The practice in all the parishes that I've been to on Sundays in this country has been for the priest to greet people outside the Church immediately after Mass, and then say his thanksgiving after this. Pastorally, I've experienced this to be enormously beneficial, as many people come with pastoral issues that they might not otherwise have the chance to bring. For many parishioners, it is the only time that they talk to the priest on a regular basis.
I'd actually thought about this before when I read one of Josef Pieper's books. He points out that putting on vestments is a sign that the priest is now acting in persona Christi and thus it's seriously bad for him to stand outside the Church wearing his vestments while talking about the weather. This can be avoided by rapidly changing in the sacristy during a final hymn, but still leaves the question raised by Cardinal Arinze. I'd be interested to hear other people's opinions on this...
3 comments:
I was once a server at a parish in the UK where the procession would stop at the back of the church and the celebrant would take off his chasuble, stole, cincture and alb (which the senior server would then take back to the sacristy - we got rather good at folding them quickly) and then he would meet people outside church in his cassock.
I think the pastoral duty has to come before the thanksgiving. For some people the only chance they get to talk to the priest is after Mass. I agree about the vestments but what priests today know that they are in persona christie?
I think you're probably right that removing vestments and greeting people before saying the thanksgiving is probably the way to go, unless Cardinal Arinze comes to visit.
The young, recently ordained priests that I know are all very aware that they act in persona christi. I think generally we're returning to a much deeper understanding of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
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