Deacon at mass but not on altar Communion question

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Our Deacon attends weekday mass and sits with the congregation, then receives Communion with everyone else. He does not serve Communion. I would have thought that, as an Ordinary Minister, he would be serving the Precious Blood, rather than receiving it from an EMHC. It just seems odd to me, for an OM to receive from an EMHC, but perhaps it depends on whether he is “on duty”, so to speak? Is this OK or should he be serving?

I admit, I am concerned about how “Ordinary” “Extraordinary” has become…😉
 
Maybe ask why the Deacon is not up in the Sanctuary. I’m sure there’s a good reason for it.
 
I don’t find this Deacon very open to questions. No matter how I phrase the question, I think he’d feel criticized. I was hoping for an educated answer so I know if I’m dwelling on a non-issue.
 
Good question. I always wondered the same thing. Our deacon does this on Sunday Masses. If he isn’t giving the homily that Sunday he sits in the pew with the rest of us and I always wondered why he dosen’t vest just because he isn’t giving the homily.
 
As a deacon who is assigned to a parish with two other deacons. On weekdays if I attend Mass (I cannot very often because I am at work at the time of our weekday Mass) I do sit in the pew because Father prefers it that way. On weekends, I am on the altar (or “on duty” as you mentioned) one out of every three weekends. So the two weekends I am not “on duty” and I sit in the pew with my wife who is very happy to have her husband next to her during a Mass. When I am assisting Father I serve as a minister of the Precious Blood as that is a deacon’s primary responsibility or service. In my parish we deacons are only scheduled to give give the homily once a quarter so we assist at the altar much more often than we preach. Since there is always one deacon assisting and in addition to the priest and deacon we use 10 Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at every Mass our pastor feels that those of us deacons who are not “on duty” should attend Mass with our families. So that is what we do.

I am sadden by your comment that you feel your deacon is not open to questions, some deacons sometimes feel like they are “put on the spot” with very deep theological questions and would prefer to research or take time to answer such a question. But I think in this case you should ask - because you may find out he will answer this question with “That how our pastor prefers it” like in my case.
 
pigpen said:
Our Deacon attends weekday mass and sits with the congregation, then receives Communion with everyone else. He does not serve Communion. I would have thought that, as an Ordinary Minister, he would be serving the Precious Blood, rather than receiving it from an EMHC. It just seems odd to me, for an OM to receive from an EMHC, but perhaps it depends on whether he is “on duty”, so to speak? Is this OK or should he be serving?

I admit, I am concerned about how “Ordinary” “Extraordinary” has become…😉
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Oooh. You wouldn’t like one of the priest at our college. When he’s not celebrating Mass, he’s often sitting in the pews (both Sundays and weekdays). We have 4 Masses on the weekend (1 Saturday evening and 3 Sunday), so I’ve no doubt that he’s probably celebrating at least 1, and we have 4 (soon to be 5) priests. He’s a religious too.
 
curlycool89 said:
Oooh. You wouldn’t like one of the priest at our college. When he’s not celebrating Mass, he’s often sitting in the pews (both Sundays and weekdays). We have 4 Masses on the weekend (1 Saturday evening and 3 Sunday), so I’ve no doubt that he’s probably celebrating at least 1, and we have 4 (soon to be 5) priests. He’s a religious too.
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Well in the case of a priest, it’s different, because they should only celebrate (or con celebrate) a certain number of times each day.
 
A deacon is a deacon all the time…there is no such thing as on duty or off duty for one who has been ordained.
 
Freddy_Medina said:
As a deacon who is assigned to a parish with two other deacons. On weekdays if I attend Mass (I cannot very often because I am at work at the time of our weekday Mass) I do sit in the pew because Father prefers it that way. On weekends, I am on the altar (or “on duty” as you mentioned) one out of every three weekends. So the two weekends I am not “on duty” and I sit in the pew with my wife who is very happy to have her husband next to her during a Mass. When I am assisting Father I serve as a minister of the Precious Blood as that is a deacon’s primary responsibility or service. In my parish we deacons are only scheduled to give give the homily once a quarter so we assist at the altar much more often than we preach. Since there is always one deacon assisting and in addition to the priest and deacon we use 10 Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at every Mass our pastor feels that those of us deacons who are not “on duty” should attend Mass with our families. So that is what we do.

