Should I continue to be a Extraordinary minister

[benedictgal]

Richard1:

Please explain yourself about EMHC’s should not be receiving communion apart from the laity…Is this what you mean…After our parish “makes the sign of peace” all EMHC’s make their way up to the altar and we all receive communion from the priest there; is this what you are referring to…

I apologize for my ignorance on the matter!

I think that this is what Richard means. Accordnig to the 1997 document issued by the Congregation for the Clergy:

To avoid creating confusion, certain practices are to be avoided and eliminated where such have emerged in particular Churches:

— extraordinary ministers receiving Holy Communion apart from the other faithful as though concelebrants;

— association with the renewal of promises made by priests at the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, as well as other categories of faithful who renew religious vows or receive a mandate as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion;

— the habitual use of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at Mass thus arbitrarily extending the concept of “a great number of the faithful”.

The part I highlighted in bold means that as an EMHC, you are not to come up to the sanctuary before the celebrant has communicated. There had been many instances where, during the Agnus Dei, the celebrant distributed the Body of Christ to the EMHCs and then, after the “Domine non sum dignus-Lord, I am not wrothy”, everyonie consumed the Sacred Host. In other words, the EMHCs were “acting” as though they were concelebrants by consuming the Body of Christ at the same time the celebrant did so.

 

[AMDGtoo]

There had been many instances where, during the Agnus Dei, the celebrant distributed the Body of Christ to the EMHCs and then, after the “Domine non sum dignus-Lord, I am not wrothy”, everyonie consumed the Sacred Host. In other words, the EMHCs were “acting” as though they were concelebrants by consuming the Body of Christ at the same time the celebrant did so.

I know, and believe me, it’s a “jarring” practice–one abuse that really “pops out” no matter how I try to “ignore”.

 

[Lepanto]

Now, I have a different take on the matter which maybe the OP might consider. My father is an EMHC who devotes his care to the elderly, infirmed and homebound, visiting 30 people every Sunday. He goes to the senior citizens homes, the nursing homes and a few houses.

IMHO, nobody should be allowed to serve as an EMHC unless they first serve as an EMHC at nursing homes, jails, or hospitals etc. for several months first (assuming that EMHCs are needed there).

The role of an EMHC is a role of service, not of honor or attention.

 

[Richard_1]

I think that this is what Richard means. Accordnig to the 1997 document issued by the Congregation for the Clergy:

The part I highlighted in bold means that as an EMHC, you are not to come up to the sanctuary before the celebrant has communicated. There had been many instances where, during the Agnus Dei, the celebrant distributed the Body of Christ to the EMHCs and then, after the “Domine non sum dignus-Lord, I am not wrothy”, everyonie consumed the Sacred Host. In other words, the EMHCs were “acting” as though they were concelebrants by consuming the Body of Christ at the same time the celebrant did so.

That is exactly what I meant. You nailed it.

 

[afitz211]

I am a member of a very small parish less than 150 people at mass on Sunday and have been a Extra. minister for only a few months now. I recently learned from a parishioner of another parish that priests are the only ones who should be giving communion to the congregation unless there are many parishoners in attendance and another minister would be needed to help because of time or if a priest is not feeling well.

I’m just wondering if I should quit doing it? I don’t believe that I am worthy to be doing such a ministry but I also realize that even if I decide not to do it then somebody else will most likely be asked to do it.

What are your thoughts?

A thought from the Desk Of Mr S

I was just thinking of the Scriptures and the feeding of the 5000 (men…many more when you count the families present).

Anyway, Jesus blessed the meal and had his Apostles distribute. But the passage adds, then when they “ran out” they went back to Jesus for more, and then they distributed that. And they gathered up the remains so that none would be lost.

HHmmmm.

Only the Apostles distributed
Only the Apostles went back for more
Only the Apostles “fed the sheep” as it were.

And the multitude reclined in groups (like a parish perhaps?), and were served by the Apostles.

So the thought is this…

How many Extraordinary Ministers should have been used to “speed things up” for what was a really big crowd?

Or perhaps they were happy and really content - and patient - to be in the presence of the Real Presence.

