Hold the Applause

Have you ever been at a Mass where all in attendance are asked to give applause for a person or group of people to show appreciation, recognition, or for a birthday?  Whether it’s clapping for a class of religious education students who showed up and participated in the mass or to thank a group of parishioners for all the ministries they are involved in and all that they do for the church, it just doesn’t seem like a good time for applause.

One summer when I was in college, I was attending a youth conference and one of the priests from the diocese that was on the trip made a comment that applause doesn’t belong in the Mass.  It was a brief and simple statement, and something I didn’t question.  And since then, any time I’ve been at a Mass where we are asked to clap to recognize a person or multiple people, it has just felt uncomfortable.  Sometime afterwards, I came across this quote from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he was Pope Benedict XVI, in which he said, “wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment.”  The Mass is not about what we have done, but about what God has done and continues to do.

When we take time to recognize someone’s achievements or show our appreciation during Mass, it takes our focus away from God and directs it to ourselves or to others in the parish.  People do a lot of amazing and great things and serve others and the parish so generously.  And they absolutely should be appreciated and thanked.  But, I think that the recognition and thanks should take place outside of Mass.  Whether it is at a social after mass, a card and gift, an announcement put in the bulletin or posted on the parish website, or just by talking to someone after mass, there are many different ways to go about recognizing and thanking parish members that don’t involve clapping for them before the mass has ended.

The mass is the highest form of worship.  There is a reason that it is called the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  It is a time that demands reverence and respect.  And when we wrap up the Mass with a focus on the things we’ve done by giving our applause, then our focus is taken away from God.
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Maybe I’m overthinking this, but it is something I’ve been really convicted of for awhile, especially when I’m at mass and see this happen.  What are your thoughts?