OP, sometimes what we see is exactly what we want to see.

Take some time and try to see the joy and blessing of having so many drop into Mass this one day.

If even one person is brought back to Jesus that day, then isn't a little heat and crowding worth it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Well, I am the OP and this was not my experience. NO ONE was singing. We were one of about two couples in our entire section who sang anything. People didn't hold hands during the Lord's Prayer. They didn't say the creed. And they certainly didn't sing. I'm glad this was your experience, and if it had been mine I might have felt better about being unable to move, hear much of the mass, or breath in the stifling heat. It was hard for me; my preschooler lost it in the end because the crowds/heat/noise just got to be too much. And we were crowding more than one extra person in a pew. This is what I'm not sure many here are understanding. I am not exaggerating when I say that we literally had hundreds of people past the fire code limit packed in. Sitting in aisles, on stairs, packed shoulder to shoulder in every available standing room only space. Sitting on the altar, on the sides of the altar, etc etc etc. If they had all been joyously singing and happy, that would've been one thing. But many of them just sat there looking bored.

I've been at packed holiday Masses like this too. Was this Holy Trinity, by any chance? I know exactly what you mean. And sometimes, you're so packed, hemmed in at the back of the church, cannot see anything, cannot move, etc., it's just hard to get much out of it.

If it was Trinity, I'm sure the priests were thrilled to have so many new faces.

I suppose they were. But make no mistake, next Sunday many of those faces will be nowhere to be seen, trust me. The priests know better than to expect that one Sunday means they will have crowds overflowing out the doors every weekend. This happens every year. Not sure why so many of you seem to insist this will be the case when we all know better. It's not mean to say so. . .it just happens to be the truth.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Well, I am the OP and this was not my experience. NO ONE was singing. We were one of about two couples in our entire section who sang anything. People didn't hold hands during the Lord's Prayer. They didn't say the creed. And they certainly didn't sing. I'm glad this was your experience, and if it had been mine I might have felt better about being unable to move, hear much of the mass, or breath in the stifling heat. It was hard for me; my preschooler lost it in the end because the crowds/heat/noise just got to be too much. And we were crowding more than one extra person in a pew. This is what I'm not sure many here are understanding. I am not exaggerating when I say that we literally had hundreds of people past the fire code limit packed in. Sitting in aisles, on stairs, packed shoulder to shoulder in every available standing room only space. Sitting on the altar, on the sides of the altar, etc etc etc. If they had all been joyously singing and happy, that would've been one thing. But many of them just sat there looking bored.

Wow. With your very unkind attitude towards people, you need to go to church MORE, not less!

How am I being unkind? I am simply sharing my observations. Most people were bored/hot/not participating. It wasn't the idealized kumbaya version of an Easter Service that some PP's seem insistent upon. If it was, I would say so.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Well, I am the OP and this was not my experience. NO ONE was singing. We were one of about two couples in our entire section who sang anything. People didn't hold hands during the Lord's Prayer. They didn't say the creed. And they certainly didn't sing. I'm glad this was your experience, and if it had been mine I might have felt better about being unable to move, hear much of the mass, or breath in the stifling heat. It was hard for me; my preschooler lost it in the end because the crowds/heat/noise just got to be too much. And we were crowding more than one extra person in a pew. This is what I'm not sure many here are understanding. I am not exaggerating when I say that we literally had hundreds of people past the fire code limit packed in. Sitting in aisles, on stairs, packed shoulder to shoulder in every available standing room only space. Sitting on the altar, on the sides of the altar, etc etc etc. If they had all been joyously singing and happy, that would've been one thing. But many of them just sat there looking bored.

I've been at packed holiday Masses like this too. Was this Holy Trinity, by any chance? I know exactly what you mean. And sometimes, you're so packed, hemmed in at the back of the church, cannot see anything, cannot move, etc., it's just hard to get much out of it.

