The Dangers of Too Much Participation at Mass

By Denise Caffrey

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass recalls and re-enacts the Sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. It is the greatest and most important form of prayer, adoration, reparation and thanksgiving which we can offer to God, Our Almighty Father. At Mass the priest takes the place of Christ on Calvary and offers up Christ’s Supreme Sacrifice for man. The Church has always encouraged and promoted the participation of laypeople and persons other than the priest in the Sacrifice of the Mass. Whilst the priest alone can perform the most important aspects of the Mass, others are given the authority to assist and enhance the celebration to make it more pleasing and more spiritual. Canon law and Sacred Tradition gives us rules as to the length and extent of participation by others in the Mass. Thus we have rules for deacons, altar servers, choirs, etc. There are also rules governing the actions and responses of the laity in the pews. These are done to ensure that the Sacrifice of the Mass is valid and suitable as sacrifice for Almighty God. The whole Church is to celebrate the same form of Mass in union with one another regardless of language or nationality.
During the Sacrifice of the Mass, the priest alone can offer up the prayers of the Mass especially those of Consecration. He is assisted in his prayers by those around him. The Church has always regulated the level of participation by others at Mass and these rules have been kept for many centuries ensuring the continuity and transcendence of the Mass. However, in the last two generations, levels of participation by laity have greatly increased and now pose numerous threats towards the sanctity of the Mass and have increased the potential for abuse. This has been aided by the change in the ordinary form of the Mass from the Tridentine Rite to the Novus Ordo Rite, which is said in the vernacular. With the language of the Mass now in the spoken language of the people, laypeople are being offered more opportunity to participate in the new form of the Mass, and while many see advantages to this, there are inherent dangers towards these levels of participation by the laity.
There is a danger for the priest, when he is assisted far more by the laity than what he would have been previously. This begins in his teaching and his ministry. He is encouraged to view the Mass as a meal rather than a Sacrifice. This makes both him and others see the Mass as a meal to be shared, rather than a re-enactment of Calvary and a Sacrifice. This view is quite detrimental to his Catholic faith. It leads to a loss of faith and lack of belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. He loses belief in power of transubstantiation at the Consecration. He begins to take the Protestant view that the Bread and Wine do not become the Body and Blood of Christ at Consecration. Even if he does retain this belief, he can lose reverence and awe in the presence of the Eucharist. He handles and treats the Body and Blood of Christ in a casual manner, as he would any other object. It is no longer treated as a sacred object. From these, stem great abuses of the Blessed Sacrament and Holy Communion at Mass.
The priest is also encouraged to delegate his duties to laypeople. Duties which he would previously carry out are now being handled by laypeople. While this can be useful and often necessary in the absence of a priest, this is increasingly being used in every parish even when there is a priest close by and available. Masses have begun to be replaced at times by Eucharistic Services, which have no priest in attendance and operated completely by laypeople. This takes away from the faith of the laity and encourages in them the belief that one is as good as the other. These are in no way equal for nothing can replace the importance of the Sacrifice of the Mass, not even the Eucharist.
In a similar way, the priest is being encouraged to delegate the giving of Communion to laypeople. The Eucharist can only be consecrated by the consecrated hands of a priest, so it is only right that consecrated hands be the ones to handle the Blessed Sacrament and give the Eucharist to faithful Catholics. The Church does allow for circumstances which permit the use of extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. But these circumstances are very limited and the extraordinary ministers must be specially blessed and adhere to a number of conditions. One of the main circumstances in which they are allowed, is when a very large number of laypeople (in the hundreds or thousands) attend a Mass and there is a great shortage of priests. They should be the exception rather than the rule. Unfortunately, this allowance by the Church is being greatly abused by parishes everywhere in order to encourage participation in the Mass.
