Dealing With Irreverence

[Jegudiel]

Your posting deserves a thorough response:

My background is SSPX/sedevacantist. It has not been easy for me to keep with the Church without backsliding and returning to either one of the two chapels.

Leaving the Catholic Church for any number of sedevacantist fellowships is never a solution. Not ever.

This past Sunday, my husband and I witnessed something that disturbed the both of us greatly. Two EMs went up to the tabernacle to get Hosts to bring to the homebound. Neither one genuflected or made any act of reverence. After they opened the tabernacle, they proceeded to talk to one another as one was taking Hosts out of the Ciborium and putting Them in her pyx. The conversation went on for longer than five minutes. One of the EMs was leaning up against the tabernacle and had her elbow rested on the cloth that is kept there (presumably in case any particles fall) like she was at a bar. Finally, they finished their discussion and walked away.

My question is: when people here see things like this, how do you handle it without becoming unduly upset and use something like this to your spiritual advantage?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

1.) Pray for them. Never cease this effort.

2.) Very diplomatically ask them why they do what they do. They might not realize what they are doing is wrong and you may just wake them up to the fact of their horrid behavior.

3.) If nothing comes of your conversation, have a chat with your pastor or send him and e-mail or informal note. Then, unless they are profaning the Eucharist, let go and be at peace. You have done your duty. Now focus on ignoring them and praying for them.

One very important thing that some don’t realize is you becoming upset is on you. They shouldn’t act the way they are but you shouldn’t be getting angry either. I struggle mightly with those I cannot tune-out. The [edited] people who sit behind me and talk loudly before, during and after Mass. The [edited] who loudly adds words to the Lord’s Prayer after I asked him nicely and in private not to, simply because he needs attention. The [edited] who loudly spews ejaculatory prayers during the Mass to bring attention to himself. Both are lectors and EMsHC by the way. Those are the types that challenge me.

 

[Anna_Claire]

Then they should NEVER have been commissioned as EMsHC. Speaking off the cuff I think EMsHC need at least a dozen hours of classroom training and practicum before they are commissioned.

How did you come up with “…at least a dozen hours”?
Guidelines for forming and training communion ministers come from the diocese. If you know better about this, put together a program and send it to your local diocesan Office for Worship.

 

[Anna_Claire]

Pondering this a bit I think a huge problem (at least in my parish) are the type and caliber of people that are recruited/attracted to be EMsHC and Lectors. While less so with lectors, reverent people last about 2-3 months as EMsHC before they leave because they don’t want to be part of the problem.

That ministry here locally is deeply inbred with a terrible bunker mentality because others do complain about some of their antics.

Are you a good judge of " caliber" regarding your fellow parishioners ? Then you ought to look at the list of recruits and advise the pastor. Seriously?

 

[HonoraDominum]

I have never been to an SSPX or Sedevacantist/Schismatic chapel’s mass. However, irreverence to the Blessed Sacrament was a huge reason why I moved to an FSSP parish. At my parish, no one but a Priest or ordained transitional Deacon from the FSSP seminary ever touches the hosts. And no one touches the sacred vessels other than the Priests or the sacristan with gloved hands. One of the most touching things I ever saw was the priest training the altar boys. He was dashing back and forth from one side of the altar to the other, but every single time he walked past the tabernacle, he genuflected. Even the men who were buffing the floor a few weeks ago in the chapel would buff one direction, get to the center, stop, genuflect, and then keep going.

That being said, I’m going under the assumption that you’ve commited to this parish due to location or lack of FSSP or other EF parishes in your area loyal to the magisterium. Sometimes a person simply has to bloom where they are planted, and make change from within instead of taking your ball and going home. As others have stated, I also recommend praying for these Extraordinary Ministers, that they may realize Who they are handling and the awesome magnitude of the responsibility given to them.

Secondly, I would recommend eucharistic adoration in reparation for sins and coldness shown towards Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. I do this often when I am in an OF parish whose priests or parishioners are showing an exceptionally large amount of irreverence towards the sacrament. I will find a way to do a little extra penance, like kneel without kneelers on the wood floor, or say Hail Marys as an offering specifically in reparation to the Sacred Heart. When I was on vacation this Fall, I spent almost an hour after a Mass in prayer as a sacrifice to God in reparation for the coldness and lack of awareness that seemed to permiate that particular parish. Acts of devotion to the Sacred Heart are particularly fruitful in this regard.

Thirdly, I would pray for humility and the acceptance of God’s will, especially in times where it feels like the whole world is conspiring to show irreverance towards the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Catholic Church. I know this is a weakness I suffer from greatly - accepting the will of God with humility and gratitude. God wills everything to happen, even the really bad stuff, for our own sanctification. Accepting this will can bring great peace. Sitting in front of the Sacrament seething because everyone around you seems to not have the grace you have been blessed with to know whose company you are keeping is not going to make you holy. However, acts of love, combined with acts of acceptance that this is God’s will for you to witness, will bring that peace that you seem to be lacking. If you can make a change, like writing the priest and asking with love that the issue is addressed, that’s fantastic. But if that doesn’t work, unless you accept these actions, and your witnessing of them, as the will of God, you will never be able to find that peaceful place where God can reside in you.

You and your parish will be in my prayers. Remember always the words of Christ as he greeted his apostles after his resurrection - “Peace be to you.”

 

[englishredrose]

I think that I would speak to the priest/pastor about what you saw and how it made you feel. Ring up and make an appointment to see them. Don’t discuss it over the phone. I think its important to do so face to face.

 

[Jegudiel]

How did you come up with “…at least a dozen hours”?
Guidelines for forming and training communion ministers come from the diocese. If you know better about this, put together a program and send it to your local diocesan Office for Worship.

Admittedly it was off the cuff. Maybe it should be far longer? Any program should cover basic catechesis and how to comport oneself in addition to learning the mechanics of being an EMHC. I also think there needs to be some level of “commitment” in terms of paying one’s dues. If (for example) 12 hours turns some people away then that’s probably a good thing.

In addition to all their other duties, EMsHC really need to be beyond reproach in those they execute their ministry, particularly in a public, liturgical setting. It takes a bit of time to impart that into someone.

If I (or anyone outside of the circle) offered (name removed by moderator)ut on EMHC training, we would (and have) been ignored.

 

[Jegudiel]

Are you a good judge of " caliber" regarding your fellow parishioners ? Then you ought to look at the list of recruits and advise the pastor. Seriously?

Well, I can certain observe things that make me wonder. EMsHC putting pyxes containing the Blessed Sacrament in their back pocks as if they were cans of chewing tobacco.

People who cannot stand-up without a cane so they lean against a railing because it’s their “right” to distribute communion and to heck with the safety of the Blessed sacrament.

People who complain about having to place hosts on peoples’ tongues largely because their hands shake so badly.

People who continually wear questionable clothing (revealing cocktail dresses, shorts, sweats, etc.) while distributing communion despite pleas not to.

I can go on and on.