To be extraordinary ministers of communion or not to be?

[arkenbergcn]

My wife and I have been asked by our Priest to be extraordinary ministers of communion. After some reservations we said yes, but now we are wondering if we made the right decision. My wife and I are more traditional than most if not all of the people in our parish and we like to do things in accordance with the Church rubrics. In our Church, the alter boys/girls do not use the patents during communion. We think they should especially since they are doing nothing during communion but just sitting off to the side. When I brought this up to our Priest (of whom I have a great amount of respect for) he said that it’s not a problem and we don’t need to use them. He also said “beside when have you ever seen a host dropped”. My wife and I mentioned that there are also particles from the host which can still fall to the floor. Again, he doesn’t see this as being something to be concerned about. Another point that we didn’t think about concerns the blessing of adults/children who can’t receive communion. It’s common practice in our Church for extraordinary ministers of communion to bless people that don’t receive communion. I have looked this up (canon law 1169) and I am under the impression that only Priests and Deacons are allowed to bless people. Again, this is something that we will be expected to do as extraordinary ministers of communion. So, to sum it up my wife and I are at a loss as to what to do. We do not want to be doing things wrong as extraordinary ministers of communion by conforming to the incorrect practices that are so common today. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Kielbasi]

You should have probably thought of your objections to the service before you accepted.

As of now, your parish and priest are counting on you to do what you agreed to do with open eyes.

At a future point in time, someone else may come forward to volunteer who would be acceptable. At this point in time, in spite of your objections which you should have considered before accepting, people are relying on you.

 

[Leopard]

…In our Church, the alter boys/girls do not use the patents during communion. We think they should especially since they are doing nothing during communion but just sitting off to the side…

They aren’t doing nothing, they are praying their private prayers after receiving Communion. Or they should be.

This is not to say that the altar servers could not or should not assist with the pattens while the people receive Communion, only that a lack of visible action does not constitute doing nothing.

 

[DJgang]

I’m starting to wonder if you should have said “no”…

 

[MrS]

If you are considered more “traditional”,… then, when the less “traditional” members see you as an EMHC, they have your support that they are right.

Since the priest has asked, and you have answered you are bound by the rubrics. No blessing,etc. And certainly no EMHC when the situation is not extraordinary.

Just be firm… and when the priest tries to influence you perhaps you can find a way to say :
“…yes Father, I am just doing what the Church allows, and not doing what the Church does not allow… that is what you want of me, right? …”

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

My wife and I have been asked by our Priest to be extraordinary ministers of communion. After some reservations we said yes, but now we are wondering if we made the right decision. My wife and I are more traditional than most if not all of the people in our parish and we like to do things in accordance with the Church rubrics. In our Church, the alter boys/girls do not use the patents during communion. We think they should especially since they are doing nothing during communion but just sitting off to the side. When I brought this up to our Priest (of whom I have a great amount of respect for) he said that it’s not a problem and we don’t need to use them. He also said “beside when have you ever seen a host dropped”. My wife and I mentioned that there are also particles from the host which can still fall to the floor. Again, he doesn’t see this as being something to be concerned about. Another point that we didn’t think about concerns the blessing of adults/children who can’t receive communion. It’s common practice in our Church for extraordinary ministers of communion to bless people that don’t receive communion. I have looked this up (canon law 1169) and I am under the impression that only Priests and Deacons are allowed to bless people. Again, this is something that we will be expected to do as extraordinary ministers of communion. So, to sum it up my wife and I are at a loss as to what to do. We do not want to be doing things wrong as extraordinary ministers of communion by conforming to the incorrect practices that are so common today. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Many people I know of have withdrawn from being EMHC for the reason you list. Using Patens is not specifically required I din’t think? (without looking) Blessingnon-receivers si something that you can just not do, he can’t make you. He could say thanks but I don’t need your help any ;longer. The most difficult part is when the pastor want to force EMHC to purify anfte Holy Communion many have refused saying that is your or the Deacons job, EMHC’s are no longer permitted to do that. Or when a pastor want all EMHC’s to come up and stand around the altar during the Our Father. Some have refused, which forced a change.

 

[Other_Eric]

To be an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at this point in time is to participate in the routine abuse of this position at nearly every mass. Your answer to the priest’s request should have been a firm “no.” Realizing now that this consent was both imprudent and ill-informed you ought tender your resignation immediately.

 

[Jay3gsm]

Regarding giving a blessing to someone who cannot give communion, I brought this subject up with someone I know whose opinion I respect very much. He gave me an excellent explanation which I hope I can reproduce here, without doing him a mis-service.

As someone who is going through RCIA I cannot take communion. Often I have been told I should go up for a blessing as it is my right, but I don’t want to end up in the wrong queue, and receive a blessing from someone other than the Priest. I don’t hold the opinion as to downgrade the role done by the EMHC, I just don’t feel comfortable. I was also of the opinion that an EHMC couldn’t give a blessing and I didn’t want to put them in an awkward position by asking them for something they can’t give.

What he said to me, and I hope I get this point over well, is basically anyone can give a ‘blessing’. That is, a Catholic say to someone, “God Bless You” and mean it to be a real blessing. A Catholic can say “May you be blessed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” and mean it to be a real blessing. And that is what it is, it is a blessing given in all reverence from one person to another.

