear or understand what’s being said from the altar
- The parish’s tithing priorities? Clothe the naked? Feed the hungry? Care for the sick?

I can’t change the rude, disrespectful, and unchristian behavior of others. I can try to "block them out". If I can't block out the distractions, and they are inhibiting my growth as a Christian, then I must remove myself from the “near occasions of sin”.

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