At Mass this weekend, the priest gave a homily that lasted six minutes. I do not carry a time piece with me during Mass and there is no clock in the church. I know the homily was six minutes because as soon as the priest ended his homily, an elderly parishoner two rows behind me "whispered" to her fellow parishoner, "That was six minutes. That's better than the fifteen minutes last week."
I wonder if this parishoner has children and grandchildren. If she does and they come to visit her, I wonder is she times their visits. If a grandchild stops by for a quick visit of, say, fifteen minutes, does she chide the grandchild for staying too long? Does she say that the goal of the next visit is six minutes?
Maybe I am too impatient with people that complain about how much time Mass takes. I am a church musician. Whenever there is a special event at Mass, such as a baptism, the priest always asks that I cut the verses short on the hymns so that the Mass will not last over sixty minutes. If it does, the priest ALWAYS hears about it. It is usually elderly parishoners that complain. One could argue that they have less time remaining than younger people and want to get the most out of their remaining time. Apperently, getting the most out of their time does not inlude attending a Mass that lasts sixty-one minutes.
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