EMHCs at weekday masses

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Swift? We all have to wait in the pews several minutes while 7-8 people ascend the altar, arrange themselves, receive communion under both forms, get chalices and Sacred Hosts, then descend to their places. In my parish, it is a wash as far as saving any time.
 
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anon64350612 said:
Swift? We all have to wait in the pews several minutes while 7-8 people ascend the altar, arrange themselves, receive communion under both forms, get chalices and Sacred Hosts, then descend to their places. In my parish, it is a wash as far as saving any time.
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I’m sorry that it isn’t an efficient arrangement at your parish. That has not been my experience.
 
twf said:
I can’t recall ever seeing EMHCs at daily masses unless it genuinely is a large crowd. Just strikes me as very odd. Two or three ministers for 40 people? Communion must take about 30 seconds :P.
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I know you weren’t being serious with the 30 seconds, but for those interested: The other day, the priest at daily Mass mentioned how there are usually 40-50 people at daily Mass. At Communion we have the priest and 3 EMHCs. The priest and 1 EMHC distribute the hosts. The other two EMHCs distribute the cup. I’d estimate it takes 3-5 minutes for Communion. I haven’t timed it, but it feels right. I will also note that the line for reception from the priest tends to be longer by about 5-10 people than from the EMHC so people who prefer receiving from the priest are definitely able to get the preference. And if we assumed 10 seconds per person with 25 in the priest line, that would be 250 seconds which would be 4 minutes 10 seconds.
I do want to have a shout out to one of those EMHCs. There’s a short older lady who regularly distributes and I have to say the joy of Christ is in her as she places the host into a person’s hands and says, “The Body of Christ.”. It’s always a positive note when I see her going up to the altar.
 
My thoughts exactly!! Let us all hope and pray he’s celebrating mass as a centenarian.
 
tafan2 said:
For what its worth, IMO, the question by the OP was legitimate, and there while some responses are ok, the simple dismissing of the question is why we end up with so many people attracted to such organizations as The Church Militant. A person sees something that seems slightly off, asks the question and no one bothers to give them a valid answer beyond “ask your priest” or “the GIRM allows it to be upto the discretion of the priest”, yet others post actual church documents that makes the question seem quite valid. It just causes people who question simple things to become more suspicious, and overtime they over react.
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So what do you think would be an appropriate response?

Should we lambaste the priest for his actions?

Should we vehemently agree that “something slightly off” is a gross liturgical abuse and the OP should immediately contact the bishop, or the Vatican?

What sort of response are we ordinary lay people and complete strangers on the internet supposed to give to prevent people from going to “organizations like Church Militant”?

Honestly, if someone asks questions here, and because they don’t like our responses they head on over to Church Militant, I guarantee you it ain’t because I gave the wrong answer. It’s because they had already put themselves above their priests and bishops and just wanted to hang out with like-minded people and scream about how they’re so much better than the Church leaders. 😱
 
A valid point would be giving possibilities why the priest may do so, providing actual quote from the GIRM (which was done later) which shows it is allowed. Just my opinion.
 
Zach said:
So you are saying the quotes and links I posted are worthless?
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No. Just that it’s the prudential judgment of the priest. (I mean, he can get it wrong, but still, it’s his call to make…!)
 
I see EMHCs at daily Masses, but Communion is usually being given in both forms so they need one or two people to hold the cup. It takes a long time to give the Precious Blood, and I’ve noticed some EMHCs slow down the process further by speaking very slowly or reverently raising the cup for each person; also in some of the older churches that have a very narrow aisle at the front, you need one EMHC holding a cup on each side of the Church because there is no good path for everyone to go to one side.
 
victrolatim said:
My home parish normally has 2 or so at daily mass for what I can tell are two reasons.
  1. There are a number of elderly people with mobility problems and it is easier for them to walk to someone closer to them than across the church to the center aisle.
  2. We have two retired priests who generally say the noon mass which I attend. One is physically able, but monsignor walks with a cane and is of advanced age (he is 97 and still offers mass of his own desire to do so).
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I see both of these situations a lot also. In addition to the priests over age 80, I have seen priests saying Mass with illnesses or injuries that make it difficult or even impossible for them to distribute Holy Communion. Just in my daily travels, I see one priest who is on a walker, one who just broke a hip, one who is so old he needs grab bars to get up and down the one step into the sanctuary, and one who has an unspecified illness and often needs to go sit down.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I see one priest who is on a walker, one who just broke a hip, one who is so old he needs grab bars to get up and down the one step into the sanctuary, and one who has an unspecified illness and often needs to go sit down.
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If it wasn’t for EMHC’s, I think a lot of priests of advanced age and infirmity wouldn’t be able to celebrate Mass at all.
 
There are exceptions to every rule.
At my parish, this process has speeded things up
Considerably.
 
I replied to the comment about making the communion lines faster to point out that EMHCs don’t necessarily make the process faster, but who wants faster anyway? Especially on Sunday. Some of my best days are the days I take extra time for the Lord…
 
I, too, am in no big hurry to leave on Sunday’s, but before they went to multiple lines it seemed to take forever to get things done with this part of the Mass, especially at Christmas and/or Easter.
 
anon64350612 said:
I replied to the comment about making the communion lines faster to point out that EMHCs don’t necessarily make the process faster, but who wants faster anyway? Especially on Sunday. Some of my best days are the days I take extra time for the Lord…
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My point is that this practice (at least in my area) is specifically for weekday Masses when most of the people present have to be at work immediately after. Daily Mass is not mandatory, yet there are people who choose to leave home early or go to Mass instead of having a lunch break. Being mindful of that does not mean they suddenly don’t care about God, good grief. If that was how they felt they wouldn’t be at Mass on a random Tuesday.
 
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The general custom, at least in the USA, is to use such ministers regardless of need. I’m no canon lawyer, but given the duration of this custom, it’s morally universal practice, and the fact that no bishop or Pope has ever done anything to stop this, probably gives evidence of their assent to it as a legitimate custom contra legem–ie a custom that abrogates from the written law on the books.
 
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