Communion Service

[NECatholic]

This morning I planned to attend Morning Mass (this is Monday). At the time the Mass was to begin, out came the Eucharist minister…alone. He made an announcement that he would be conducting a “communion service” instead of Father celebrating Mass.

The days readings were read by a congregant followed by the eucharist minister reading the Gospel and reading Father’s written sermon. What went on after that I do not know, because I left. The whole thing made me feel so uncomfortable and not at all that this is something Catholic.

Is this some new “invention”? I do not find any mention of this type of service in the Cathechism of the Catholic Church. Is the eucharist minister even ALLOWED to read the Gospel? Am I completely out of line? I love my faith (read traditional/orthodox Catholic) and the Mass. Souldn’t our priest…or every priest for that matter…delegate non-priestly duties in order that he ensure his availabliity to celebrate Mass?

 

[arnulf]

This scenario is going to become much more common in the future due ot the shortage of priests. Yes, it is permitted, as long as it is done in accordance with an official book which gives the procedure for conducting communion services in the absence of priests. We have been doing this in our parish on the priest’s day off for several years.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Yes this wold be allowed if necessary. I do not believe that a Communion service should take the place of a non-obligated Mass. In may opinion Communion services should only take place when Mass cannot be celebrated on Sundays and Holy Days.

My first reaction would be; gow do you know that he was attending to someone who was dying or seriously ill in the hospital? How do you know that he was not injured or ill?

The Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion should have stated why (in general) he would be conducting a “communion service” instead of Father celebrating Mass.

There is a document issued by the USCCB on celebration of Communion services.

 

[BrianDay]

All of the priests in our parish went on retreat with our Bishop last week (Diocese of Orange in California). Last Sunday the priest announced that on Tues - Thur of that week, communion services were scheduled in lieu of the scheduled daily Masses.

It does seem that communion services instead of weekday Masses do occur at other times also. So it does seem to be normative. I would be interested if week day communion services are appropriate.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I think that replacing weekday Mass with a Communion service for whatever reason leads people to begin to look at the Communion service as a subsitiute for and equal to the Mass.

 

[LindaS]

I believe that Communion services, conducted by an EME are appropriate when a priest is not available. When this has happened to me, it is generally announced why the Communion service is held instead of the scheduled Mass, eg Father is ill.

Peace,
Linda

 

[Dolly]

Br. Rich SFO:

I think that replacing weekday Mass with a Communion service for whatever reason leads people to begin to look at the Communion service as a subsitiute for and equal to the Mass.

I don’t believe I can agree with such a general statement. I have been under the assumption that a Communion service is allowed when the pastor believes there is a need for it. Am I wrong to assume that?

I have never looked at any communion service I have been at as a substitute for and equal to the Mass. And I don’t believe anyone else that I know of, especially those who attend daily Mass, have ever thought that way.

One other thought, there are many parishes in this country, many in rural, less populated areas, in which there is no opportunity for weekday masses to be held. Maybe we should ask the people living in that type of situation whether they believe that there should never be weekday communion services.

 

[DrSharkey]

This is an old post, so I don’t know if anybody will reply.

I know it’s a mortal sin to skip Sunday Mass without a valid, significant reason. Does this apply to communion services?

 

[Claire_from_DE]

This is an old post, so I don’t know if anybody will reply.

I know it’s a mortal sin to skip Sunday Mass without a valid, significant reason. Does this apply to communion services?

No, the obligation does not apply to communion services. If there is no mass available the obligation to attend mass does not apply. One is free to attend a communion service if one wishes but it isn’t required.

 

[MarkThompson]

This is an old post, so I don’t know if anybody will reply.

I know it’s a mortal sin to skip Sunday Mass without a valid, significant reason. Does this apply to communion services?

No. If you have no Mass available, but only a communion service, there’s no obligation to go to the communion service. It’s not a “substitute Mass,” despite what some would like people to think.

