Do you avoid female Extraordinary Ministers Of the Holy Eucharist?

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So I should go to confession and recieve the sacrament from aunt betty from down the street??

How 'bout when my daughter gets married, I can have her CCD teacher officiate instead of the priest???

When my newborn is to be baptized, I’ll let my mother do it??

:confused:
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Good Grief!!! This does not even warrant an answer.
 
Brendan’s point related to the grace of the validly confected sacrament. Your issue is with the distribution of the Eucharist, not the consecration of it.

From the CCC:
1127
Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify.48 They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. The Father always hears the prayer of his Son’s Church which, in the epiclesis of each sacrament, expresses her faith in the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is subjected to his power.

1128
This is the meaning of the Church’s affirmation49 that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: “by the very fact of the action’s being performed”), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that "the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God."50 From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

Your arguments are not relavent to the question. No one is proposing that the Eucharist be confected by “aunt betty down the street”. The question falls to whether the grace imparted by the sacrament depends upon the minister who distributes that validly-confected sacrament to the faithful.

The CCC does not seem to support your contention that you receive more graces from the Eucharist if it is distributed by an ordained minister rather than from a lay minister.

I don’t support the unnecessary use of EMHC’s, and I may find receiving from a priest to be more symbolic or more supportive of my personal piety, but since the church permits EMHCs to distribute communion, I don’t feel I am receiving less of the Eucharist when I receive it from them.
 
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OhioBob:
…Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them. (CCC 1128)…
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I know it’s weird to reply to your own posts, but I got to thinking about that last part of CCC 1128…

The Church teaches that grace that you receive from a sacrament does depend upon the disposition of the receiver. Depending upon your attitudes driving the “line jumping” choices, I can see where there actually might be more grace imparted through receiving from an EMHC without bias or uncharitable thought than a judgemental attitude leading to line jumping to receive from the priest.

Just one of those things that makes you think… :hmmm:
 
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pnewton:
I do not buy the slippery slope arguement either. Women will never be priests. Period.
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The problem is that, though women may never be priests, many women think they will, so the slippery slope isn’t leading to women priests, its leading to dissension and possibly schism.

One interesting note, I’ve read an article (can’t remember where now) saying that with the advent of women in the sanctuary as EMHC’s lectors, altar servers, the perception of men as spiritual leaders of their households has diminished, leading to more families with mom and the kids in the pews. Any thoughts?
 
…i do remember when we first used “female” ministers of eucharist… i thought it was strange, but i don’ ever remember making a conscious decision to avoid…

I do prefer to take from the priest whenever i can, regardless of the gender ot the Extra-Ordinary Eucharist Minister…

Peace!👍
 
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snoopy:
Good Grief!!! This does not even warrant an answer.
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Good grief, of course it does, and OhioBob thoughtfully did.

Thanks, OhioBob.

I am just vigilant about those (not you) who continually undermine the importance of the priest, the altar, etc in the name of inclusiveness or ecumenicism. That’s all. I was being absurd to illustrate the bottom of the slippery slope. Does that make sense??
 
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Brendan:
I generally avoid EMHC’s in general, regardless of their sex. If I have the opportunity, I will choose to sit in a pew that will be ministered by a priest or deacon.
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Our priest keeps switching sides, I think, in part, so that we don’t try to juggle our seating. I wish he’d train the EMHC’s better for those receiving on the tongue. What do you do when the EMHC is under 5’ tall and you’re 5’8"? In the past I’ve kind of crouched, but it feels pretty undignified. :o Another reason to go to the priest.
 
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jlw:
…When my newborn is to be baptized, I’ll let my mother do it??
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Actually, as far as your newborn’s soul is concerned, that would be fine if Mom was Catholic…

:cool:
 
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jlw:
…I am just vigilant about those (not you) who continually undermine the importance of the priest, the altar, etc in the name of inclusiveness or ecumenicism. That’s all. I was being absurd to illustrate the bottom of the slippery slope. Does that make sense??
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Sure it does. And I figured that you were just trying to make a point. 😉

I certainly think EMHCs are overdone in a lot of places. In our church we probably wouldn’t use them at all if we didn’t offer Communion under both kinds. Since we have no Deacon, that requires a couple of EMHCs to handle the chalices.

Would I prefer to see only ordained ministers distributing the Eucharist? Sure I would. Do I wish that more boys would step up as servers, EMHCs and recognized vocations? Sure I do. But as long as the Church recognizes EMHCs to distribute the Eucharist, I don’t see a diminishing of the grace that I receive from the sacrament by receiving from them - I just get in the nearest line and thank God for the privilege.

I don’t think it is fair to blame all the ills of the church on the presence of women in the sanctuary. If men are choosing to forgo vocations, abdicate their role in the family and stay at home on the couch while their wives and children go to church alone, that is our problem. Women aren’t driving us away, we are more than able to turn away all by ourselves. And the solution is building a more active, faith-filled community of men in the Church.

Man up, brothers. :cool:
 
A overlooked question, who is assisting the EMHC’s Priests Deacons with distributing both species of communion ?

Who is there to catch particles of the Body and drops of the Blood if there is a small accident ?