In every parish, they have put together a list of Eucharistic Ministers, which is used every week. It completely disregards the conditions laid down by the Church as to the use of Extraordinary Ministers and the times when these can be used. Eucharistic Ministers are used at every single Mass, even when the number attending in no way requires another helper at Communion. It is frequent to see more than one Eucharistic Minister giving Communion and sometimes the priest will even sit aside and allow Communion to be given solely by the Ministers at the altar. Eucharistic Ministers often proceed to the Tabernacle to retrieve a ciborium and give out Communion, even when they were not asked or originally required to before Communion. Eucharistic Ministers are given little or no teaching on the Blessed Sacrament or on the proper way to handle or give out Holy Communion. Thus, they have little or no true respect for the Eucharist and can even be lacking in the belief of the Real Presence.
These attitudes are damaging to both the priest and the laity involved. The Eucharist starts to lose a special place to the priest when others take over his duties at Communion. He starts to lose belief in transubstantiation and the Real Presence in the Eucharist. The Eucharist can start to become seen as a casual item or simply a piece of bread. Likewise, a similar effect happens to the laity who becomes Eucharistic Ministers. The Eucharist is seen as an item to be handled as one likes in any manner which they think suitable. This handling makes them lose reverence in the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, and some even begin to see themselves to be on equal standing with the priest. Many priests and Eucharistic Ministers do not see or realise the subtle effects of their actions and the consequences from them which build up slowly over time.
The constant use of Eucharistic Ministers and the encouragement of the belief that the Mass is a meal rather than a Sacrifice are some of the reasons behind the recent trend for Communion to be received in the hand. This practice is widespread across the entire Church, and is used to get the laity attending the Mass to participate in it. The belief that the Eucharist can be handled by un-consecrated hands such as those of the Ministers encourages the laypeople to receive Communion in their hands. This has led to a loss of belief in the Real Presence and loss of respect for the Blessed Sacrament. If the Eucharist can be handled by anyone, then it ceases to be a Sacred Object in the eyes of man. All laypeople are being encouraged to receive Communion at Mass and they have begun to see this as a right. Even those who are not baptised Catholics, those who are in a state of grievous sin or those who are completely unprepared are given Communion and this can damage their souls instead of helping them spiritually. The priest has lost most of his control over the Eucharist at Communion; he is no longer able to prevent those who are unworthy to receive from receiving Communion.
This widespread participation of Communion in the hand has led to much abuse of the Blessed Sacrament, both in obvious ways and in unseen ways. Abuse and disregard for the Host is often practised and is usually visible to those around. But further abuse occurs in unseen ways. The Real Presence is in every particle of the Host, no matter how minuscule. These particles, unseen to the naked eye, fall or transfer from the Host with each usage. These end up on the hands and clothes of laypeople when Communion is given on the hand. Abuse to the Eucharist occurs from this, in the actions of these people afterwards.
The practice of standing for Communion is often done for expediency during Communion. Communion can be delivered in a faster manner and this attitude is encouraged by a fast-paced modern world. It encourages the laity in the belief that the Mass is a meal rather than a Sacrifice. Approaching the altar at Communion, standing with hands outstretched, gives the notion that what one is about to receive is only physical food. The Host is treated as bread alone and the Real Presence is begun to be ignored. The act of standing to receive Communion indicates that the person views themselves to be on an equal standing with the Lord. Receiving Communion on the tongue while kneeling is not only a humble, penitential act but it is an act of adoration towards the Eucharist. The layperson acknowledges their state as a sinner by receiving on the tongue and they kneel to show their humbleness before God. They do not touch the Blessed Sacrament with unworthy, sinful hands. But they also adore God in the Real Presence in the Eucharist by these same actions. They show their understanding and belief in the Real Presence and they act with awe and reverence before the Eucharist. Many little acts of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament are lost by those who do not kneel to receive Communion.
While much abuse occurs from too much participation by the laity at Communion, there are other instances in which participation by the laity becomes excessive. Before the Canon of the Mass, and the Consecration, comes the teaching that is given through Holy Scripture and sermons. In previous times, these were delivered by the priest or by the deacon after receiving a blessing from the priest. The sermons were mainly based on the interpretation and application of the teachings involved in the Scripture readings and Gospels for the Mass on the day. But now, the laity is being actively encouraged to take part in this aspect of the Mass. In this way, the priest begins to lose his place as teacher to the people. He is no longer seen as the one giving the Scripture reading to the laypeople. The Scripture reading begins to lose its aspect for teaching. The lay reader is often seen to be just reading a story or passage. The priest begins to lose his awareness of the Scripture readings used during Mass and the applications that can be taken from them for sermons. Sometimes the sermons themselves are delivered by laypeople. These usually are on subjects that have no relevance to the Scriptures used during the Mass or have no teachings of the Catholic Church. The loss of instruction at these times is great. The Scriptures used are given no application and teaching, and the laypeople attending will often disregard what they contain if they are not expanded on.
