{"id":262377,"date":"2016-06-21T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2016-06-21T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/?p=262377"},"modified":"2016-06-20T22:51:12","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T03:51:12","slug":"5-things-end-of-mass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/5-things-end-of-mass\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Things You Should Do at the End of Mass"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In my <em>five years<\/em> of blessings as a contributor here at ATX Catholic, I have taken one post per year to write something that is not a review. Instead, I write about something a little closer to my heart. They&#8217;re more like the things I post at my personal blog, <a href=\"http:\/\/lindsayloves.com\">Lindsay Loves<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/index.php\/2011\/05\/how-will-they-know-who-we-are\/\">my very first post<\/a>, I introduced myself and expressed a desire that we not just show our Christianity through our love, but through perhaps more obvious signs.<\/li>\n<li>In 2012, I wrote about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/index.php\/2012\/06\/media-discernment-and-you\/\">media discernment<\/a> for Catholics. Yes, I still watch <em>Grey&#8217;s Anatomy<\/em>. I&#8217;m in until the bitter end at this point.<\/li>\n<li>In 2013, I wrote about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/6-things-you-need-to-do-before-mass\/\">preparing for Mass<\/a>. I still do all of those things, although I&#8217;ve moved my pre-Mass readings a little earlier, and I read the Gospel in Spanish.<\/li>\n<li>In 2014, I gushed about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/my-restless-augustinian-heart\/\">why I love Augustinian spirituality<\/a>. I&#8217;m still enamored with Augustine.<\/li>\n<li>Last year, I wrote about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/5-things-you-should-do-before-confession\/\">preparing for and going to Confession<\/a>. I&#8217;m still a sinner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So first, I offer a big thank you to ATX Catholic for having me as a contributor for such a long time, and a thank you to everyone who has been reading, even if this is your first post.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_262390\" style=\"width: 522px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-262390\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/reddoor-512x700.jpg?resize=512%2C700\" alt=\"red door\" width=\"512\" height=\"700\" class=\"size-large wp-image-262390\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-262390\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Welcome! Welcome back! Stay for the rest of this post&#8230; and for the rest of Mass.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This year, I&#8217;d like to share my tips for what to do at the <em>end<\/em> of Mass.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Stay after Communion.<\/strong> Mass ain&#8217;t over til it&#8217;s over. You will cause a scandal, no matter who you are or why you&#8217;re leaving early. I&#8217;m sure you have a good reason. Everyone thinks their reason is the best. Yours probably isn&#8217;t.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stay through the final blessing.<\/strong> As Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble writes in her <a href=\"http:\/\/aleteia.org\/2016\/04\/26\/5-reasons-to-stay-until-the-end-of-mass\/\">reasons to stay until the end of Mass<\/a>, that blessing is so important that <em>not<\/em> being able to give it caused Zechariah great shame. That was why he lost his ability to speak: how could someone without faith lead others in the faith? Fun fact: The hand gesture used by the Jewish high priest to give the blessing is the one you&#8217;ve seen with a wish that you &#8220;live long and prosper.&#8221; ??<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stay until the music or procession ends.<\/strong> Three verses of a hymn or song is not too many. As my grad school classmate Matthew once said, &#8220;We will sing all the verses because you never know when you&#8217;re gonna go.&#8221; If there is no music, wait until the last person in the procession has left the church. Please don&#8217;t run over Father What&#8217;s-His-Name; he&#8217;s very old.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Say thank you.<\/strong> The king of the universe just allowed you to eat him. Ponder that for a second. Pray a Glory Be. Add <a href=\"http:\/\/www.catholic.org\/prayers\/prayer.php?p=219\">the Divine Praises<\/a> and the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel while you&#8217;re at it. They don&#8217;t take as long as you think they do, and they&#8217;re probably printed in your hymnal or missalette.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Say hello.<\/strong> Mingle a little bit in your church&#8217;s narthex or social hall. I have not been a morning Massgoer in a long time, but I hear they have donuts. Greet those people you see in the pew every week. Compliment someone&#8217;s well-behaved child. Say a silent prayer for patience and grace for the parent of a less well-behaved child. Shake your priest&#8217;s hand. Then re-enter the world. Leave Mass on a good note, not by doing the &#8220;Judas shuffle.&#8221; He left Mass early, too.