Girl Altar Serviers

[Brendan]

It can’t lead to vocations to the priesthood, but it may lead to vocations to religious life.

Angel,

Altar Service leads to vocations because it assists in the task of the priest; the altar boy is, in a sense, getting an upclose look at what it means to be a priest at Mass.

The charism of women religious is radically different. For a girl to experience an up close look at what her life would be as a religious would require service in a different form.

For the mendicant orders, a girl should look at serving the poor of her community

For the teaching orders, a girl should look at assisting at parish catechism classes (for example)

For the medical orders, a girl should look at helping out a local hospital or nursing home

For the contempletive orders, a girl should look at spending time in adoration.

Those are the equivelent tasks for women (and male) religious. If you or your parish is looking to increase vocations to womens religious life, THOSE are the activities that have been seen to increase those vocations.

 

[Brendan]

If a pastor came in and used only males…that is his right…as the church allows. But if a pastor decides to use females as well…well the church allows that too.

I never said otherwise, in fact, I was the one who posted the CDWDS letter which said so.

I would say that altar service is not necessary for female spirtuality but might be useful.

The CDWDS letter, as well as the historical evidence, show that is true for males.

Do you have any documentation that shows the equivelent in females? That adding girls to altar service has increased, say, vocations to women religious orders, or that they are more likely to be practicing Catholic in adulthood than non serving girls?

‘Might’ is a pretty big word. Eating Cherrios for breakfast before Mass instead of Wheaties ‘might’ increase spirituality too. Without proof, however, neither premise is anything more than a thought experiment

 

[Brendan]

I was just thinking about this scenario today…
If I had two children and both wished to serve and I directly or indirectly, or the priest directly, said that only my son could serve, I would be afraid that the girl would feel bad and it might undermine her Christian vocation, whether religious or lay …

That would be more of a fault of parenting. No one, male or female, should expect to be able to serve at the altar.

Obedience is always at the heart of an authentically Catholic spirituality. If obedience is not present, good spirtuality cannot follow.

Padre Pio is a GREAT example of that. If such a situation occurs, go over the life of that saint with her.

Or the troubles the Little Flower had in being accepted to a convent (or, even better, her sister Leonie) . All great examples!!

 

[LightBound]

If we were REALLY interested in something that would foster vocations to the priesthood, we’d see what young men think about following the priest around 24/7 for a while, instead of splitting hairs with our personal opinions about what we think of female altar servers. Then young men could see that much of what a parish priest does involves much more than celebrating Mass (although that is paramount). What the priest does the rest of the day is where a true vocation lies…the deaths, the illnesses, confession, counseling, the budgeting, the tragedies, and the good times, of course. Now obviously some of things (confession, etc) wouldn’t be possible for the aspiring young man to “sit in on”, but I wonder what the stats are on young men who leave the seminary after finding out being a priest involves way, way more than being on the altar…

 

[TheRealJuliane]

If we were REALLY interested in something that would foster vocations to the priesthood, we’d see what young men think about following the priest around 24/7 for a while, instead of splitting hairs with our personal opinions about what we think of female altar servers. Then young men could see that much of what a parish priest does involves much more than celebrating Mass (although that is paramount). What the priest does the rest of the day is where a true vocation lies…the deaths, the illnesses, confession, counseling, the budgeting, the tragedies, and the good times, of course. Now obviously some of things (confession, etc) wouldn’t be possible for the aspiring young man to “sit in on”, but I wonder what the stats are on young men who leave the seminary after finding out being a priest involves way, way more than being on the altar…

I think any young man who even applies to seminary has more than a clue about what a priest does…This takes a lot of discernment in a young man’s life…It’s not an impulsive decision. Applying to seminary is a difficult process in the first place. There is no need to apprentice with a priest to understand that the job is more than celebrating Mass. You don’t give young men much credit for having eyes and a brain.

 

[LightBound]

I think any young man who even applies to seminary has more than a clue about what a priest does…This takes a lot of discernment in a young man’s life…It’s not an impulsive decision. Applying to seminary is a difficult process in the first place. There is no need to apprentice with a priest to understand that the job is more than celebrating Mass. You don’t give young men much credit for having eyes and a brain.

right back at ya!

It’s not the young men discerning a vocation I’m not giving credit to…it’s the people who have made the male vs female altar server debate into an issue you’d think the whole of salvation rested on…the Pope doesn’t have an issue with it, so we do we??? Wait, nobody answer that please!! This thread, like all the others before it on the same topic, has gone on too long as it is!