A really young Eucharistic minister

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papaspicy

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Today at mass, one of the Eucharistic ministers did something that really struck me as odd. While she was distributing the precious blood, she was also accompanied by a baby (presumably hers) who was asleep in a baby sling that she was wearing. I didn’t see the baby do anything distracting, such as crying or squirming, but I couldn’t help being distracted just by the baby’s presence. This really bothered me and I felt that it was in some way showing irreverence towards the Eucharist. This is contradictory to the norms of the mass, right? Is this a common practice, or at least more acceptable, in countries other than the US?
 
if the baby was young enough to need to be carried in a sling, and the baby was not creating a disturbance I do not see a problem. A small infant cannot be put down just anywhere and the mother may have gone to mass alone. However, the woman might want to consider waiting untill the child was not present or untill there was someone to watch the child during communion to be a Eucharistic minister.
 
:nope: :nope: Firstly the woman could not have been the Eucharistic minister since she is not a priest. And secondly it is not OK for her to distribute the precious blood of our lord with a baby sling. On it is totally and completely inappropriate. Her FULL attention should be on the precious blood. WITH NO distraction. To me it was an accident waiting to happen. With a child tied around her bosom she was not only distracted but also likely very distracting to those who were to recieve. It was disresectfull to others to do such a thing. Now nobody reply here saying I am anti child. I am the opposite. Tack yet another reason why EMHC should be done away with. :bigyikes:
 
JMJ I am reminded of the judge’s words to the young man who was kissing his girlfriend while driving: “You were involved in two very important tasks, and failed to give adequate attention to either.”
 
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decn2b:
Firstly the woman could not have been the Eucharistic minister since she is not a priest.
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Presumably you will be less snippy when you are ordained a deacon. You KNOW what they meant. There is hardly anyone who can read around here who is not aware (or rudely made aware) that the ordinary minister of Holy Communion, is the bishop, priest or deacon.

Apparently you are one of many here who wish there were fewer or no EMHCs. Okay. Good for you. That’s not what was being brought up here.

Rancors away!

John
 
**Attencion! Attencion! Order in the thread…order in the thread.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Please upgrade the charity level and address the question…

And in passing, remember the words of Benedict XVI today at the Angelus address:
Therefore, Advent is par excellence the time of hope, in which believers in Christ are invited to remain in vigilant and active expectation, nourished by prayer and by a concrete commitment of love. May Christ’s approaching nativity fill the hearts of all Christians with joy, serenity and peace!
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**
 
'Tis okay, CatholicGal. We’ll just have to pray extra hard for present and future parishioners in the Davenport diocese…they will appreciate it.😉
 
I apologize for using the layman’s term for the position of the Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. (Wait, wait, wait… I mean the term most frequently used by the average Joe and Mary Catholic in reference to people who serve their community in this capacity, even if they aren’t perfectly catechized. I don’t want to start another semantic debate over the term layman… or laywoman-- layperson-- 😃 )

I should explain one aspect of my original question just a bit more. The woman in question is from, if I remember correctly, Burkina Faso. I guess at first I was shocked by what I was seeing, but then I began to wonder if being from a west African culture this was a normal thing for her to do. So that was really what prompted me to ask the forums about this in the first place. Would the baby sling be more acceptable to the norms of the Church in Africa?
decn2b said:
Tack yet another reason why EMHC should be done away with. :bigyikes:
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My parish has two priests, one deacon, nearly 10,000 parishioners, and six Sunday masses averaging over 1,000 at each one. Without the EMHC, think what would happen to our parish: communion would take an hour to distribute, so the choir would have to fill the time with songs, and with the desire not to repeat all the time, they would probably end up trying some not-so-orthodox music. Then with mass lasting over two hours (already it is typically an hour, twenty), the whole schedule would have to change… I guess what I am saying is that I am glad we have our eight to ten EMHC per mass. I don’t want to do away with them, but I do want them to act properly, hence my coming to y’all for discussion.
 
C’mon bean. That wasn’t fair. You know I would never mention the Dubuque Archdiocese. Besides that Archdiocese puts out some really great Catholics.😃 😃 Too bad I unintentionally caused some mean responses directed towards me…Sorry to make some of you so angry.

Just to inform some…the Eucharistic minister is the priest. The laity distributing communion are called extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. Which are only to be used in extraordinary circumstances…which in many many places they are not. Which I am sure that there are some like me who think that it is a serious over-used role at Mass and some who think the the opposite. With that in mind the OP asked on opinions about a mother with a baby sling acting as an EMHC. To me the second poster mentioning kissing while driving is a good illustration as to why the mother should refrained from distributing. HOWEVER. Being that women are much much much better at multi-tasking than men I am thankful that it was a woman in this situation and not the childs father.
 
papaspicy said:
My parish has two priests, one deacon, nearly 10,000 parishioners, and six Sunday masses averaging over 1,000 at each one. Without the EMHC, think what would happen to our parish: communion would take an hour to distribute, so the choir would have to fill the time with songs, and with the desire not to repeat all the time, they would probably end up trying some not-so-orthodox music. Then with mass lasting over two hours (already it is typically an hour, twenty), the whole schedule would have to change… I guess what I am saying is that I am glad we have our eight to ten EMHC per mass. I don’t want to do away with them, but I do want them to act properly, hence my coming to y’all for discussion.
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If the Mass is largely attended then the Eucharist should only be distributed in the communion host. NOT MY personal opinion please refer to REDEMPTIONIS SACREMENTUM on this one. It mentions that when numbers are to large then the precious blood should not be offered.
 
