Protestant Allowances in Mass

[DElias]

Though I don’t know you from Adam, I hope you won’t mind me prying. Are you interested in becoming a Christian Catholic? Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is significant for a protestant to be doing. I mean, you’ll be adoring the Body of Christ, or at least in the presence of those adoring.

I am quite aware of the significance. I feel as though I am in a journey of faith right now. As such, I have been “taken under the wing” of several Catholic acquaintances to help me with this.

 

[Cristiano]

Brother JR, I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. I went through RCIA twenty years ago and there is still so much I am trying to figure out In my parish many of the functions during the mass are performed by women or girls, including readings, alter servers and Eucharistic ministers. This seems due to lack of male volunteers rather than intentional liturgical abuse.

So when these women are reading the OT and epistle readings (the psalm is sung by a cantor) are they to be called lectors, or something else? How does this differ from the Ministry of Lector that you mentioned earlier?

The ministry of the Lector is reserved only to men; however, women can be readers during the Mass. From a practical aspect the two roles cannot be distinguished, e.g. a male Lector from a male reader, just by participating to the Mass.

 

[JReducation]

Brother JR, I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. I went through RCIA twenty years ago and there is still so much I am trying to figure out In my parish many of the functions during the mass are performed by women or girls, including readings, alter servers and Eucharistic ministers. This seems due to lack of male volunteers rather than intentional liturgical abuse.

So when these women are reading the OT and epistle readings (the psalm is sung by a cantor) are they to be called lectors, or something else? How does this differ from the Ministry of Lector that you mentioned earlier?

The ministry of the Lector is reserved only to men; however, women can be readers during the Mass. From a practical aspect the two roles cannot be distinguished, e.g. a male Lector from a male reader, just by participating to the Mass.

Cristiano has it right. There is one other detail that is very important. The reader or the lector who is not a minister, is temporary. He or she is subject to the authority of the priest celebrating the mass, not even the pastor.

The Permanent Lector is not subject to the pastor. Once he is installed as Lector, it is for the rest of his life, the same applies to Acolyte. If he moves to a different parish and presents his credentials to the local pastor, he can be a lector without having to train. The pastor is always free to decline his services. But the man does not cease to be a Lector. He is not an extraordinary minister.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[angelic06]

I know from reading one of my pastor’s blogposts, an Anglican priest, who is in an Anglican group considering entering into full communion with the Catholic Church, was allowed to serve as an altar server at a Catholic Mass celebrated by my pastor. He wasn’t allowed to receive Holy Communion, though, from what I understood from the blogspost.

Our priest, in turn, was the homilist at the Anglican Eucharist.

 

[Bluegoat]

I can’t believe they just grabbed you and handed you the offering basket! Talk about intimidating. If that had happened to me while I was a Protestant I might never have converted!

When I was a student, at the last mioment we were short a server for a high mass with a visiting bishop, and the sacristan plucked a likely looking fellow from the congregation. It turned out afterward that he was Jewish, and to polite (and intimidated) to say anything!