Yes. And I love HT, but I'm ready to bail on it for Easter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Well, I am the OP and this was not my experience. NO ONE was singing. We were one of about two couples in our entire section who sang anything. People didn't hold hands during the Lord's Prayer. They didn't say the creed. And they certainly didn't sing. I'm glad this was your experience, and if it had been mine I might have felt better about being unable to move, hear much of the mass, or breath in the stifling heat. It was hard for me; my preschooler lost it in the end because the crowds/heat/noise just got to be too much. And we were crowding more than one extra person in a pew. This is what I'm not sure many here are understanding. I am not exaggerating when I say that we literally had hundreds of people past the fire code limit packed in. Sitting in aisles, on stairs, packed shoulder to shoulder in every available standing room only space. Sitting on the altar, on the sides of the altar, etc etc etc. If they had all been joyously singing and happy, that would've been one thing. But many of them just sat there looking bored.

I've been at packed holiday Masses like this too. Was this Holy Trinity, by any chance? I know exactly what you mean. And sometimes, you're so packed, hemmed in at the back of the church, cannot see anything, cannot move, etc., it's just hard to get much out of it.

If it was Trinity, I'm sure the priests were thrilled to have so many new faces.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Well, I am the OP and this was not my experience. NO ONE was singing. We were one of about two couples in our entire section who sang anything. People didn't hold hands during the Lord's Prayer. They didn't say the creed. And they certainly didn't sing. I'm glad this was your experience, and if it had been mine I might have felt better about being unable to move, hear much of the mass, or breath in the stifling heat. It was hard for me; my preschooler lost it in the end because the crowds/heat/noise just got to be too much. And we were crowding more than one extra person in a pew. This is what I'm not sure many here are understanding. I am not exaggerating when I say that we literally had hundreds of people past the fire code limit packed in. Sitting in aisles, on stairs, packed shoulder to shoulder in every available standing room only space. Sitting on the altar, on the sides of the altar, etc etc etc. If they had all been joyously singing and happy, that would've been one thing. But many of them just sat there looking bored.

Wow. With your very unkind attitude towards people, you need to go to church MORE, not less!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Well, I am the OP and this was not my experience. NO ONE was singing. We were one of about two couples in our entire section who sang anything. People didn't hold hands during the Lord's Prayer. They didn't say the creed. And they certainly didn't sing. I'm glad this was your experience, and if it had been mine I might have felt better about being unable to move, hear much of the mass, or breath in the stifling heat. It was hard for me; my preschooler lost it in the end because the crowds/heat/noise just got to be too much. And we were crowding more than one extra person in a pew. This is what I'm not sure many here are understanding. I am not exaggerating when I say that we literally had hundreds of people past the fire code limit packed in. Sitting in aisles, on stairs, packed shoulder to shoulder in every available standing room only space. Sitting on the altar, on the sides of the altar, etc etc etc. If they had all been joyously singing and happy, that would've been one thing. But many of them just sat there looking bored.

I've been at packed holiday Masses like this too. Was this Holy Trinity, by any chance? I know exactly what you mean. And sometimes, you're so packed, hemmed in at the back of the church, cannot see anything, cannot move, etc., it's just hard to get much out of it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Going to Mass is nice when it is crowded and cheerful and festive, I agree. But it can also be wonderful when it is (relatively more) quiet, b/c then it can be contemplative, peaceful, and you can concentrate on different things. I'd say both are good -- they are just "diferent animals." Church doesn't have to be always one or the other. Both are good! Try the one a few times and just give it a shot, I'd say. . . .you never know. . sometimes we even split up (DH goes to one Mass and I go to another) b/c then you can really concentrate on The Word and be prayerful and contemplative. . . just for an hour. . .sometimes in the midst of the rat race which is the other 167 hours of the week, I need just that one hour for peace and quiet!