I am sadden by your comment that you feel your deacon is not open to questions, some deacons sometimes feel like they are “put on the spot” with very deep theological questions and would prefer to research or take time to answer such a question. But I think in this case you should ask - because you may find out he will answer this question with “That how our pastor prefers it” like in my case.
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Deacon Freddie; your place at Mass as an ordained deacon is at the altar, no matter what “father prefers”. One who is ordained to serve should serve not sit in the pew.
 
Ok, I have a question here:

Two Masses I was at recently -
in one, there were 2 priests. 1 priest was there on time and celebrated Mass; the other was supposed to concelebrate but arrived late and so sat in the pews. He arrived around the 1st reading/psalm time (in a weekday Mass). He asked me to minister instead of him.

In the other, one priest celebrated the Mass. It was a Sunday in a parish attached to a religious community. At the Agnus Dei, 4 other priests appeared and ministered. They had not been in the church before that time, they came in through the sacristry. They then stayed at Mass until the end but did not process out.

Was either of these correct? I’d just like to know to further my own understanding of how it all works from a technical point of view, I’m not intending to complain to the priests, nor to anyone else for that matter. I’m just interested in what the rubrics have to say about this sort of thing.

There are other situations where it is more clear cut. E.g. I work for the diocese so I know most of the priests quite well. One of them regularly comes to Saturday morning Mass in our parish (not his) and sits in the congregation. He then goes to confession afterwards. He doesn’t wear clerical dress or identify himself in any way as a priest, it’s just that I happen to know him, most of the congregation probably don’t. In that case, since he evidently does not want to minister, I feel happy with me or another lay person (usually a sister) taking over. Any comments?
 
Batfink said:
Two Masses I was at recently - in one, there were 2 priests. 1 priest was there on time and celebrated Mass; the other was supposed to concelebrate but arrived late and so sat in the pews. He arrived around the 1st reading/psalm time (in a weekday Mass). He asked me to minister instead of him.

In the other, one priest celebrated the Mass. It was a Sunday in a parish attached to a religious community. At the Agnus Dei, 4 other priests appeared and ministered. They had not been in the church before that time, they came in through the sacristry. They then stayed at Mass until the end but did not process out.

Was either of these correct? I’d just like to know to further my own understanding of how it all works from a technical point of view, I’m not intending to complain to the priests, nor to anyone else for that matter. I’m just interested in what the rubrics have to say about this sort of thing.

There are other situations where it is more clear cut. E.g. I work for the diocese so I know most of the priests quite well. One of them regularly comes to Saturday morning Mass in our parish (not his) and sits in the congregation. He then goes to confession afterwards. He doesn’t wear clerical dress or identify himself in any way as a priest, it’s just that I happen to know him, most of the congregation probably don’t. In that case, since he evidently does not want to minister, I feel happy with me or another lay person (usually a sister) taking over. Any comments?
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If a priest is present in the building at the time of the Communion Rite, he should be helping to distribute Holy Communion, in preference of any lay person, regardless of whether he was there for the entire Mass or not.

So the second Mass was more correct, although I’m wondering, did the priests who came in only to administer Holy Communion stay in the sanctuary as the main celebrant processed out? If so, were they busy (perhaps purifying vessels)?

In the third Mass, that priest should still be distributing Holy Communion in preference to a lay person.

Nevertheless, none of this is your fault. You might want to talk to the pastor about the first Mass. The man in the third Mass obviously does not want to be recognized; he’s probably just getting a jump on the confession line. Perhaps you might like to let the pastor know that there is a priest in the congregation, and would he like to distribute Holy Communion?
 
pigpen said:
I don’t find this Deacon very open to questions. No matter how I phrase the question, I think he’d feel criticized. I was hoping for an educated answer so I know if I’m dwelling on a non-issue.
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don’t ask the deacon, ask the pastor, as it is undoubtedly his preference. Why put the deacon on the spot?
 
