May I serve at Mass even though I am not confirmed yet?

[PiousTemplar]

I am a Catholic Catechumen who is completely convinced that the Catholic faith is true. I go to Church every Sunday, and love it, and I spend a lot of my time researching the Catholic faith. My parish priest is training me and another candidate for altar serving, as well as training us in RCIA. I read somewhere in an Altar serving guide that a server must have had First Communion and first confession. My parish priest said himself that altar servers are supposed to be confirmed, but he said that it might be an exception because we are being confirmed soon. He said he really needs help and is desperate for some servers. I had my first confession just before Easter, and I was baptized into the Catholic Church at birth. May I be an altar server at this point? Or must I wait for confirmation? I really think I am ready to serve the Lord at the Mass.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

While your feelings of readiness are important, they are not determinative of whether or not you can serve at Mass. In other words, what matters are the Church’s standards. Your own feelings can lead you to submit your request to the Church for discernment, but you cannot affirm yourself (so to speak). In any case, altar servers need not be confirmed. Many young children participate in altar service before confirmation. And, even if there were such a requirement, your pastor could indeed dispense you from it for just reason – such as a pressing need for altar service and no one else qualified to serve.