Nobody… at least in my Church, they are all distributing and the usual 2 altar servers are sitting or …

james
 
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ames61:
At our 8:00 mass we have NINE EMHC’s + priest serving to 350-400 people. Seems excessive to me. Probably 75% of our EMHC’s and 75% of our altar servers are female. I’ve been to masses where every minister, (lector, cantor, EMHC and altar server) was female. And we wonder why our boys aren’t dreaming of growing up to be priests!?!?!?
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I think you are absolutely right on this… i am Master of Ceremonies at our church, and most of the servers are girls- i think they like to dress up. I do think women ahve a wonderful place in the church, as shown by the Virgin mary and by all the nuns, but… altar servers are supposed to be trainee priests and how can that work?

seems to be= girl altar servers (1980s)= women priests (2000s)

**and we wonder why our boys aren’t dreaming of growing up to be priests!?!?!? **i am!
 
Yes, I do, and I make no apology. Especially when one of them sees fit to come to Mass wearing a t-shirt (with large writing on it), spandex pants, and really out-of-place shoes.

At our parish we have a priest whose metal chalice is shaped like a martini glass. (If that’s not a classic case of stupid design, I don’t know what is.)

For weekday Mass – which typically have between 20 and 40 parishioners in attendance – he uses… not one, not two, but THREE Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Two of them administer chalices, and the other administers hosts. So only half of those receiving the Eucharist at those Masses will receive from the priest.

Never mind the fact that, a month after the passing of our dearly beloved John Paul II, our priest still cannot remember the Pope’s name. (Which suggests that he’s not as attentive as he should be to what he’s doing.)
 
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MAGDALENE27:
I Would Like To Share With You My Experience As A Female Em. Our Priest Is Disabled And Is Unable To
Distribute Holy Communion. So We Have Em’s At
Our Masses. We Do Have A Deacon Who Is Always
At A Mass, But He Can Not Be At All Of Them.

As An Em, I Have Learned So Much This Year. It Is
My Joy To Be Able To Give Our Lord To His People
At Mass. I Can Not Describe The Reverence That
People Who Come Up To Me Show For Him. The Love In Their Eyes Is Inspiring. It Is Truly My Privledge To
Do This. I Did Not Want To At First, I Still Do Feel
“un Worthy”. Believe Me, I Do Not Have Any
Ambitions To Be A Priest, And I Do Not Even Begin To
Think That Women Should Be Ordained.

It Saddens Me To See How Some People Feel About
Em’s. Even Before I Became One, I Still Went To
Who Ever Was There. It Does Not Matter Who We
Receive Our Lord From, As Long As We Humbly
And Reverently Receive Him.
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Well, they are called “Extraordinary” for a reason. Sometimes a good reason actually exists. But not often enough to justify their extensive employment.

And why do you capitalize every word?
 
I receive Communion on the tongue and I try to be in a priest’s line. Why? Because a while back right here on this board an EMHC was griping about people receiving on the tongue and how it was inevitable he/she would eventually get spit on his/her hand…so it made me paranoid and now I try to always be in the priest’s line. If I do end up in an EMHC line, I’m not certain I’d receive on the tongue and just may stick my hands out.

And there is something about receiving from consecrated hands…

Penitent
 
I only take the Eucharist from Priests,Deacons or Bishops. I don’t think its right for laymen to touch the body of our Lord.
 
Sorry about the capitalization! I had my caps lock on and did not realize it was posting that way!:o
 
GET REAL PEOPLE!!! OBVIOUSLY NONE OF YOU LIVE IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS WHERE THE PRIEST SHORTAGE IS REALLY SHOWING. WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR PARISH WHEN THE PASTOR AND ONLY PRIEST IS SICK AND WE HAVE A COMMUNION SERVICE AND A DEACON HAS TO RUN ALL OVER TOWN TO FIND CONSECRATED HOSTS???EXCUSE ME BUT IN OUR AREA WE DON’T HAVE EXTRA PRIESTS, BISHOPS ETC. STANDING AROUND WAITING TO SERVE AS EMS OR EVEN TO SAY MASS WHEN THERE IS AN EMERGENCY. ANY OF YOU EVER HEAR OF THE PRIEST SHORTAGE!!! BELIEVE ME, IT IS FOR REAL BECAUSE IT IS IN THIS AREA… SOME OF YOU SEEM TO BE JUST A TAD SPOILED!!!
 
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rcn:
You have an incorrect understanding, and deny the authority of the Church to regulate matters of discipline. These are bigger issues than worrying about “whose hands are consecrated.”
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You would make a very god Mormon, as you seem to define your faith by your feelings.
 
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Teelynn:
GET REAL PEOPLE!!! OBVIOUSLY NONE OF YOU LIVE IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS WHERE THE PRIEST SHORTAGE IS REALLY SHOWING. WHAT HAPPENS IN YOUR PARISH WHEN THE PASTOR AND ONLY PRIEST IS SICK AND WE HAVE A COMMUNION SERVICE AND A DEACON HAS TO RUN ALL OVER TOWN TO FIND CONSECRATED HOSTS???EXCUSE ME BUT IN OUR AREA WE DON’T HAVE EXTRA PRIESTS, BISHOPS ETC. STANDING AROUND WAITING TO SERVE AS EMS OR EVEN TO SAY MASS WHEN THERE IS AN EMERGENCY. ANY OF YOU EVER HEAR OF THE PRIEST SHORTAGE!!! BELIEVE ME, IT IS FOR REAL BECAUSE IT IS IN THIS AREA… SOME OF YOU SEEM TO BE JUST A TAD SPOILED!!!
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Well, there you go …you ACTUALLY have an extraordinary situation, so Emc’s seems necessary.

But in some parishes, when a whole basketball team of people run up to the altar to “help” the celebrant minister 100 people, I’m sorry, but that is NOT an extraordinary circumstance.

We’ve heard of the “priest shortage”, but have you heard of the “rediculous emc surplus”???
 
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