 

[benedictgal]

This is an old post, so I don’t know if anybody will reply.

I know it’s a mortal sin to skip Sunday Mass without a valid, significant reason. Does this apply to communion services?

Here is what Redemptionis Sacramentum states about Communon Services:

1. Particular Celebrations carried out in the Absence of a Priest
   [164.] “If participation at the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible on account of the absence of a sacred minister or for some other grave cause”,269 then it is the Christian people’s right that the diocesan Bishop should provide as far as he is able for some celebration to be held on Sundays for that community under his authority and according to the Church’s norms. Sunday celebrations of this specific kind, however, are to be considered altogether extraordinary. All Deacons or lay members of Christ’s faithful who are assigned a part in such celebrations by the diocesan Bishop should strive “to keep alive in the community a genuine ‘hunger’ for the Eucharist, so that no opportunity for the celebration of Mass will ever be missed, also taking advantage of the occasional presence of a Priest who is not impeded by Church law from celebrating Mass”.270

[165.] It is necessary to avoid any sort of confusion between this type of gathering and the celebration of theEucharist.271 The diocesan Bishops, therefore, should prudently discern whether Holy Communion ought to be distributed in these gatherings. The matter would appropriately be determined in view of a more ample co-ordination in the Bishops’ Conference, to be put into effect after the recognitio of the acts by the Apostolic See through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. It will be preferable, moreover, when both a Priest and a Deacon are absent, that the various parts be distributed among several faithful rather than having a single lay member of the faithful direct the whole celebration alone. Nor is it ever appropriate to refer to any member of the lay faithful as “presiding” over the celebration.

[166.] Likewise, especially if Holy Communion is distributed during such celebrations, the diocesan Bishop, to whose exclusive competence this matter pertains, must not easily grant permission for such celebrations to be held on weekdays, especially in places where it was possible or would be possible to have the celebration of Mass on the preceding or the following Sunday. Priests are therefore earnestly requested to celebrate Mass daily for the people in one of the churches entrusted to their care.

These Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest are not meant to satisfy the obligation, as indicated in Ecclesia de Mysterio:

1. It must be clearly understood that such celebrations are temporary solutions and the text used at them must be approved by the competent ecclesiastical authority.(92) The practice of inserting into such celebrations elements proper to the Holy Mass is prohibited. So as to avoid causing error in the minds of the faithful,(93) the use of the eucharistic prayers, even in narrative form, at such celebrations is forbidden. For the same reasons, it should be emphasised for the benefit of those participating, that such celebrations cannot substitute for the eucharistic Sacrifice and that the obligation to attend Mass on Sunday and Holy days is satisfied only by attendance at Holy Mass.(94) In cases where distance or physical conditions are not an obstacle, every effort should be made to encourage and assist the faithful to fulfil this precept.

Inascmuch as this is an old thread, one of the posters questioned what Brother Rich had written. No. 166 reiterates what Brother Rich posted. Thus, these “communion sevices” should not be happening in parishes where Sunday Mass is regularly celebrated. While the custom of daily Mass is certainly laudable, it is not a requirement.

 

[choy]

correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t Communion Service meant to substitute for Mass in cases that there is no priest, and there is no accessible Sunday Mass within a reasonable distance (1-2 hour drive perhaps?) or does this need dispensation from the Bishop? i can imagine remote towns who doesn’t have a priest available on a particular Sunday. or perhaps remote mission locations

 

[benedictgal]

correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t Communion Service meant to substitute for Mass in cases that there is no priest, and there is no accessible Sunday Mass within a reasonable distance (1-2 hour drive perhaps?) or does this need dispensation from the Bishop? i can imagine remote towns who doesn’t have a priest available on a particular Sunday. or perhaps remote mission locations

It does not satisfy the obligation, but, it’s an alternative. Please re-read what I posted from Ecclesia de Mysterio. But, it’s only for Sundays/Holy Days of Obligation, not for your regular weekday Mass.