My family went to visit a nearby parish for Mass today because we had no RCIA or psr scheduled given the holiday. We sometimes do that, visit other churches when we don’t have classes scheduled at ours.
I’m hoping for some feedback regarding something that happened this morning because we don’t exactly know what to make of it.
As Father was taking a consecrated host to each altar server and eucharistic minister standing at the altar he stopped at one teenaged altar server and before handing him the very body of Jesus Christ, said something to the server which made them both laugh. Father then twisted around to indicate something regarding his hip, which the server looked down at, and laughed again, before Father presented him a Host and placed it in his hand.
For all the world it looked like Father and altar server shared in a private joke which caused them both to laugh while Father was passing out the Sacred Hosts to the altar servers and eucharistic ministers lined around the altar.
I have never seen this before and was shocked and dismayed at what i perceived to be a lack of reverence.
What should i think about what i saw? Do these things happen? Should i have been bothered?
thanks
Hi. I am not surprised you haven’t seen that before and I can understand your shock and dismay.
It is not a normal occurrence as it is not part of the rubric of the mass. Having said that, what the priest did was acceptable as long as it was done not out of disrespect and irreverence of the mass.
The most ideal situation would be if the celebration of the Eucharist would function smoothly clockwork -like. In reality this does not always happen. There would always be someone who would bungle their line at sometime somewhere during the mass.
I have been altar server as a boy and serve the liturgy in some capacity like being a lector. These are services that we do for the mass. We need to practice and being briefed on what to do during the mass and we will do it accordingly. It is always a joy in serving. However, sometimes it can be very legalistic and critical on us and when that happens, serving would become a pressure. That is alright in itself but when you are under pressure not to make any mistake, you would not be able to serve well. Like reading for example - instead of being yourself, you are conscious that if you make a mistake there would be somebody in the congregation who would make nasty remark and complain to the Bishop or the rector of the parish.
Thus very often you would want to serve with an understanding priest or bishop; one who would not scold you but correct you with love or make lightly the matter. It would be great encouragement for us. Contrary to what many people would think, we know we make mistake when there is one.
As an adult now, I tend to understand those who serve during the mass. Even though the liturgy should be taken with all seriousness and reverence, there is no harm when necessary that the priest would make small talk and instruction to his team who are serving the mass. Even when we pray, if necessary there is no harm for example, to turn to a family member and ask what’s the name of that person is she wants to pray for.
So, please do not be alarmed. The best thing for us to do would be to encourage them like saying, “it’s a good homily” or some small talk that takes away the scolding and the disapproval.
God bless.
:hug1:
