New kid in town asks: is this normal?

[cotcc]

I was just Baptised into the Catholic Church and have a question.

Can the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at Mass distribute Holy Communion? I thought I heard on the radio program Catholic Answers that the answer is no. But I read on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops web site that the answer is yes, under certain circumstances.

Did hear wrong? I see the priest and people in suits passing out the wafer and wine, is this normal?

 

[constantconvert]

Yes, that is the purpose of having EMHCs. They give the body and blood of our Lord to those who come up to receive. They can also administer to those who are sick or home bound. They receive a lot of training as to how to handle the Eucharist with reverence.

 

[Jegudiel]

I was just Baptised into the Catholic Church and have a question.

Can the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at Mass distribute Holy Communion? I thought I heard on the radio program Catholic Answers that the answer is no. But I read on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops web site that the answer is yes, under certain circumstances.

Did hear wrong? I see the priest and people in suits passing out the wafer and wine, is this normal?

Yes, if there is a legitimate need. It’s only one of the functions of EMsHC however. Many take Holy Communion to those in hospital, skilled nursing facilities and the home bound.

 

[Jegudiel]

Yes, that is the purpose of having EMHCs. They give the body and blood of our Lord to those who come up to receive. They can also administer to those who are sick or home bound. They receive a lot of training as to how to handle the Eucharist with reverence.

They receive next to none in my parish. Perhaps 10-15 minutes?

 

[Cathryn]

The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are permitted under certain conditions as stated by the USCCB. Most parishes need some EMHC because of the number of people and receiving under both species, and the limited number of clergy.

What appears to be the wafer and wine are actually the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ after the Consecration. It is very important to make this distinction. Welcome and God bless you on your journey of faith.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

I suspect (though I don’t know) that what you heard on Catholic Answers Live was probably a criticism of how routinely EMHC are used at many (in my experience, virtually all) parishes.

A rigorous reading of Church law and Vatican guidance on the matter could suggest extremely limited, rare cases in which an EMHC would be used, with the priest(s) and any deacon(s) distributing communion in an ordinary, routine parish setting, as was the case through all of Church history prior to the 1960s at least as far as I know. However, this is clearly not the way most local bishops and priests have interpreted and implemented the permission to use EMHCs.

 

[kmuestwin]

They receive next to none in my parish. Perhaps 10-15 minutes?

Thats the problem that I have at my parish. I just finished making a 6 page handbook for training of EMHCs and I plan on doing a lecture on it as soon as my handbook gets approved by the priest.

The problem in my parish is that the blind are leading the blind. The woman who “trained” me was completely ignorant to a lot of my questions and did not understand that we are lacking in education. When I asked for EMHC resources she gave me 6 pages of bible verses that related to the Eucharist. There was no actual information on the process and responsibilIty of EMHCs.

I turned in the booklet I made to the woman who does the training and all she said was, “Where are the scripture passages that I gave you.” At my parish there is so little focus on the how and why of doing things. Sometimes it drives me nuts! I am doing my best to keep my head down and keep making small improvements.

 

[Armyvet007]

Thats the problem that I have at my parish. I just finished making a 6 page handbook for training of EMHCs and I plan on doing a lecture on it as soon as my handbook gets approved by the priest.

The problem in my parish is that the blind are leading the blind. The woman who “trained” me was completely ignorant to a lot of my questions and did not understand that we are lacking in education. When I asked for EMHC resources she gave me 6 pages of bible verses that related to the Eucharist. There was no actual information on the process and responsibilIty of EMHCs.

I turned in the booklet I made to the woman who does the training and all she said was, “Where are the scripture passages that I gave you.” At my parish there is so little focus on the how and why of doing things. Sometimes it drives me nuts! I am doing my best to keep my head down and keep making small improvements.

God bless you for your efforts.

 

[Jegudiel]

The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are permitted under certain conditions as stated by the USCCB. Most parishes need some EMHC because of the number of people and receiving under both species, and the limited number of clergy.

What appears to be the wafer and wine are actually the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ after the Consecration. It is very important to make this distinction. Welcome and God bless you on your journey of faith.

Use of EMsHC is via the Holy See and not the USCCB.

