Priest Kit
For a priest considering joining the Warriors Mass rota
Warriors Mass · A Fathered initiative
Draft for review · September 2026
Contents
What a Warriors Mass Is
A Warriors Mass is a short, early weekday Mass for men who start work before the parish's regular Mass times: tradesmen, construction workers, and shift workers. It runs about 15 minutes, starts and ends on time, and includes a short homily. The proposed time is 5:15 or 5:30 a.m., with confession from 5:00 a.m. when a priest can hear it. Father has not yet set a final time. After Mass, a lay team serves coffee and a grab-and-go breakfast, and men carpool from the church to their job sites.
The first two Masses are a proposed monthly pilot at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Burnaby, on the third Friday of the month, pending Father's approval. If they go well, a short twice-weekly test runs during Advent, possibly across a few parishes. Nothing beyond that is planned yet. See the Warriors Mass Vision document for the full growth path.
What We Ask of You
The full rite, no music, nothing shortened. A weekday Mass already omits the Gloria and the Creed, which is what makes 15 minutes realistic without cutting anything the Mass requires.
GIRM 66 recommends a homily on weekdays; it does not require one outside Sundays and holy days. So this is our ask of you, beyond what the liturgy requires. If you'd rather hand the homily to a concelebrating priest that morning, GIRM 66 allows that too.
Not every date will have a confessor. See the confession page for what this takes on your end.
You aren't asked to set up, run hospitality, or organize anything else that morning.
What We Never Ask
No shortening the rite beyond what a normal weekday Mass already omits.
No skipping anything the Mass requires to fit the clock. If a Mass needs more than 15 minutes on a given day, it takes more than 15 minutes.
No expectation that you hear confessions if no confessor is available that morning, or that you binate without the Archdiocese's permission.
What the Lay Team Handles
Everything except the sacraments: unlocking and setting up the church, readers and servers, coffee and breakfast, cleanup and locking up, promotion, sign-ups, and carpool coordination. A named lay coordinator organizes each Mass and reports attendance and any problems back to your pastor afterward.
The Rota, Backups, and Cancellations
Every date on the calendar has one celebrant and one named backup priest. If you're on the rota:
| If… | Then… |
|---|---|
| You're on the rota for a date | You'll be asked, well ahead of your date, to confirm you can make it. |
| You can't make it | A swap-and-cover request goes out to find another priest on the rota. You aren't expected to arrange your own replacement. |
| Neither the celebrant nor the backup can make a date | That Mass is cancelled, and everyone signed up is notified by text before that morning. |
Canon 905: Saying Mass More Than Once a Day
A priest may celebrate only one Mass a day, except where the law permits more (Canon 905 §1). This only matters if you're already scheduled to say your own parish's Mass on the same day you'd celebrate the Warriors Mass.
If the Warriors Mass would be your only Mass that day, Canon 905 doesn't apply to you at all. No permission is needed.
If you're already saying your own parish's Mass that day, the Warriors Mass would be a second Mass for you, and Canon 905 §2 requires the Archbishop's permission to binate. That permission is granted only for a shortage of priests or genuine pastoral necessity. Tell us in advance whether this applies to you, so we can name you specifically when we ask the Archdiocese of Vancouver for that permission before the morning of the Mass.
Confession: What You Need, and What You Don't
A habitual faculty to hear confessions travels with you everywhere, without a fresh grant, if you're a pastor or you take the place of a pastor at your own parish (Canon 967 §2, Canon 968 §1). If that describes you, you already have what you need to hear confessions at the Warriors Mass, at any parish in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
If you're not a pastor and don't take a pastor's place, you need a written grant from the Archdiocese to hear confessions here, under Canon 969 §1. Tell us if this is your situation. We'll request that grant for you instead of assuming it already exists.
The Mass's own Penitential Act at the start is not sacramental confession. GIRM 51 says its absolution "lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance." A real confession slot, staffed by a priest who can validly absolve, is what makes confession available here.
Visiting-Priest Conduct
The Archdiocese of Vancouver's Policy on Pastoral Conduct for Priests and Deacons (effective July 5, 2023) already treats "visiting priest" as a named category, and asks that any one-on-one conversation with someone you're ministering to happen somewhere with glass windows or another unobstructed view. If a man wants to talk with you after Mass, have that conversation somewhere with a clear sightline, in keeping with this policy.
How to Join the Rota
Tell Chris Dwan, the lay coordinator, which dates you can take and whether either of the two questions above (Canon 905, confession faculty) applies to you. He'll put your dates on the calendar, confirm a backup for each one, and let you know before every Mass whether confession is on for that date.
Current Dates (Proposed, Pending Father's Approval)
| Phase | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | Friday, October 16, 2026 (make-up: October 23 if the 16th falls through); Friday, November 20, 2026 | Monthly. One celebrant plus one named backup priest per date. |
| Advent test (if the pilot goes well) | Tuesdays and Fridays, December 1–22, 2026 | Seven Masses. Rota of 3–4 priests. |
Chris and Father review the whole arrangement after Advent, together, to decide whether it continues, changes, or stops.
Questions
Chris Dwan
Organizer, Warriors Mass