25/08/2025
HARVEST AND BAZAAR IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: CLARITY, BEAUTY, AND ABUSE😲🤔
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I have heard many complaints:
“Why are things being sold in the Church?”
“Why do priests organize bazaar inside the Mass?”
“Did Jesus not chase merchants out of the Temple?”
Let us set the record straight, clearly, biblically, and according to the mind of the Church.
✝️ 1. THE TRUE MEANING OF HARVEST AND BAZAAR
The harvest thanksgiving is biblical.
In the Old Testament, Israel brought the first fruits of the land to the Temple (Deuteronomy 26:1–11). It was not buying or selling, it was thanksgiving. They offered to God what He had already given them.
In the New Testament, St. Paul tells the Corinthians:
“On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up” (1 Corinthians 16:2).
And the early Church laid their offerings at the Apostles’ feet (Acts 4:34–35).
This was Christian harvest, a way of supporting the Church and the poor.
Therefore, the Catholic harvest is not a market. It is not “business.” It is a sacred thanksgiving, rooted in Scripture, meant to strengthen the parish community and provide for the needs of the Church.
✝️ 2. WHEN THE TEMPLE BECOMES A MARKET
But here lies the problem.
Some parishes have turned what is holy into confusion. During Mass itself, in the very heart of the Eucharist, you hear:
“Let us now sell, let us now buy, let us now announce bazaar pledges…”
This is an error. Why? Because the Mass is the Sacrifice of Christ. At Calvary, no one was selling yam, goat, or wrapper under the Cross. The moment of Eucharist is the moment of worship alone.
Jesus said: “My Father’s house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). He was not condemning thanksgiving offerings. He was condemning commercial intrusion into sacred worship.
So when we insert bazaar transactions into the Mass itself, we confuse the holy with the profane. That is where scandal comes.
✝️ 3. WHY DO SOME PRIESTS DO THIS?
Let us be honest. Some parish priests say:
“If we fix bazaar after Mass, people will leave. If we wait till the final blessing, the church will be empty. So let us push the announcements and sales into the middle of the liturgy, before the Eucharist, so that the people are still seated.”
This is pastoral fear, not liturgical truth. It may seem practical, but it is theologically wrong. Why? Because the Mass belongs to Christ and the Church, not to our convenience.
We cannot imprison the Eucharist under the fear that “people will run away.” If they run, they have rejected the gift. But if we cheapen the liturgy, we betray the altar.
✝️ 4. THE BALANCE: CHURCH TEACHING
Does the Church forbid harvest and bazaar?
No. She encourages community thanksgiving, solidarity, and charity. These events strengthen unity and sustain parish projects.
But the Church is clear: the liturgy of the Eucharist is untouchable. General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) insists that nothing alien should interrupt the sacred action. Bazaar, fundraising, and harvest thanksgiving must remain outside the consecration of the Eucharist.
This means:
✅ Harvest Thanksgiving → offered within Mass as part of offertory (in a dignified way).
❌ Bazaar pledges, auctioning, or selling → kept outside the Eucharistic liturgy, usually after Mass.
And if it must be done in the church building (because of rain or lack of space)?
👉 The Blessed Sacrament is reverently removed from the tabernacle.
👉 Respect is maintained, because the House of God is not a market, but a sanctuary.
This is the discipline of the Church.
✝️ 5. THE CALL TO HOLINESS
Dear brothers and sisters, let us be wise. The Church is not against thanksgiving. The Church is not against community fundraising. The Church is against confusing Calvary with the marketplace.
If the Mass is the Cross, then bazaar is the feast after the Cross, like Easter joy after Good Friday.
Let us therefore:
Keep the Mass holy.
Keep the thanksgiving joyful.
Keep the bazaar communal and orderly, after Mass.
This way, the world will see that Catholics are not selling God. We are thanking God.
So I repeat, the Mass is not a market. The Eucharist is not a business. Christ is not for sale.
But when harvest is rightly done, when bazaar is rightly ordered, when thanksgiving is rightly celebrated, then the parish becomes what it is meant to be: a family gathered around the altar, giving thanks with joy, without turning worship into noise.
That is the Catholic way. That is the biblical way. That is the only way.
God bless you 🙏
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