In the time it takes to ceremoniously distribute both species to all the EMHC's..

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Armor_of_Light

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…Father and a Deacon could use that 7 minutes to distribute to the entire congregation.

Just an observation to get the discussion started. I hope this goes well…

Back in the ‘70’s we had no EMHC’s and more people and got through every Sunday no problem. I really question the ‘need’ for the EMHC’s. If we eliminated the redundancy of ’ both species’…that’d help, right? Oh…except for the people who suffer from celiac disease. Mea culpa.
 
🍿

This isn’t the 1970’s. At least here in Iowa, rural Parishes are shrinking and suburban Parishes are exploding with growth. My Parish church is “in the round” and takes 16 Eucharistic Minister’s each weekend Mass to assist with the distribution of Communion. It might work in your Parish, no way that would work in lare suburban Parishes.

Edit: Even if you were to eliminate the Blood, it would still take 6-8 Eucharistic Minister’s each weekend Mass in my Parish to assist with the distribution of Communion.
 
There are less clergy these days. At least in my diocese. The clergy need the extra help.
 
garn9173 said:
🍿

Problem is, this isn’t the 1970’s. At least here in Iowa, rural Parishes are shrinking and suburban Parishes are exploding with growth. My Parish church is “in the round” and takes 16 Eucharist Minister’s to assist with the distribution of Communion. It might work in your Parish, no way that would work in urban Parishes.
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Born, raised and live in an urban area. 2000+ families. 16 for both species…right? How many priests? It’d work…so maybe you’d have to spend a few minutes longer on your knees, but I’ll tell you what. Put me in charge and I’d save those minutes by cutting down on the 22 prayers of the faithful, the financial pitches, the ‘affirming’ of the birthdays and anniversaries, the welcoming chaos for out of town-ers, and the madcap glad handing at the sign of peace. But that is another thread…

Oh…and yes…🍿 I have to leave now.
 
SMHW said:
There should be an animated “smiley” with two trains colliding head-on to go with 🍿.

That said, there are going to be a parish specific shortest versus lengthiest time factosr for every Mass based on number of clergy and EMHCs used and whether or not both species are offered for all. If someone wants to come up with a mathematical formula I’d be willing to look it over to see if the variables are all included.
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And you know…I was going to undertake such a study, but would be chastised for not paying due attention to the Mass. Kind of like allowing yourself to get distracted by the mini-skirts. 🤷
 
Armor_of_Light said:
And you know…I was going to undertake such a study, but would be chastised for not paying due attention to the Mass. Kind of like allowing yourself to get distracted by the mini-skirts. 🤷
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I actually think it’s a worthwhile study. Maybe not by you. I don’t know you.

But parishes do all kinds of studies like that. How many hosts are needed? Do we have enough ushers to seat people and manage the collection baskets? How many bulletins do we need?

You wouldn’t need to be at Mass to come up with a formula for estimating time.
 
No need to rush mass. No need to rush what happens before, during or after mass. Soak it all in and enjoy the moment.
 
Armor_of_Light said:
Born, raised and live in an urban area. 2000+ families. 16 for both species…right? How many priests? It’d work…so maybe you’d have to spend a few minutes longer on your knees, but I’ll tell you what. Put me in charge and I’d save those minutes by cutting down on the 22 prayers of the faithful, the financial pitches, the ‘affirming’ of the birthdays and anniversaries, the welcoming chaos for out of town-ers, and the madcap glad handing at the sign of peace. But that is another thread…

Oh…and yes…🍿 I have to leave now.
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Well we have one priest…that’s it! And no 22 prayers of the faithful, financial pitches, or affirming of birthday and anniversaries. And with us building a new church…our parking is limited…Mass has to run on time so we can get the other masses in without mass (no pun intended) confusion in the parking lot between the cars coming and going.

I know…lets leave it to our priests to decide shall we:shrug: they are our shepards.
 
Annabelle_Marie said:
Mass has to run on time so we can get the other masses in without mass (no pun intended) confusion in the parking lot between the cars coming and going.
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That’s the way my Parish is. I’m not exaggerating that following one 8:30 Mass a few weeks ago, it took me 10-15 minutes just to get out of the parking lot (from the moment I started the car to when I finally got out of the parking lot).
 
garn9173 said:
That’s the way my Parish is. I’m not exaggerating that following one 8:30 Mass a few weeks ago, it took me 10-15 minutes just to get out of the parking lot (from the moment I started the car to when I finally got out of the parking lot).
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Easy solution, fewer Masses.
 
Kevin812 said:
Easy solution, fewer Masses.
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I take it you’ve never been to my Parish :rolleyes: Sometimes, I think there should be an additional Mass on the weekend, that would eliminate the need for spill over seating in the Gathering Space.
 
Armor_of_Light said:
…Father and a Deacon could use that 7 minutes to distribute to the entire congregation.