+1

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Well, I am the OP and this was not my experience. NO ONE was singing. We were one of about two couples in our entire section who sang anything. People didn't hold hands during the Lord's Prayer. They didn't say the creed. And they certainly didn't sing. I'm glad this was your experience, and if it had been mine I might have felt better about being unable to move, hear much of the mass, or breath in the stifling heat. It was hard for me; my preschooler lost it in the end because the crowds/heat/noise just got to be too much. And we were crowding more than one extra person in a pew. This is what I'm not sure many here are understanding. I am not exaggerating when I say that we literally had hundreds of people past the fire code limit packed in. Sitting in aisles, on stairs, packed shoulder to shoulder in every available standing room only space. Sitting on the altar, on the sides of the altar, etc etc etc. If they had all been joyously singing and happy, that would've been one thing. But many of them just sat there looking bored.

Anonymous wrote:I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Going to Mass is nice when it is crowded and cheerful and festive, I agree. But it can also be wonderful when it is (relatively more) quiet, b/c then it can be contemplative, peaceful, and you can concentrate on different things. I'd say both are good -- they are just "diferent animals." Church doesn't have to be always one or the other. Both are good! Try the one a few times and just give it a shot, I'd say. . . .you never know. . sometimes we even split up (DH goes to one Mass and I go to another) b/c then you can really concentrate on The Word and be prayerful and contemplative. . . just for an hour. . .sometimes in the midst of the rat race which is the other 167 hours of the week, I need just that one hour for peace and quiet!

I don't go to church much so I guess I am part of the problem (although my DH goes regularly) but I like the crowds on Easter. I find the normal very lightly attended services kind of depressing and prefer to be in a church filled with people. The singing is more joyful, people are happy to be there, lots of people have extended family visiting. I like the sounds of children on Easter - it's part of the scene for me (even though my children are teens/college age). Yes we crowded 5 people into a pew for 4 but really it was for an hour so we survived.

Anonymous wrote:Our Mass was packed. Like people standing outside packed.

I am always joyful to see this happen on the holidays, and hope that perhaps, some casual believers or fallen away Catholics who are attending to please the in laws, might here or see something that touches them and brings them back home.

I try to smile more during the sign of peace. We scrunch our family together so more people can fit, holding not only the preschooler as a lap child but the 1st grader as well. I pray for the priest too, that with so many new people in attendance that day, he will hit one out of the park with his homily.

This Easter, our priest hit an unexpected home run. He was realy on his A game. You can tell by the faces that people were actually listening intently.

These intently listening faces were people I had never seen before at Mass. All told, I recognized 4 families from our regular section where we sit at that Mass. Many of the others I had never seen before.

I am praying that we see some of them again next week. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have people pooling out the doors every weekend at church?

Yes, that is awesome. As a fellow Catholic, I totally agree. Let's pray all week that this happens again next week? What say, you all?

Our Mass was packed. Like people standing outside packed.

I am always joyful to see this happen on the holidays, and hope that perhaps, some casual believers or fallen away Catholics who are attending to please the in laws, might here or see something that touches them and brings them back home.

I try to smile more during the sign of peace. We scrunch our family together so more people can fit, holding not only the preschooler as a lap child but the 1st grader as well. I pray for the priest too, that with so many new people in attendance that day, he will hit one out of the park with his homily.

This Easter, our priest hit an unexpected home run. He was realy on his A game. You can tell by the faces that people were actually listening intently.

These intently listening faces were people I had never seen before at Mass. All told, I recognized 4 families from our regular section where we sit at that Mass. Many of the others I had never seen before.

I am praying that we see some of them again next week. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have people pooling out the doors every weekend at church?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By turning the service into a paid show? OK.

And before any accuses me of taking things for "free," my family does not attend any services. But if we did, I certainly would not entertain a parish who thinks it is OK to exclude.

They're open every day of the year, 365 days. You are welcome any time.

Agreed. Not just on Easter and Christmas when, as so many PP's have said, you are only there to appease your family, crowding out people who show up every Sunday from their own parish.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By turning the service into a paid show? OK.

And before any accuses me of taking things for "free," my family does not attend any services. But if we did, I certainly would not entertain a parish who thinks it is OK to exclude.

They're open every day of the year, 365 days. You are welcome any time.

Agreed. Not just on Easter and Christmas when, as so many PP's have said, you are only there to appease your family, crowding out people who show up every Sunday from their own parish.