Mass of the Lord's Supper - EMHCs

[japhy]

I need to speak with my pastor about this. This is at least the second year in a row this has happened, and I have no idea why. We are a one-priest parish, so we always have five EMHCs assisting the priest at Sunday Mass. However, for Holy Thursday’s Mass of the Lord’s Supper, there are visiting priests from the nearby seminary who concelebrate. The extent of their concelebration? They process in, kiss the altar, and then sit in a pew until the Eucharistic Prayer; then they stand up around the altar and assist for the Eucharistic Prayer. Once they take their communion, they go back to their pews, and SEVEN EMHCs come up. Ugh.

In addition, my pastor said at the beginning of Mass that we are commemorating a) the institution of the Eucharist, b) the institution of the priesthood, and c) our call to lay ministry. That third one is a surprise to me, and I’m curious if it was there as a lead-in to the EMHCs.

(In other news, CNN is advertising live video of the Vatican’s “Good Friday Mass”.)

 

[benedictgal]

I can certainly relate to your frustration. Our pastor had a plethora of EMHC’s show up even though my PV, my pastor and the deacon were there. During our deacon sat down while four of the EMHC’s administered the Precious Blood. My PV was a little concerned about that one, too.

According to RS, which you know about (since both of us quote it with some frequency):

[151.] Only out of true necessity is there to be recourse to the assistance of extraordinary ministers in the celebration of the Liturgy. Such recourse is not intended for the sake of a fuller participation of the laity but rather, by its very nature, is supplementary and provisional.252 Furthermore, when recourse is had out of necessity to the functions of extraordinary ministers, special urgent prayers of intercession should be multiplied that the Lord may soon send a Priest for the service of the community and raise up an abundance of vocations to sacred Orders.253

[152.] These purely supplementary functions must not be an occasion for disfiguring the very ministry of Priests, in such a way that the latter neglect the celebration of Holy Mass for the people for whom they are responsible, or their personal care of the sick, or the baptism of children, or assistance at weddings or the celebration of Christian funerals, matters which pertain in the first place to Priests assisted by Deacons. It must therefore never be the case that in parishes Priests alternate indiscriminately in shifts of pastoral service with Deacons or laypersons, thus confusing what is specific to each.

I think that there is a trend (as evidenced in the female foot-washing thread) that places an undue over-emphasis on the horizontal while ignoring the vertical. The use of EMHC is something that has only come about over the course of 40 years (at least as far as I can tell). They are meant to only help when the number of communicants is very great (and should not be used to merely shorten the Communion procession).

 

[japhy]

According to RS, which you know about (since both of us quote it with some frequency):

Even moreso: RS, n. 157:If there is usually present a sufficient number of sacred ministers for the distribution of Holy Communion, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion may not be appointed. Indeed, in such circumstances, those who may have already been appointed to this ministry should not exercise it. The practice of those Priests is reprobated who, even though present at the celebration, abstain from distributing Communion and hand this function over to laypersons. {cf. Inaestimabile Donum, n. 10 }