Question for trained EMsHC

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Tarpeian_Rock said:
I witnessed one of our EMHC’s tongue-lashing our deacon when he vested for a Mass that he wasn’t previously scheduled for. So as not to cause trouble, the deacon sat down during Communion so as not to “bump” said EMHC and cause further trouble.
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Oh MY!
 
Its been a while since I have been to a Mass where there is one priest and perhaps a deacon, and other priests, perhaps even the Bishop present. From what I remember with a Mass with several ordained (priests, deacons, a Bishop), most or all distribute the Hosts to the faithful & if the parish also gives the wine (Blood) to the laity, then EMsHC are also used if needed.

My church, we have 1 priest and no deacons. The priest will give hosts and usually takes a different section of the church each time. The other ministers will go to other places to distribute.

My parents’ church I grew up with, and sometimes go to, the priest always goes to the same spot EVERY time so those who wish to receive from the priest make sure they sit in that section. They usually have 2 ministers for hosts, and each of them gets 2 people with cups. The priest has 2 cup ministers too, 1 on each side. I have rarely noticed any different setup with the exception of Easter / Easter Vigil and the Christmas Eve Masses where there will be a few more people to help distribute both species due to the crowds.
 
Mrs_Sally said:
We are also trained to give clergy precident, even if the priest, deacon, etc comes out of the sacristy after communion has already started.

We do schedule EMHC for all Sunday Masses based on our pastor’s request. However, we are told to count the ciboria on the altar and the number of clergy present before stepping forward (during the Lamb of God). The people scheduled for a Mass do not necessarily know ahead of time if there are visting priests or if one of our assigned priests in out of the parish. Like Joannm’s parish, everyone can count and it usually goes very smoothly.

I have only once seen a major confusion where extra priests came out late after EMHCs had started walking to their “station”. The priest did end up distributing and the EMHC went back to their pew. I doubt their were any hard feelings, just confusion. BUT, even without EMHCs, there would still have been some confusion because of how late the priest arrived.
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Why are you coming up during the Agnus Dei? You should be approaching after the celebrant has communicated.
 
runningdude said:
I concur here, that sometimes hiccups in communication occur. Once, we had a visiting priest at the last minute. We usually have 3 EMHC’s, and all approached the altar at the Agnus Dei because no-one told them not to. Rather than cause confusion or hurt feelings, the celebrant stepped aside, though visibly slightly annoyed at his error.

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, and move on.
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It is not difficult. Many make it much more complicated than it is.

The celebrant (or deacon) already has to go to each EHMC to hand them their ciboria or chalice, right?

Since he will already be going to the EHMCs, all he has to do is go over, and whisper: “We have an extra priest [or deacon]. Thanks for being available, but your assistance won’t be needed this Mass. Thanks!”

If you have an MC, you could even have them do this.

Why is this so difficult?
 
Bbigam said:
I know of one particular parish that has a big chart up in the sacristy showing where all the ministers are to stand to distribute Holy Communion based on how many clergy are present - and the plan is to have 5 Extraordinary Ministers always, whether there is 1 priest alone, or up to two priests and two deacons.
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When I see things like this, I begin to understand how little many actually understand about EMHCs.
 
TheMc said:
It is not difficult. Many make it much more complicated than it is.

The celebrant (or deacon) already has to go to each EHMC to hand them their ciboria or chalice, right?

Since he will already be going to the EHMCs, all he has to do is go over, and whisper: “We have an extra priest [or deacon]. Thanks for being available, but your assistance won’t be needed this Mass. Thanks!”

If you have an MC, you could even have them do this.

Why is this so difficult?
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Why?

Tired backs, achy knees, slow feet, spouses and children they had to crawl over to get out of the pew… Lots of well-meaning older people make it a point to be at the mass they were assigned to and will sit in a place where they can get to their spot. If your parishioners made sacrifices to serve (and many do), and nobody communicated to them that Fr. So-and-so was going to pop out of the sacristy for 10 minutes and then disappear after communion, or that 3 missionary deacons from Yakestoniezia would be visiting today, then displacing those trained, well-meaning, servants in such a manner could guarantee that their “assistance won’t be necessary in the future,” either.

That’s bad-news-Bob if your parish is trying to build a culture of stewardship.

I seem to remember a saying about gift horses and mouths.
 
TheMc said:
It is not difficult. Many make it much more complicated than it is.

The celebrant (or deacon) already has to go to each EHMC to hand them their ciboria or chalice, right?

Since he will already be going to the EHMCs, all he has to do is go over, and whisper: “We have an extra priest [or deacon]. Thanks for being available, but your assistance won’t be needed this Mass. Thanks!”

If you have an MC, you could even have them do this.

Why is this so difficult?
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I don’t think it is difficult. In fact, in my church the only reason this would never happen is that one or more of the EMHCs would have already stepped back into the congregation long before the priest even had a clue that there were too many EMHCs.
 
Godfollower said:
I don’t think it is difficult. In fact, in my church the only reason this would never happen is that one or more of the EMHCs would have already stepped back into the congregation long before the priest even had a clue that there were too many EMHCs.
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Exactly my point. The only problem people have posed is that their EGOS will be hurt, and they will pout away.

So much for being the “highly trained professionals” many portray them as being. :rolleyes:
 
ChemicalBean said:
Why?

Tired backs, achy knees, slow feet, spouses and children they had to crawl over to get out of the pew… Lots of well-meaning older people make it a point to be at the mass they were assigned to and will sit in a place where they can get to their spot. If your parishioners made sacrifices to serve (and many do), and nobody communicated to them that Fr. So-and-so was going to pop out of the sacristy for 10 minutes and then disappear after communion, or that 3 missionary deacons from Yakestoniezia would be visiting today, then displacing those trained, well-meaning, servants in such a manner could guarantee that their “assistance won’t be necessary in the future,” either.

That’s bad-news-Bob if your parish is trying to build a culture of stewardship.

I seem to remember a saying about gift horses and mouths.
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But you are still looking at it with the wrong attitude. EMHCs should NEVER distribute in the place of ordinary minsters (Priests, deacons), and even instituted acolytes.

They are not entitled to distribute. It is a great privilege, and one that is made use of because we don’t have enough clergy. So… when you have enough clergy…

**If EMHCs are griping about being “displaced” by ordinary ministers, they obviously aren’t “well trained”, or else they would know their role.

But if they were “well trained,” but complain nonetheless, one could hardly call them “well-meaning servants.”**

Either way, this is the wrong attitude to have concerning EMHCs.
 
Godfollower said:
I don’t think it is difficult. In fact, in my church the only reason this would never happen is that one or more of the EMHCs would have already stepped back into the congregation long before the priest even had a clue that there were too many EMHCs.
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Yep! As Joanne said, part of EMHC training is teaching them to count. 😉
 
Corki said:
Yep! As Joanne said, part of EMHC training is teaching them to count. 😉
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Ohh! Don’t forget, they also need to be able to do arithmetic!!! There is much more than counting that must be taught. . :tsktsk:

of communion stations [MINUS] # of ordinary ministers [EQUALS] Number of EMHCs​

Oh my gosh. This may be harder than it seems. :rolleyes:
 
TheMc said:
They are not entitled to distribute. It is a great privilege, and one that is made use of because we don’t have enough clergy. So… when you have enough clergy…

If EMHCs are griping about being “displaced” by ordinary ministers, they obviously aren’t “well trained”, or else they would know their -]role/-] place.

But if they were “well trained,” but complain nonetheless, one could hardly call them “well-meaning servants.”

Either way, this is the wrong attitude to have concerning EMHCs.
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JGMendes4049 said:
We might need to provide them with a calculator. 😉
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And for those with tired backs,achy knees and slow feet as mentioned earlier, an escalator.

Hey, an idea has just struck me.

Perhaps in a century or two, the EMHC could stand on a platform while people move round them. on a travelator.
 
Thank you. I would be so happy if I were no longer needed as an EMHC – because that would mean we had more vocations to the priesthood and permanent diaconate. And that would be awesome!
TheMc said:
But you are still looking at it with the wrong attitude. EMHCs should NEVER distribute in the place of ordinary minsters (Priests, deacons), and even instituted acolytes.

They are not entitled to distribute. It is a great privilege, and one that is made use of because we don’t have enough clergy. So… when you have enough clergy…

**If EMHCs are griping about being “displaced” by ordinary ministers, they obviously aren’t “well trained”, or else they would know their role.

But if they were “well trained,” but complain nonetheless, one could hardly call them “well-meaning servants.”**

Either way, this is the wrong attitude to have concerning EMHCs.
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agnes_therese said:
Thank you. I would be so happy if I were no longer needed as an EMHC – because that would mean we had more vocations to the priesthood and permanent diaconate. And that would be awesome!
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That is the attitude every EMHC should have.
 
Joan_M said:
Those with tired backs, achy knees and slow feet should be retired.
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That’s very harsh. Young people can suffer from infirmities too, you know, Are you saying that only the physically perfect can be EMHC?
 
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