Photo: Chris Sant FournierPhoto: Chris Sant Fournier

I refer to the article by Fr Joe Borg in The Sunday Times of Malta (August 17). I will refrain from entering into the fray of the Church leadership, which is known to be in disarray by most.

I will, however, comment on the solutions behind making Sunday Mass a pleasant experience. Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel and the Millennium Chapel in Paceville is one to be admired and emulated by other churches.

Fr Hilary Tagliaferro, the driving force behind this happy congregation, gave me a 12-point list how to ensure a happy Mass on Sunday.

These are the points he listed for me: ensure intelligent and varied singing and great participation by all congregation.

Ushers should wear lanyards to welcome people. The priest should give everybody a warm welcome at the start of Mass and everyone welcomes each other for the sacred meal.

Parents should be invited to take their children inside for a simplified explanation of Mass and the children come back in procession, carrying food for the poor they brought from home during the offertory.

Big screens should be erected for everyone to follow readings and to sing hymns as well as to actively participate. Mass is not said by the priest but by the whole congregation.

Readers of the Word of God should be articulate and well prepared and the sound system should be good.

The down-to-earth homily should not exceed 10 minutes and should be to the point.

During the bidding prayers, children should take an active part.

Mass should be inclusive of all nationalities races and creeds. The Pater Noster is sung in Latin in the old Gregorian style to include people coming from different parts of the world. It should be open not only to all Christians but also to Buddhists and Muslims.

The giving of the ‘peace’ should be a joyful moment of embracing and shaking hands.

The communion distribution should be done with soft organ background music but no singing so that everyone lives a personal Eucharistic moment without distraction of singing.

Lay ministers should distribute the Holy Communion too. Singing should start at the end of the distribution for all to sing. At the end of Mass, a joyful hymn is sung and the priest proceeds to the door to bid farewell to all participants.

Mass should take 50 to 55 minutes but be worth every minute of it.

This is what makes our Mass different to others and shows that it can easily be done if other parishes want to do it.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.