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you struggle with any of these points, make it an act of mercy to grow in your post-Mass practices. If you don&#8217;t, make it an act of mercy to pray silently that others might experience that grace. It&#8217;s not easy trying to pray while others have burst into conversation around you in the church, but getting out of the building (and the parking lot) is much, much easier. Trust me.<\/p>\n<p>What prayers do you like to offer after Mass? What do you think is the best reason to zip out after Communion? Which church has the best donuts? Share your thoughts!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my five years of blessings as a contributor here at ATX Catholic, I have taken one post per year to write something that is not a review. Instead, I write about something a little closer to my heart. They&#8217;re more like the things I post at my personal blog, Lindsay Loves. In my very&#8230;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/5-things-end-of-mass\/\">[Read&nbsp;More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[3163,3164,131,367],"class_list":["post-262377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-faith-blog","tag-divine-praises","tag-final-blessing","tag-mass","tag-thanks","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":124040,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/06\/a-response-to-what-sucks-about-the-catholic-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":262377,"position":0},"title":"A Response to &#8220;What Sucks about the Catholic Church&#8221;","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"June 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Every spring brings the Church a batch of shiny new Catholics, and every year I see the same list of complaints. 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Many adults who enter the Catholic Church, especially those who were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Response to \"What Sucks about the Catholic Church,\" at AustinCNM.com","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/acnmreponsetowhatsucks-550x394.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/acnmreponsetowhatsucks-550x394.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/acnmreponsetowhatsucks-550x394.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":190002,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/catholic-liturgy-101-introduction-to-liturgical-catechesis\/","url_meta":{"origin":262377,"position":1},"title":"Catholic Liturgy 101: Introduction to Liturgical Catechesis","author":"Michael Raia","date":"December 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A handful of friends and colleagues have requested a very basic survey of concepts on Catholic worship and liturgical catechesis \u2013 that is, teaching on liturgy. 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I'm blessed to have so many examples of strong, outwardly faithful men in my life. Honestly, one of my favorite things is hearing my male friends talk about their personal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\"I am hereby exhorting you to step into the breach to do the work of Christ's soldiers in the world today.\" \u2014Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/acnm_intothebreach.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":187431,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/popular-misconceptions-about-the-catholic-mass-part-i-music\/","url_meta":{"origin":262377,"position":4},"title":"Popular Misconceptions About the Catholic Mass, Part I: Music","author":"Michael Raia","date":"December 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A number of\u00a0liturgical reforms seen in the U.S. since Vatican II were not actually mandated or even recommended\u00a0by the Council, but\u00a0were reactionary shifts that had more to do with the culture of the\u00a0decade\u00a0\u2013 it\u2019s time to revisit\u00a0those changes. 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(CNS photo\/Paul Haring) See POPE-PENN-BISHOPS Sept. 26, 2015.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/PopeFrancisMass-CNS-550x279.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/PopeFrancisMass-CNS-550x279.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/PopeFrancisMass-CNS-550x279.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":183762,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/most-powerful-woman-in-the-world-national-geographic\/","url_meta":{"origin":262377,"position":5},"title":"The Most Powerful Woman in the World (A Response to the &#8220;National Geographic&#8221; Feature)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"December 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Everybody loves Mary. If you're a Catholic reading this on its original publication date, you have recently gone or will be going to Mass to honor her as the Immaculate Conception. (Otherwise, the next page you visit might be the closest parish's confession times.) You probably heard the same homily\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Faith&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mary statue, sad","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/sxc_dogmadic-mary_sad-525x700.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/sxc_dogmadic-mary_sad-525x700.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/sxc_dogmadic-mary_sad-525x700.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262377\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}