(please don’t destroy my desk for my “traditionalist” attitude )

Mr. S I appreciate your use of scripture but unfortunately in the feeding narratives that I am reading in the Gospel of Mark and Matthew (Mk 6:34-44, Mk 8:1-10, Mt 13:13-21, Mt 15:32-39; NAB) have no mention of the disciples going back to Jesus, and the bread doesn’t literally come from Jesus himself (it comes from the possession of the disciples.) (Note: the mission of the apostles acting as priests really does not start until Pentecost, otherwise Jesus is with them leading the ministry and they are all like students of Jesus, and actually not understanding what is going on until after his death. The point of the passage is also that they did not run out of food to give, because they gave until everyone had their fill, which means they would not have run out of food to give (so they wouldn’t have went back.) (And also the disciples could have distributed food to the groups, as in these translations they were told to sit in groups, as you mentioned, and not to each individual person (the text in the NAB is unclear about this.) I do not feel that you can use this scripture reference to justify your point on Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.

Now as the question presented by the OP I will say that your humility and concern is a great thing to see, we need more of this in our Church today. However, no one is worthy to even look at the Body of Christ. If we look back to the Old Testament at the beliefs of Judaism, the Holy of Holies was a room in which only the priests could enter and only at a certain time of the year. (I’ll admit I need to do more research here, but my initial thought is that this would have something to do with the feast of Tabernacles.) Christianity has definitely expanded the people that are allowed into the Sanctuary (the Holy of Holies in the Catholic Church), now of course, only the priest can enter the Tabernacle, but there are lay sacristans, there are lay altar servers, there are lay readers, they all enter this Sanctuary area, and we are not sitting here having a discussion about whether lay people should be in the area of the presence of God. Our discussion is about EM’s of Holy Communion.
My answer to your concern would follow along the lines of some of the posters already, which would be to pray about what you are feeling, but also read the entire context of the document and not just pick out the paragraphs which support your point. An important section to look at would be the section on grave matter at the end of the document. There are only three mentionings of the term Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion in this document and under all three of them, none of them fall into the category of grave matter (which if the Church really finds a major problem with something it usually falls under this category.) (1 of the mentionings is in the introduction, one talks about the distribution of the Precious Blood of Christ (not to do it if there are too many people at Mass, which is a legitimate concern considering that predicting how much Blood will be left over, and the fact that you cannot carry over the Blood to the next mass is difficult. (for example try calculating a busy night at a fast food resturant and having no carryover.) The final mentioning of the Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion is relevant to the point which you are addressing but is not mentioned in the grave matter section. So what that says to me is that this is up to your own perogative, so I’m not going to tell you what decision to make. Read through the documents, pray and think through it for yourself. Good luck and grace in discerning this decision.

Peace and the Love of Christ,
Adam

P.S. I apologize for my lengthy responses and seemingly random tangents, I hope all is useful.

 

[quiet52]

I too was an EMHC until I learned the truth about this very fact. In most Parishes, including my own, ****there is nothing Extraordinary about their ministry anymore. ****It has become an Ordinary ministry, the very thing that was never envisaged for it.
When I learned this, I stepped down.

highlighting is mine.

I’ve mentioned this previously in related threads.

Many people are confused between the English meaning of the word “extraordinary” and the Latin meaning.

The service of the lay people serving in the role (of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion) has nothing to do with the English meaning of the word extraordinary (“remarkable” or “unusual”). It is OKAY to ROUTINELY use extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion of they are needed. It can be a matter of routine necessity.

None of us lay faithful are to be judges as to whether this is a “necessity” – it’s a pastoral decision, to be determined by the pastor, his bishop and the Pope. When a parish routinely distributes both the Body and the Blood of Christ, for example, and there is no clergy besides the celebrant, he will need the extra hands to help distribute Holy Communion.

Duly-commissioned lay people are “extraordinary” using the Latin definition – OUTSIDE (“extra”) THE ORDAINED (“ordinary”). Only the Priest confecting the Eucharist during the Mass can be called a “Eucharistic Minister.” Only bishops, priests and deacons may be called “ordinary ministers” or “sacred ministers”.

The lay people are not substituting for the priest, they are not pretend priests, they are not egotists – they are serving in a legitimate lay ministerial role.

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html#Chapter%20VII

 

[quiet52]

Richard1:

Please explain yourself about EMHC’s should not be receiving communion apart from the laity…Is this what you mean…After our parish “makes the sign of peace” all EMHC’s make their way up to the altar and we all receive communion from the priest there; is this what you are referring to…

I apologize for my ignorance on the matter!