What was she supposed to do with the baby? Hang it from a coathanger? When it comes to EMHCs, people tend to get all upset really easy. I don’t have a problem with the lady and the baby.
 
As an EMHC, I must say, I woudl think to ask your priest on this one.
I know of a EMHC that had a young child, she would attend mass with her mother or a friend who would hold the child ( wear the sling as she also had one) while dispersing Communion.

As for EMHC, I wish and pray some day we will not need us, as we will have enough priest and deacons to do what we do. However, We have one Priest and one deacon in my parish, and over 3,000 families. So for the time being, we are needed.

But as I earlier stated, if this disturbs you, and it worries me of the child was to shift what would happen to the Body or Blood, I encourage you to speak to your Priest on the matter.
 
davy39 said:
What was she supposed to do with the baby? Hang it from a coathanger? When it comes to EMHCs, people tend to get all upset really easy. I don’t have a problem with the lady and the baby.
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As a EMHC, I feel to much information is not available to provide an adequate response to the OP. Was she the only EMHC available? Was this her only option, serving with the child? Was her husband in attendance, but their custom is that woman manage their children? I find it unacceptable; however, the priest most likely approved.
 
decn2b said:
If the Mass is largely attended then the Eucharist should only be distributed in the communion host. NOT MY personal opinion please refer to REDEMPTIONIS SACREMENTUM on this one. It mentions that when numbers are to large then the precious blood should not be offered.
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Absolutely.

And with 1000 in attendance, and perhaps 80% receiving…

that would be less than 300 per priest/deacon. At an altar rail (heaven forbid) one can distribute approximately 20/minute… 15 minutes, maybe even 20, but not for an hour…

That is approximately 8-10 minutes more that the current “procession” format… less in Churches with less attending.

How imposing to ask anyone to pray in thanksgiving for 10 minutes… for the greatest gift ever given.
 
papaspicy said:
I apologize for using the layman’s term for the position of the Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. (Wait, wait, wait… I mean the term most frequently used by the average Joe and Mary Catholic in reference to people who serve their community in this capacity, even if they aren’t perfectly catechized. I don’t want to start another semantic debate over the term layman… or laywoman-- layperson-- 😃 )

I should explain one aspect of my original question just a bit more. The woman in question is from, if I remember correctly, Burkina Faso. I guess at first I was shocked by what I was seeing, but then I began to wonder if being from a west African culture this was a normal thing for her to do. So that was really what prompted me to ask the forums about this in the first place. Would the baby sling be more acceptable to the norms of the Church in Africa?

My parish has two priests, one deacon, nearly 10,000 parishioners, and six Sunday masses averaging over 1,000 at each one. Without the EMHC, think what would happen to our parish: communion would take an hour to distribute, so the choir would have to fill the time with songs, and with the desire not to repeat all the time, they would probably end up trying some not-so-orthodox music. Then with mass lasting over two hours (already it is typically an hour, twenty), the whole schedule would have to change… I guess what I am saying is that I am glad we have our eight to ten EMHC per mass. I don’t want to do away with them, but I do want them to act properly, hence my coming to y’all for discussion.
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Almost 10,000 parishners, Wow. These parishes keep getting bigger and bigger. And over 6,000 attending Sunday Mass, again I’m impressed. The nationwide average is around 30% but I’ll accept your information, If you could though, could you let us know either the name of the Church or just the Diocese. I’m sure that others besides myself would be most interested in where this mega church is Not that I doubt the presented facts mind you, but I would really be interested in knowing the locations of this and other huge churches with such above average attendance.👍 .
 
Yea, decn2b, that wasn’t fair of me. I think we both know that Dubuque must be producing some concerned faithful catholics, even if they sometimes disagree.

Oh and congrats to you. I didn’t know you were in the diaconate program. Now your name makes sense to me (I thought it had something to do with December), and that’s why you were concerned greatly about your new bishop.
 
Actually this could make for an interesting meditation. I’ve seen images before with Jesus and/or Mary holding some sort of bird that symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ. Supposedly this bird will pluck flesh from it’s own breast so that it’s offspring do not starve. How neat that a mother would be holding her baby in a sling, close to her breast, while she “feeds” people with the Body of Christ.
 
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