23 April 2015, The Tablet

Confessions of a Mass tourist

by Adrian Chiles

 
A number of people attend Mass daily in Lent but it is a rare feat to go to a different church every day. This was the challenge taken up by one Catholic who went to 46 churches. It crystallised his thoughts about the way Mass should be celebrated My brothers and sisters, I confess to you that I regularly go to weekday Mass. To share this, even with enthusiastic Catholics, is to invite a look that says, “Really? Bit extreme, isn’t it?” Share it with anyone else and the look just says “weirdo”. Not that I much care; I’m just sorry so many are missing out on such a special thing laid on for them, day in, day out, in a church near you. There are many things going for weekday Mass, not least its brevity. Be honest: when did you last come out of Mass thinki
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User Comments (2)

Comment by: Selvam sdb
Posted: 15/06/2015 13:30:14

Glad to note that Adrian Chiles is a Catholic - and a serious one at that. Used to watch him on the BBC One Show during my stay in London between 2008 and 2011. Now in Nairobi, I am going to use his article to train future priests on how to preside at the Eucharistic Celebration. However, I do feel that it is much than a skill. It is how a priest has experienced the Eucharist himself.

Comment by: Anon
Posted: 25/04/2015 08:19:22

I share your weakness for daily Mass and your conclusion about the gradations of priests' performance - very much the same as teachers.
However, some years ago I was moaning to our dear good Lord about a priest I found very antipathetic and received a firm reply which did make me laugh: 'Sarah, you come to be with me, not the priest!' I found that very helpful on similar occasions. . .
Thank you for your article which I really enjoyed.