Communion begins after the Sign of Peace, when the celebrant presents the Hosts and Precious Blood and says “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.”

The congregation prays “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”

The priest personally partakes of Holy Communion, under both species.

At that time, the EMHCs, if needed, present themselves for Holy Communion – in most parishes, behind the altar, because it is more convenient to the celebrant. They are not receiving Holy Communion “with” the priest. And they need to receive before serving the rest of the congregation. After they receive Holy Communion, the priest hands the sacred vessels to them, to bring to the rest of the faithful.

 

[Richard_1]

Communion begins after the Sign of Peace, when the celebrant presents the Hosts and Precious Blood and says “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.”

The congregation prays “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”

The priest personally partakes of Holy Communion, under both species.

At that time, the EMHCs, if needed, present themselves for Holy Communion – in most parishes, behind the altar, because it is more convenient to the celebrant. They are not receiving Holy Communion “with” the priest. And they need to receive before serving the rest of the congregation. After they receive Holy Communion, the priest hands the sacred vessels to them, to bring to the rest of the faithful.

Okay, receiving communion apart from the laity as though concelebrants. This is kinda confusing. It is when EMHCs aproach the alter WHEN NEEDED, the Priest distributes communion to the EMHCs before he himself consumes it, he then goes back to the alter and they all consume it at the same time. I have seen this done before and it is our duty as faithful Catholics to bring it to the Priests attention. (Always with kindness and respect) we never know what they were tought, it could be an honest mistake. Many Priests were doing this shortly after Vatican Two. God Bless

 

[AMDGtoo]

the Priest distributes communion to the EMHCs before he himself consumes it, he then goes back to the alter and they all consume it at the same time. I have seen this done before

I’ve seen it done too, and I find it really “jarring”.

 

[Michael038]

I am a member of a very small parish less than 150 people at mass on Sunday and have been a Extra. minister for only a few months now. I recently learned from a parishioner of another parish that priests are the only ones who should be giving communion to the congregation unless there are many parishoners in attendance and another minister would be needed to help because of time or if a priest is not feeling well.

I’m just wondering if I should quit doing it? I don’t believe that I am worthy to be doing such a ministry but I also realize that even if I decide not to do it then somebody else will most likely be asked to do it.

What are your thoughts?

It’s a nice way to serve your parish. I know my pastor appreciates the help of our EMHC’s very much. He recently blessed all of us doing this service.

 

[benedictgal]

It’s a nice way to serve your parish. I know my pastor appreciates the help of our EMHC’s very much. He recently blessed all of us doing this service.

However, it must be remembered, as has been stated in numerous posts in this thread, that the term “extra-ordinary” minister is just that, for “extra-ordinary” purposes. If the number of communicants doesn’t justify our usage, then, we shouldn’t be employed.

Using us to “shorten” communion time isn’t legitimate. We are only to be used in occasions were the number of communicants is too great for the ordinary minister to handle by himself.

 

[Michael038]

However, it must be remembered, as has been stated in numerous posts in this thread, that the term “extra-ordinary” minister is just that, for “extra-ordinary” purposes. If the number of communicants doesn’t justify our usage, then, we shouldn’t be employed.

Using us to “shorten” communion time isn’t legitimate. We are only to be used in occasions were the number of communicants is too great for the ordinary minister to handle by himself.

It’s up to the Pastor to determine if they are needed for a Mass. If their church uses them there must be a need for them. There is nothing wrong with helping your parish out with this service.

 

[Michael038]

It’s up to the Pastor to determine if they are needed for a Mass. If their church uses them there must be a need for them. I would hope the Pastor would recognize that if there was a particuliar Mass that was light to not use as many if any.

 

[2Bcatholic]

It wasn’t until only two weeks ago that the priest of my parish started purifying the vessels himself. The extra. ministers had been doing it as part of their ministry before then and there were many irreverences taking place. The bishop corrected this problem. THANK GOODNESS!!!

 

[ProVobis]

I was an EMHC when I first came back into the Church in my early 30’s (now early 40’s). We normally had about 5 EMHC’s at the busiest Mass on Sunday. I don’t know how many parishoners there were but I can say even with all 5 of us and the priest it still took about 15 minutes to complete Holy Communion. Even the one EMHC who handled the cry room took most of that time (a lot of families with babies!!). In this case I think it was necessary. However, I have been to churches where there were about 100 people attending and they still used 5 EMHCs. Unnecessary IMHO.

