Blessings from EMHCs

[DebChris]

So we all agree then. EMHC’s CANNOT give blessings during Mass to anyone in the Communion line.

I would not say that we all agree. I follow the instruction I have been given. That same instruction comes from the diocesan level. The bishop of the first diocese in which I was commissioned is well known for his orthodoxy. Annual training assures each extraordinary minister follows the same protocol.
Do we really have a right to deny somebody a blessing? Is that person not seeking Christ whom he/she may not yet be able to receive in the Eucharist? Did Jesus not admonish those who would keep anybody from approaching Him? Is it not the Lord, rather than the individual, who is the true giver of the blessing? Does the EMCH not answer directly and obediently to the priest whom he/she assists?
I currently live in the Bible Belt. Conversations commonly end with “Have a blessed day.”
I have not always lived in a part of the country in which people receive blessings from one another on a regular, let alone daily basis. That blessing received on Sunday may be the only blessing the person receives. I see bishops making a pastoral decision allowing, even encouraging the continuation of a practice that has already shown evangelical success in leading individuals to the Catholic Church, or helping those who feel alienated from past experiences back to the Church which Christ established. Should the person who seeks a blessing not be strengthened in his/her search for God?

 

[Seatuck]

I would not say that we all agree. I follow the instruction I have been given. That same instruction comes from the diocesan level. The bishop of the first diocese in which I was commissioned is well known for his orthodoxy. Annual training assures each extraordinary minister follows the same protocol.
Do we really have a right to deny somebody a blessing? Is that person not seeking Christ whom he/she may not yet be able to receive in the Eucharist? Did Jesus not admonish those who would keep anybody from approaching Him? Is it not the Lord, rather than the individual, who is the true giver of the blessing? Does the EMCH not answer directly and obediently to the priest whom he/she assists?
I currently live in the Bible Belt. Conversations commonly end with “Have a blessed day.”
I have not always lived in a part of the country in which people receive blessings from one another on a regular, let alone daily basis. That blessing received on Sunday may be the only blessing the person receives. I see bishops making a pastoral decision allowing, even encouraging the continuation of a practice that has already shown evangelical success in leading individuals to the Catholic Church, or helping those who feel alienated from past experiences back to the Church which Christ established. Should the person who seeks a blessing not be strengthened in his/her search for God?

That person receives a blessing from the Priest at the end of Mass. We shouldn’t minimize that blessing .

 

[DebChris]

That person receives a blessing from the Priest at the end of Mass. We shouldn’t minimize that blessing .

I am not minimizing the blessing that the congregation receives at the end of Mass. Nor do I minimize the sign of the cross as we bless ourselves upon entering the church for Mass.