Just an observation to get the discussion started. I hope this goes well…

Back in the ‘70’s we had no EMHC’s and more people and got through every Sunday no problem. I really question the ‘need’ for the EMHC’s. If we eliminated the redundancy of ’ both species’…that’d help, right? Oh…except for the people who suffer from celiac disease. Mea culpa.
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AGREED. I must say that the practice of EMHCs seems to be defined to certain areas.
I remember when I lived in Europe (only a year ago), giant cathedrals would be full of people (literally in the thousands) on Easter and there would be ABSOLUTELY NO EMHCs present, just a couple priests. However, in the US they are always present at mass, no matter how small the congregation is.

I’m Currently in the Caribbean for a few months, AND guess what? There were 20 people at mass this morning and 4 EMHCs. I don’t even see why they were necessary, 20 people could easily be administered to by the priest himself. In my opinion, EMHCs are abused to the point of where they have become a nuisance.

Edit: I have lived in couple countries in Europe, while also frequently visiting neighbouring countries for 3 1/2 years (I previously had 5 years, sorry that was a miscalculation), and in that time I never saw a single EMHC at any mass, the priests always did everything themselves.
 
We had very limited parking at my old parish too ( whatever parking has to do with it I have no idea anyway). We had 6 masses to meet the Sunday obligation, we also had kneeling to receive at the altar rail by the priest or deacon as the norm. This is at a parish in the state capital so we are not talking about a rural parish. The lines were well organized, easy to follow and pretty darn quick. We didn’t have EMHCs at any of the masses, OF or EF.

At my current parish they do use EMHC at the OF masses. I’ve never been to the OF mass on Sunday there, but the weekday ones I’ve been to the priest still distributes and there is a separate line to receive the precious blood from a EMHC ( at least I think they are EMHC since they are obviously not clergy).
 
Armor_of_Light said:
…Father and a Deacon could use that 7 minutes to distribute to the entire congregation.

Just an observation to get the discussion started. I hope this goes well…

Back in the ‘70’s we had no EMHC’s and more people and got through every Sunday no problem. I really question the ‘need’ for the EMHC’s. If we eliminated the redundancy of ’ both species’…that’d help, right? Oh…except for the people who suffer from celiac disease. Mea culpa.
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Uh huh. And seeing as how there is no directive from Rome about exactly what size of congregation and other factors you need before EMHCs are deemed justified, it is entirely a matter for pastoral discretion rather than idle speculation and criticism from
the laity.

The average priest these days is significantly older than he was in my childhood in the 70s, and so more prone to health and age related physical problems that make tasks such as distributing communion more difficult - think of the standing, walking, etc required.

Not a few (bless 'em) even struggle to hold up the chalice and paten for the few seconds required at the consecration - I am sure they greatly benefit from even a small saving of time and physical efforf when use of EMHCs can afford it to them.
 
Armor_of_Light said:
…Father and a Deacon could use that 7 minutes to distribute to the entire congregation.

Just an observation to get the discussion started. I hope this goes well…

Back in the ‘70’s we had no EMHC’s and more people and got through every Sunday no problem. I really question the ‘need’ for the EMHC’s. If we eliminated the redundancy of ’ both species’…that’d help, right? Oh…except for the people who suffer from celiac disease. Mea culpa.
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I do not have anything against what Holy Church allows, so I do not have anything against the office of the lay faithful as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.

However, I do have a bit of a complaint in the way this office is being abused.

EMHC are to be employed only when it is extremely necessary. Instead, in a Parrish with two, three, even four priests, along with two, three or more deacons, we find a celebrating priest and four or five lay EMHC distributing Holy Communion. Now that is a full-fledged liturgical abuse as far as I try not to see it as such.

Now, admittedly given the crisis of vocations there are places in which we have a large congregation and perhaps only a priest…I think of missionaries, or of remote communities…then, the office of the lay EMHC appears useful, and the wisdom of the Church shines forth…especially if the priest is not a young man…but other than that, it has no justification whatsoever, and I pray sincerely that soon the Holy See will direct the episcopal conferences to act on this and change things.
 
Armor_of_Light said:
…Father and a Deacon could use that 7 minutes to distribute to the entire congregation.

Just an observation to get the discussion started. I hope this goes well…

Back in the ‘70’s we had no EMHC’s and more people and got through every Sunday no problem.** I really question the ‘need’ for the EMHC’s.** If we eliminated the redundancy of ’ both species’…that’d help, right? Oh…except for the people who suffer from celiac disease. Mea culpa.
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EMHC’s are essential at our church.
We have 10 Masses every Sunday accommodating (in total) around 10,000 people on Sundays. There is no way that could be handled by the priest alone.
Our priests (3) even have a dispensation to be able to receive more than 2 times on Sundays otherwise we would need more priests as well.
 
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