 

[Cathryn]

Thats the problem that I have at my parish. I just finished making a 6 page handbook for training of EMHCs and I plan on doing a lecture on it as soon as my handbook gets approved by the priest.

The problem in my parish is that the blind are leading the blind. The woman who “trained” me was completely ignorant to a lot of my questions and did not understand that we are lacking in education. When I asked for EMHC resources she gave me 6 pages of bible verses that related to the Eucharist. There was no actual information on the process and responsibilIty of EMHCs.

I turned in the booklet I made to the woman who does the training and all she said was, “Where are the scripture passages that I gave you.” At my parish there is so little focus on the how and why of doing things. Sometimes it drives me nuts! I am doing my best to keep my head down and keep making small improvements.

Sounds as if you are very much needed. At my parish about 2X a year, Father gives a training for all present EMHC and anyone who wants to be one. Of course he decides who actually is actually put on the schedule.

 

[Cathryn]

Jegudiel

Use of EMsHC is via the Holy See and not the USCCB.

I was responding to the opening post about seeing this information on the USCCB website. The USCC website has the correct information. Naturally the permission in the United States is from the Vatican.

I was just Baptised into the Catholic Church and have a question.

Can the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at Mass distribute Holy Communion? I thought I heard on the radio program Catholic Answers that the answer is no. But I read on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops web site that the answer is yes, under certain circumstances.

Did hear wrong? I see the priest and people in suits passing out the wafer and wine, is this normal?

 

[Jegudiel]

Thats the problem that I have at my parish. I just finished making a 6 page handbook for training of EMHCs and I plan on doing a lecture on it as soon as my handbook gets approved by the priest.

The problem in my parish is that the blind are leading the blind. The woman who “trained” me was completely ignorant to a lot of my questions and did not understand that we are lacking in education. When I asked for EMHC resources she gave me 6 pages of bible verses that related to the Eucharist. There was no actual information on the process and responsibilIty of EMHCs.

I turned in the booklet I made to the woman who does the training and all she said was, “Where are the scripture passages that I gave you.” At my parish there is so little focus on the how and why of doing things. Sometimes it drives me nuts! I am doing my best to keep my head down and keep making small improvements.

God bless your efforts! There is a person in my parish who has been responsible for preparing lectors and EMsHC for about the last 15 years. It literally is a 15 minute meeting in the sacristy. She’s no dummy but she has a sexist agenda and her number one priority is self preservation. In doing so she has turned people off, people no longer volunteer for the ministry and those that remain tune her out so it has become quite a circus.

As someone who has been published I would like to give you a few tips. First, footnote the heck out of your work with authoritative sources. You can put them all at the end of your work but be sure to include them. That way when someone disagrees with something you have written, you’ve already provided an authoritative source.

Second, have at least 3 capable people proof it before you take it to your pastor. You want it fairly polished before he (or in this case your EMHC coordinator ever sees it.) Third, beware of politics. Is it your place to prepare such a resource and then lecture on it? Have you asked your pastor in confidence at the very beginning to approve of this project? If I or anyone else did something like this, the lady I mentioned would go scorched-earth nuts. She would go to the pastor and remind him that she influences a handful of big parish benefactors and he in turn would be non-supportive of the work.

Number four, whomever does the training also needed to have at least a modicum of authority when it comes to disciplining (or recommending the disciplining) of lay ministers who cannot or don’t care to do the job correctly. The lady I spoke of would never ben given such authority based on her personality and that too has crippled the program at my parish.

Good luck in your endeavor.

 

[Jegudiel]

I was responding to the opening post about seeing this information on the USCCB website. The USCC website has the correct information. Naturally the permission in the United States is from the Vatican.

I was very precise in my wording. You said “The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are permitted under certain conditions as stated by the USCCB.” That is wrong. The authority is the Holy See, not the USCCB.

 

[Joannm]

All EMHCs in our diocese must go to a 4 hour diocesan training course just to be an EMHC at Mass and a second 4 hour course to be a homebound/hospital EM. The first course consists of three sections. 1) and overview and ecclesiology of the Mass, 2) the spirituality of the Eucharist, 3) practical aspects. I have taught all three sections. The second course I went to so long ago that I don’t remember all it covered but it covered legal issues, safety issues, and psychological issues of dealing with the ill. It also spoke about being pastoral with sick people and their families and the practical aspects of the rite of bringing communion to the sick.