Spirithound said:
So the second Mass was more correct, although I’m wondering, did the priests who came in only to administer Holy Communion stay in the sanctuary as the main celebrant processed out? If so, were they busy (perhaps purifying vessels)?

In the third Mass, that priest should still be distributing Holy Communion in preference to a lay person.

You might want to talk to the pastor about the first Mass. The man in the third Mass obviously does not want to be recognized. Perhaps you might like to let the pastor know that there is a priest in the congregation, and would he like to distribute Holy Communion?
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In the second Mass, the principal celebrant purified the vessels himself before the Prayer After Communion. The other priests just sat in the sanctuary (& stood for the Final Blessing) until the procession had ended then came down and greeted people.

In the third Mass, the pastor knows very well that the priest is in the congregation but does not want to be identified. It is a small parish and the weekday Masses are attended by no more than 20 people, so he can easily see him (and they obviously know each other). I suppose I could say something all the same, but it might seem like poking my nose in when both priests present know the score. I might try to think of a way to bring it up casually and politely.

The first Mass is more difficult since it is in a school, not a parish. There is no pastor in overall control, just the visiting priests who come in to say Mass and help out. I could be a bit more forceful that he should go up, not me, and see if he really insisted on it.
 
ciero said:
Deacon Freddie; your place at Mass as an ordained deacon is at the altar, no matter what “father prefers”. One who is ordained to serve should serve not sit in the pew.
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I am a deacon candidate in formation. The topic of the deacons role at Mass has come up quite a bit. We have been told that a deacon is to perform his ministry at the altar at the parish he has been assigned to. The Proclaiming of the Gospel and as the ordinary minister of communion is the proper role during the litrugy for the parish deacon at all Masses he is present at. The deacon is the sacramental sign of Christ the servant. Therefore it is essential for his role in the liturgy be visibly connected with his visible role of service and charity. By sitting in the pew the deacon is not fully displaying his connection with word, altar and charity. Eliminating serving at the altar the deacon is diminishing what he has been ordained to. If a priest does not like it then the priest must remember that it is not his personal mass AND the deacon works for the bishop.
 
I’ve been taught that any clergy that is not assigned to a particular mass can and does have the right to sit in the pews. Deacons in particular who have families do this because they are also married. They set an example in the pew too, even though they are clergy. Personally, I’d prefer they serve at least once and then we need to realize that even priest take vacation and are not required, but permitted to say mass daily. They are encouraged to say mass daily, but it is not required.

I asked this at our pre-diaconate class once.
 
PbloPicasso said:
I’ve been taught that any clergy that is not assigned to a particular mass can and does have the right to sit in the pews. Deacons in particular who have families do this because they are also married. They set an example in the pew too, even though they are clergy. Personally, I’d prefer they serve at least once and then we need to realize that even priest take vacation and are not required, but permitted to say mass daily. They are encouraged to say mass daily, but it is not required.

I asked this at our pre-diaconate class once.
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Yes, but they should not be sitting in the pews while EMHCs are distributing, as the op implied. Remember the purpose of EMHCs: To assist when enough ordinary ministers (clergy) are not available.

So even if they don’t assist the whole Mass from the sancuary, if they are there, they should replace an EMHC, even if they don’t vest up in alb, stole and dalmatic, or cassock, surplice, stole.
 
TheMc said:
Yes, but they should not be sitting in the pews while EMHCs are distributing, as the op implied. Remember the purpose of EMHCs: To assist when enough ordinary ministers (clergy) are not available.

So even if they don’t assist the whole Mass from the sancuary, if they are there, they should replace an EMHC, even if they don’t vest up in alb, stole and dalmatic, or cassock, surplice, stole.
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If they are on vacation or want to sit with their families they have that right. I believe too many people are overly upset with the idea of EMHCs. My point is that they have a right to do this if they desire. And if they are not in their own diocese they do not have a right at all.
 
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