I enjoyed that!

[High Peak]

I'm in a reflective mood. We had our Deanery Confirmation Mass this evening. I'm still calming down from the flood of adrenalin. It went very well indeed. The execution of the music could not have been much better (especially considering that the musicians and singers were put together from several parishes) and, I think, everything was appropriate for the particular circumstances of the Mass. After the Mass, people were generous in their comments. But a common comment was "I enjoyed that". And it has disturbed me.
Why? Because that's not the point of liturgy.
Now, maybe some of the people who approached me do not understand the purpose of liturgy and saw it merely as artistic expression. Maybe some have a fuller understanding of liturgy but don't possess the language, or are not comfortable with the language necessary to express their gratitude "appropriately". (It was even used by a musician from another parish.)
Or maybe I've just got my head stuck up my own backside!
But it's really got me thinking!

[oopsorganist]

Oh that's 'cos you're Catholic.
You feel guilty for enjoying yourself, or that others should so so, if they too, enjoyed themselves.

[VML]

You are right HP. It disturbed me when our Confirmation Mass booklets used to have a welcome note at the front 'We hope you enjoy our Mass.' I hated it and managed to get it dropped. Truly not the point.

[Southern Comfort]

You are right HP. It disturbed me when our Confirmation Mass booklets used to have a welcome note at the front 'We hope you enjoy our Mass.' I hated it and managed to get it dropped. Truly not the point.

And it's not "our" Mass!

[IncenseTom]

With the exception of a very select few in the parish, I find that a bit of French style, highly dissonant improvisation with the organ at full pelt puts pay to that sort of enthusiasm

[alan29]

With the exception of a very select few in the parish, I find that a bit of French style, highly dissonant improvisation with the organ at full pelt puts pay to that sort of enthusiasm

"Like"

[alan29]

To respond to the thread.
I have too often been to a Mass that I didn't enjoy at all. It could be for a variety of reasons, but that doesn't matter.
The way that Mass is celebrated by a priest, ministers and assembly should not stand in the way of worship. Ever.
The problem is that one man's meat is another man's poison. One of the positive liturgical developments is that people can find a style of worship that suits them.
God created us to respond with our minds, bodies and emotions. We aren't disembodied spirits, and Catholics above all worship through (and are saved through) our bodies. That is how sacraments work.
So is it better for people to enjoy worshipping their Father or not?

[Southern Comfort]

So is it better for people to enjoy worshipping their Father or not?

I'm not sure that's the right question. Analysis of what "enjoy" means might be helpful.

In the phrase "We hope you enjoy our Mass", "enjoy" can mean "we hope you feel pleased", or "we hope you are sufficiently entertained, even amused", as opposed, for example, to "we hope you are uplifted". High Peak and VML seem to have viewed as negative the overtones of the word, but there might be other ways of looking at it. "I really enjoyed that" could mean "I was well entertained" or "I felt good because of that", or "I was really caught up in it", or even "my soul was nourished by it" — the latter surely not an entirely bad thing?

But perhaps we can find better wordings for the original phrases, too. "We hope you find grace and a welcome in our worshipping community", or "I was really engaged by that celebration" could be improvements.

[gwyn]

"I enjoyed that"

Just a thought; would en-joy-ment be the subjective experience of Joy, a fruit of the Spirit? In which case I guess that it's no bad thing to feel it.

[VML]

Very true, Gwyn.

[alan29]

Our assistant priest this morning thanked the musicians, readers, servers and congregation for contributing to a joyous celebration of Mass.
Nowt wrong with that at all, considering it was a bog-standard green Sunday.

[markyboy2000]

My choir ladies always make a point of saying they liked the hymn choice - or not! Downstairs I get moaned at it if I've played something they're not sure of; especially the Saturday night Mass, where they are likely to shut their books if they don't recognise the first line.
We have a locum priest who will say he's liked something but didn't know it, which often gets a muted chorus from the pews. I've never sure whether they've agreed or not, my hearing aids don't pick up the general sounds very well. Sometimes he'll even say he's enjoyed something. But we very rarely have mention of enjoying the whole liturgy, only the music.

[oopsorganist]

People usually enjoy something in which they are fully participating. So that for example, if they are not confident to try a new hymn, they feel they did not enjoy it. And those group occasions with a function in addition to the basic mass, they promote enjoyment because people came to support whatever was happening and it makes for participation.

One parish I go to, the organist plays always the full first verse of whatever is on the hymn board. This takes time and confidence to take up that time, but it works really well for people to get the hymn into their heads and helps others to learn it thus there is always participation in the hymns. And although there is often a lot of music in those parish masses, it does not make the mass too long, which is what we fear will happen.

[VML]

Quite, a play through is so important with new tunes. And so is an intro that identifies even well known hymns. Somehow I don't know how to tell the 12 string guitarist who leads alternate weeks here that a couple of strummed chords gives no indication, especially as we are not using hymn books, and the OHP operator is late putting up the words.

[alan29]

Goodness. That sounds terrible. What an insult to the congregation.