In the parish we have a practical orientation for new ministers and two general meetings a year. I also have a handbook and a newsletter. It used to be a monthly newsletter but it got expensive to mail out each month. I am working on doing it via e-mail but not all my ministers do e-mail.

All our EMHC’s have to be re-certified every three years by the diocese but it is up to the parish how this is done.

 

[kmuestwin]

God bless your efforts! There is a person in my parish who has been responsible for preparing lectors and EMsHC for about the last 15 years. It literally is a 15 minute meeting in the sacristy. She’s no dummy but she has a sexist agenda and her number one priority is self preservation. In doing so she has turned people off, people no longer volunteer for the ministry and those that remain tune her out so it has become quite a circus.

As someone who has been published I would like to give you a few tips. First, footnote the heck out of your work with authoritative sources. You can put them all at the end of your work but be sure to include them. That way when someone disagrees with something you have written, you’ve already provided an authoritative source.

Second, have at least 3 capable people proof it before you take it to your pastor. You want it fairly polished before he (or in this case your EMHC coordinator ever sees it.) Third, beware of politics. Is it your place to prepare such a resource and then lecture on it? Have you asked your pastor in confidence at the very beginning to approve of this project? If I or anyone else did something like this, the lady I mentioned would go scorched-earth nuts. She would go to the pastor and remind him that she influences a handful of big parish benefactors and he in turn would be non-supportive of the work.

Number four, whomever does the training also needed to have at least a modicum of authority when it comes to disciplining (or recommending the disciplining) of lay ministers who cannot or don’t care to do the job correctly. The lady I spoke of would never ben given such authority based on her personality and that too has crippled the program at my parish.

Good luck in your endeavor.

Technically I have the authority. I am a student worker at my parish and they needed to fill out some paperwork so I ended up getting signed on as “Liturgy Coordinator.” The title is appropriate because I manage the readers and servers for each mass, I keep the altar clean and make sure it has the correct liturgical color and I set all the books before mass.

My only problem is that I am 22 and don’t really provide the parish with the financial support that the woman in charge of EMHC training does. I’ve had 3 people look over it. One is a deacon candidate and another is a very informed and practicing catholic. I failed to provide footnotes but I have saved all my research and I am prepared to do that.

My main problem is that I don’t have the political clout that some parishioners have. I don’t want it either. I just want people to do what’s right because it’s right.

 

[Cathryn]

I was very precise in my wording. You said “The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are permitted under certain conditions as stated by the USCCB.” That is wrong. The authority is the Holy See, not the USCCB.

As, I said, I was referring to the USCCB website as having the correct information as stated on their website, since this is what she said she saw. The authority comes of course from the Vatican.

 

[constantconvert]

Actually what you might have heard on Catholic Answers is that EMHC are seldom (if ever?) used in other countries. I’m not sure why, practically speaking it may be because in most countries they do not share the cup, so there may not be as much of a need.

 

[Jegudiel]

Technically I have the authority. I am a student worker at my parish and they needed to fill out some paperwork so I ended up getting signed on as “Liturgy Coordinator.” The title is appropriate because I manage the readers and servers for each mass, I keep the altar clean and make sure it has the correct liturgical color and I set all the books before mass.

My only problem is that I am 22 and don’t really provide the parish with the financial support that the woman in charge of EMHC training does. I’ve had 3 people look over it. One is a deacon candidate and another is a very informed and practicing catholic. I failed to provide footnotes but I have saved all my research and I am prepared to do that.

My main problem is that I don’t have the political clout that some parishioners have. I don’t want it either. I just want people to do what’s right because it’s right.

Talk to your pastor in private about this. I would do it before you present the finished copy to him. It’s sad when resources like this end up not being used because of parish politics.

 

[Jegudiel]

Actually what you might have heard on Catholic Answers is that EMHC are seldom (if ever?) used in other countries. I’m not sure why, practically speaking it may be because in most countries they do not share the cup, so there may not be as much of a need.

Not true.

 

[pnewton]

I think the OP must have misheard on CA Live.