Simon

What I can’t understand, though, is why in some churches, the deacon wears a humeral veil to transport the ciborium while in other churches laymen with street clothes are free to remove and transport them casually from the tabernacle during or between Masses. Seems as if there is more than a slight difference of respect for the consecrated Hosts.

 

[Fludgecow101]

The church says only in extreme emergencies are ministers allowed to give the Eucharist. Your hands are not consecrated and niether are the other ministers. No one should ever touch the Eucharist with their hands!Do you not realize that the Eucharist is Jesus Himself!!! Everywhere around the USA(and other countries i am sure) Eucharistic Ministers are being used to distribute Holy Communion only to save 2-10 minutes! if you mind waiting that long then i think you don’t even want to receive Jesus! The Eucharist is a gift from Jesus, let us not abuse it! Why after over 1900 years of receiving Him on our knees and on the tongue, do we have to start showing barely any reverance and respect towards our Savior. If you feel that God wants you to be a Eucharistic minister, then defiantly be one; just don’t misuse the opportunity to do works for God. God bless

 

[T700]

The church says only in extreme emergencies are ministers allowed to give the Eucharist. Your hands are not consecrated and niether are the other ministers. No one should ever touch the Eucharist with their hands!Do you not realize that the Eucharist is Jesus Himself!!! Everywhere around the USA(and other countries i am sure) Eucharistic Ministers are being used to distribute Holy Communion only to save 2-10 minutes! if you mind waiting that long then i think you don’t even want to receive Jesus! The Eucharist is a gift from Jesus, let us not abuse it! Why after over 1900 years of receiving Him on our knees and on the tongue, do we have to start showing barely any reverance and respect towards our Savior. If you feel that God wants you to be a Eucharistic minister, then defiantly be one; just don’t misuse the opportunity to do works for God. God bless

While I am not comfortable receiving in the hand, that is simply my preference, conditioned by my religious history and culture. The Church has stated that it is allowed in the US for the faithful to do so. Since the Church teaches that, I am obligated to submit and believe.

And yes, I realize that the Eucharist is truly the Lord Jesus.

Paul

 

[Lux_et_Tenebrae]

However, it must be remembered, as has been stated in numerous posts in this thread, that the term “extra-ordinary” minister is just that, for “extra-ordinary” purposes. If the number of communicants doesn’t justify our usage, then, we shouldn’t be employed.

Using us to “shorten” communion time isn’t legitimate. We are only to be used in occasions were the number of communicants is too great for the ordinary minister to handle by himself.

How many Masses does your parish celebrate per wekend, and what is the time between Masses, with how many people?

Our parish would not be able to finish Mass, clear the lot, and get parishioners into the church in time for the next Mass, if we did not use EMHC.

Lux

 

[EasterJoy]

How many Masses does your parish celebrate per wekend, and what is the time between Masses, with how many people?

Our parish would not be able to finish Mass, clear the lot, and get parishioners into the church in time for the next Mass, if we did not use EMHC.

Lux

There is also the issue of whether what a young priest can easily manage at one Mass is the same thing that an older priest can manage for three or four Masses every weekend. That is a lot of Masses, and any help that is permissible is help that allows him the energy to be properly disposed all the way through that last Mass. At most places, too, at least one EMHC is needed if the Precious Blood is to be distributed on a week day Mass, since most parishes don’t have a deacon or a second priest present at daily Mass.

When considering whether to serve as an EMHC, consider, too, whether your parish has a sufficient number of people willing to do it who are willing to learn and follow the rubrics. It is worth bringing up your concerns with your pastor, but it is also worth considering whether doing it yourself is preferable to some of the possible alternatives. It is not a matter of whether you are worthy or not. It is a matter of how many people are available who are willing to faithfully do what the service requires.

 

[benedictgal]

How many Masses does your parish celebrate per wekend, and what is the time between Masses, with how many people?

Our parish would not be able to finish Mass, clear the lot, and get parishioners into the church in time for the next Mass, if we did not use EMHC.

Lux

Cardinal Arinze noted that to merely shorten the time is not a legitimate excuse. Some Masses fluctuate between 150 to 200 communicants; others, maybe 300 at the most. Last Sunday morning, my parochial vicar distributed Communion to 150 communicants while the EMHCs administered the chalice.

There is an hour-gap between Masses, sometimes 45 minutes if the homily is long.