How Long is Sunday Mass?

As I strive to listen to the needs of our parishioners, it can be challenging because people often have opinions that vary and even contradict each other. The classic example: some might say the church is too hot and at the same moment others say it’s too cold!

People can also have contrasting views of how long we spend celebrating the Lord’s Day Mass on Sunday (or Saturday). Some want the liturgy to be a deeper reflection on the mysteries of our faith, while others like a more efficient liturgy that is constantly moving forward. However, one thing I have heard with some consistency in recent years from a wide variety of our parishioners is the concern about some of our Masses running significantly longer than others. This has become a discussion topic at the Collaborative Pastoral Council as well as meetings of our Pastoral Team and the new Sunday Experience Team (SET). I understand that this can make it hard for elders who have trouble sitting for long periods of time, for parents to manage young children’s expectations during Mass, and for any parishioner to plan their day.

The recent talk by members of the SET explained that we are working to strengthen our “Sunday Experience” of the Mass and beyond, and they reminded us that our litur-gies are a team effort that involve many parishioners as well as clergy and staff. However, the pastor and the priest presiding over the Mass have the responsibility of coordinating these ministries (of others and himself) in service of God and His holy people. Therefore Fr. Lambert and I have agreed to work on keeping the Sunday Masses consistently within an hour (Fr. Bernie doesn’t need to work on this - he already does his part!) Some Masses will be a bit shorter, and occasionally Mass might be a bit longer (e.g., if there is something special going on), but parishioners should be able to expect the Mass to generally be ending an hour after the scheduled start time.

While some might find this encouraging, others might ask why it can’t be forty-five minutes or even less? As Jesus faced his impending crucifixion, he challenged his apostles, “Could you not stay with me one hour?” (Matthew 26:40) The time we spend worshiping at Mass entails a balance of offering quality liturgies in ac-cord with the expectations of the Catholic Church, using the particular gifts of the ministers involved, and finding ways that will truly help all of us to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Just like we should not take parishioners’ time for granted by running too long, we also do not want to take Christ’s sacrificial love for granted in trying to get Mass over as quickly as possible.

Precisely because many of our lives are so busy, we need our time with the Lord and the church family to be less rushed, more reflective, and open to how Jesus wants to touch our hearts each week. I am confident we can accomplish this in an unhurried manner while still respecting our parishioner’s time and other commitments. Thank you for your patience as we strive to do this more consistently, and thanks especially for your faithful participation at Masses in/with our collaborative parishes.