Going back to male servers?

  • Thread starter Thread starter sistermouse
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Was Blessed Mother at the Last Supper table with the Apostles? Nope!
 
I think that there might very well be something to this. Girl alter servers always seemed like a feeble atempt to appease the femminist anti-Catholics anyway. When I first became an alter boy, it was boys only. It was different, and I think better. I think the change signaled something subtle yet sinister.
 
mexilad said:
I think that there might very well be something to this. Girl alter servers always seemed like a feeble atempt to appease the femminist anti-Catholics anyway. When I first became an alter boy, it was boys only. It was different, and I think better. I think the change signaled something subtle yet sinister.
Click to expand...
If these feminists were anti Catholic, why would any attempt have been made to appease them? Sinister? Lets not look for conspiracies in everything.
It would appear that some would want the celebration of mass to be an ‘old boys’ club’ and women to be silent observers. This is not directed at you specifically and is a general comment.
 
As a casual observance, there are few servers in our parish. They have had to go to adults and it is mostly woman. It is a fact of nature that boys will shun away from the altar if girls are there. There are exceptions I have read here on the forum but the majority follow the pattern the more girls the less boys. 🤷

I believe that the Bishop in NB also bans girl servers.
 
Our OF parish certainly has more girls than boys, but when we celebrate the EF (one a month on a Sunday) we have an abundence of lads.
 
My parish had alter servers “under both species”, as it were… but segregated them by gender. Boys did not serve with girls or vice versa; girl sacristans did not oversee alter boys – and vice versa. It worked nicely: the attrition rate in sixth-eighth grade was predictably devastating, but the boys consistently stuck with it longer and in larger numbers. Meanwhile, my sisters were able to participate in a very intimate way with the sacrifice taking place on the altar – an opportunity they did not have sixty years ago. Win-win.

I was shocked to learn that other parishes gender-mix. And then they’re surprised when the boys all quit? Absurd.
 
The problem could also be that the men of the parish who could serve won’t because there is (to me, at least) an unwritten concept the servers should always be boys rather than middle aged men.
If there are men who are willing to serve and set an example, I would wager that there would be more boys following in those footsteps.
I know in some parishes, the parents are the ones forcing the issue of female servers. If the priest relents to those wishes, a distinct shift materialises in the parish when it comes to boys voluntarily wanting to serve on the altar.
 
Personally, I think having female servers reinforces the notion that women can be priests. I grew up with “altar boys”, but I’d rather see “altar men” than altar girls.

We women have clear proof that God loves and values us by His loving treatment of our Blessed Mother. 🙂
 
ConstantineTG said:
From whom did the body and blood of Christ came from?
Click to expand...
I fail to see how this has any relevance to what I have said since Blessed Mother did not serve at the first Mass and since we are talking about women being altar servers. I also fail to see how I have diminished Mary’s role as our Blessed Mother, Mother of our Lord, Queen of Heaven and of Earth.
runningdude said:
The Blessed Mother did, however, deliver the Eucharist to the children of Fatima.
Click to expand...
Are you sure because I thought an angel did? Could you point me to your source?

God Bless.
 
SVP said:
The problem could also be that the men of the parish who could serve won’t because there is (to me, at least) an unwritten concept the servers should always be boys rather than middle aged men.
If there are men who are willing to serve and set an example, I would wager that there would be more boys following in those footsteps.
Click to expand...
I completely agree.
For some reason men have dissappeared into the background in so many areas.
 
I don’t think there is an absolute answer to this. There are a lot of more serious reasons for the decline in vocations. And there are ways of encouraging boys interested in vocations even when there are mixed servers, as long as there is a real commitment to doing so.

In one parish I was in with mixed servers, there was also a group specifically for boys who were interested in vocations. They had something like a discussion group that met with the priest, though more friendly and fun.

I honestly think a much bigger issue at the moment are the priest sex scandals, which mean boys may not want to associate themselves with that, and some parents might even be wary of the kind of group my parish had.
 
severus68 said:
If these feminists were anti Catholic, why would any attempt have been made to appease them? Sinister? Lets not look for conspiracies in everything.
It would appear that some would want the celebration of mass to be an ‘old boys’ club’ and women to be silent observers [emphasis added]. This is not directed at you specifically and is a general comment.
Click to expand...
The bolded text is the biggest problem that I have with your statement. Far too many Catholics seem to think of Mass as a spectator sport but this is wrong. All of the faithful regardless if they are in the sanctuary or the nave should actively participate in the Mass.

M
 
Both of my daughters are altar servers, as am I. I am proud of them.

I have a picture of my older daughter (14) from the front page of our diocesean newspaper serving at a Mass with 1100 people present and eleven priests. She was one of only two servers that day and the priests were all coming up to both girls telling them what a wonderful job they did. Not a single boy volunteered.

Every time I see my youngest daughter (10) serve, with either boys or girls of any age, she is kneeling upright, hands in the correct position, paying attention in case the priest needs something, bowing her head at the name of Jesus, uniting herself to the priest by crossing herself when he crosses himself and sitting and standing when he sits and stand while the rest of the kids look around and pick their noses.

It’s nonsense that boys shy away from serving when girls a present. Boys are shying away because their mother’s are bringing them to Mass without their fathers, who are off in the woods during hunting season or too busy riding their new mountain bike to bother being spiritual fathers to their children. My daughter’s serve because their father serves and that speaks to the point made by SVP and Contra Mundum. Arimathean Ministries are a great way to serve the parish and set a wonderful example.

I’m super proud of my two altar servers. It is my hope one day that the three of us can serve at a Mass as a family. How cool would that be?

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
She would have been present. Passover meals were family events.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
That would be my understanding as well.

In addition, who cooked the Lamb and did the dishes?

And -

If we follow the line of reasoning there were no women present at the Last Supper, should women be present at Mass or receive the Eucharist at all?
 
TimothyH said:
Both of my daughters are altar servers, as am I. I am proud of them.

I have a picture of my older daughter (14) from the front page of our diocesean newspaper serving at a Mass with 1100 people present and eleven priests. She was one of only two servers that day and the priests were all coming up to both girls telling them what a wonderful job they did. Not a single boy volunteered.

Every time I see my youngest daughter (10) serve, with either boys or girls of any age, she is kneeling upright, hands in the correct position, paying attention in case the priest needs something, bowing her head at the name of Jesus, uniting herself to the priest by crossing herself when he crosses himself and sitting and standing when he sits and stand while the rest of the kids look around and pick their noses.

It’s nonsense that boys shy away from serving when girls a present. Boys are shying away because their mother’s are bringing them to Mass without their fathers, who are off in the woods during hunting season or too busy riding their new mountain bike to bother being spiritual fathers to their children. My daughter’s serve because their father serves and that speaks to the point made by SVP and Contra Mundum. Arimathean Ministries are a great way to serve the parish and set a wonderful example.

I’m super proud of my two altar servers. It is my hope one day that the three of us can serve at a Mass as a family. How cool would that be?

-Tim-
Click to expand...
That’s awesome Tim 🙂
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top