Laypeople have always been encouraged to participate at Mass through music, song and chant. When these are suitable, respectful and spiritual, they can greatly enhance the spiritual aspect of the Mass and the Sacrifice becomes more pleasing. But the current effort to get more participation by the laity has led to use of unsuitable music and lyrics. Laypeople are encouraged to participate by playing musical instruments which they are proficient at, but not all these are suitable for Mass. The use of modern, electrical instruments and the combination of some of these instruments often becomes loud, noisy and distracting. The Church seems more like a concert hall than a place of sacrifice and prayer. The music from these instruments becomes displeasing and unspiritual during the Mass. The lyrics from hymns that are used are often unsuitable for the occasion for which they are used or contain erroneous teaching about the Mass or the Catholic Faith. Protestant hymns are being used increasingly and are replacing the more suitable traditional Catholic hymns. There is little regulation over the content of hymns used. However, even the use of traditional hymns can be done wrongly. Hymns are being used for something which they are unsuitable for. This often happens with old Latin hymns being used in the wrong context.
Laypeople are encouraged to become more involved in the Mass through the responses that are assigned for them during the Liturgy. Through these responses, they can be attentive to what is happening during the Mass and they combine their prayers with the prayers of the priest, to make the Mass a united prayer by all who attend. But apart from these responses, the prayers of the Mass are those which should only be spoken by the priest. The priest takes the place of Christ and becomes our intercessor to God. The prayers he says are for him to say in this role. However, laypeople are taking some of these prayers and using them for themselves also. They speak aloud prayers which the priest should say alone. Usually they do this for certain prayers, such as those immediately before or after the Our Father. But in some places, the laypeople are encouraged to say aloud the Canon of the Mass and the prayers of Consecration. This practice takes away from the spirituality of the Mass and the understanding that it is a Sacrifice and a re-enactment of Calvary.
When the Mass is viewed as a Sacrifice and a re-enactment of Calvary, then the altar and the area surrounding it is seen as a sanctuary, a holy ground. Only those directly involved in the Mass are allowed on this holy ground during the celebration. The priests and deacons are consecrated and blessed to perform the rituals and prayers of the Mass, and they have a rightful place there. Altar boys are also permitted for numerous reasons. They perform tasks that would otherwise take the priest away from the altar and the celebration of the Mass. The altar boys also take the place of the laity at the altar. They represent the laypeople present and provide a direct connection between the priest at the altar and the laypeople in the pews. They are also present in order to prepare and inspire them towards the priesthood. This is why altar boys must always be preferable to altar girls. Because of these assigned roles, there is no need for additional laypeople to be around the altar during Mass. The presence of other laypeople on the altar at various times during the Mass, taking duties from the priest or deacon, instils the notion that the Mass is a meal to be shared around a table. It instils the idea that all are worthy to approach the altar no matter what the individual states of their souls are or what their standing with the Church is.
Christ ordained twelve men to the priesthood on Holy Thursday and instituted the Mass on that same eve and on Good Friday. Over the centuries, the Church, through divine inspiration, has refined the Liturgy of the Mass to augment that which Christ gave us at the Last Supper and at His Glorious Passion. He reserved the priesthood for men alone, so it is only right that these consecrated men and their male assistants be those present at the altar. For women, there has been reserved other roles, which while not actively involved in the celebration of the Sacraments, are still important and valuable for the running of the Church and the proclamation of the Faith. Returning the levels of lay participation at Mass to what they have been in previous centuries, will not only ensure the sanctity and spirituality of the Mass, it will promote and encourage belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist and the tenets of the Catholic Faith.