I can say to you all now “God bless you all” and I mean it. It is not what you would get from a Priest. On that basis if an EMHC offers a blessing, it is valid from that level. It just isn’t what a Priest can give.

I hope I have done the argument justice, because it certainly helped clear things up in my mind.

 

[Just_1_hr_a_wk]

My wife and I have been asked by our Priest to be extraordinary ministers of communion. After some reservations we said yes, but now we are wondering if we made the right decision. My wife and I are more traditional than most if not all of the people in our parish and we like to do things in accordance with the Church rubrics. In our Church, the alter boys/girls do not use the patents during communion. We think they should especially since they are doing nothing during communion but just sitting off to the side. When I brought this up to our Priest (of whom I have a great amount of respect for) he said that it’s not a problem and we don’t need to use them. He also said “beside when have you ever seen a host dropped”. My wife and I mentioned that there are also particles from the host which can still fall to the floor. Again, he doesn’t see this as being something to be concerned about. Another point that we didn’t think about concerns the blessing of adults/children who can’t receive communion. It’s common practice in our Church for extraordinary ministers of communion to bless people that don’t receive communion. I have looked this up (canon law 1169) and I am under the impression that only Priests and Deacons are allowed to bless people. Again, this is something that we will be expected to do as extraordinary ministers of communion. So, to sum it up my wife and I are at a loss as to what to do. We do not want to be doing things wrong as extraordinary ministers of communion by conforming to the incorrect practices that are so common today. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Make sure you are using the rubrics specific to the missal you are working with.

When you speak of particles falling to the ground are you thinking things that do not look like the Sacrament or can easily be determined as to what they are? Most hosts used these days have very little in the way of ‘dust’ so this tends not to be a big issue.

As far as a blessing goes - any individual can give a personal blessing - a separate thing from the blessing a priest or deacon would give.

 

[stbruno]

Make sure you are using the rubrics specific to the missal you are working with.

When you speak of particles falling to the ground are you thinking things that do not look like the Sacrament or can easily be determined as to what they are? Most hosts used these days have very little in the way of ‘dust’ so this tends not to be a big issue.

As a deacon who regularly purifies vessels after their use…hosts do crumble…there are many particles left on a paten or in a ciborium. So while our parish does not have altar servers use patens…hosts regularly break and crumble.

 

[Phemie]

Regarding giving a blessing to someone who cannot give communion, I brought this subject up with someone I know whose opinion I respect very much. He gave me an excellent explanation which I hope I can reproduce here, without doing him a mis-service.

As someone who is going through RCIA I cannot take communion. Often I have been told I should go up for a blessing as it is my right, but I don’t want to end up in the wrong queue, and receive a blessing from someone other than the Priest. I don’t hold the opinion as to downgrade the role done by the EMHC, I just don’t feel comfortable. I was also of the opinion that an EHMC couldn’t give a blessing and I didn’t want to put them in an awkward position by asking them for something they can’t give.

What he said to me, and I hope I get this point over well, is basically anyone can give a ‘blessing’. That is, a Catholic say to someone, “God Bless You” and mean it to be a real blessing. A Catholic can say “May you be blessed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” and mean it to be a real blessing. And that is what it is, it is a blessing given in all reverence from one person to another.

I can say to you all now “God bless you all” and I mean it. It is not what you would get from a Priest. On that basis if an EMHC offers a blessing, it is valid from that level. It just isn’t what a Priest can give.

I hope I have done the argument justice, because it certainly helped clear things up in my mind.

I’ve never understood this going up for a blessing if you can’t receive. You’ll find it nowhere in the rubrics and makes no liturgical sense. It’s almost as though someone decided one day that everyone should participate in the Communion procession whether or not they could receive, and then had to find a reason for them to do so. The blessing from an EMHC is nothing you can’t get from the person next to you in the pew. We all get blessed at the end of Mass, why does anyone need anything more?

 

[arkenbergcn]

Well, I actually called our priest and talked to him about my concerns. About using the paten - he stated that the use of the paten is not required so that’s why we don’t use them. I expressed to him how I don’t want to stand before the Lord on my judgment day and have to explain why I was so careless with his body. I got my point across, but I don’t expect to see the paten’s used anytime soon. From my own experience, I have found particles on my hand after communion that I am sure were from the host. The very first thing I do when I get back into the pew is to check my hands for any host particles. If I see any I consume it. No, this doesn’t happen that often, but it does happen and that’s what concerns me. I also can not understand why any priest would not want to protect host particles from falling on the floor. I also discussed blessing people during communion and he agreed that a EMHC cannot actually give a true blessing to another person other than their own children. I then asked why then is it done in our Church? The answer I got was that it is harmless and if he said anything it may upset people and then he wouldn’t have anyone wanting to be a EMHC. I see his point, but I explained to him that IMO that view does more harm than good and that people should be taught the correct way no matter what happens. In the end he told me that if I don’t feel comfortable being a EMHC then I have to follow my feelings. The only plus side I can see to being a EMHC is that maybe the reverence that I show will rub off onto other people. I am going to continue to pray on it, but right now I am not getting the feeling that we should be EMHC.

 

[Just_1_hr_a_wk]

Well, I actually called our priest and talked to him about my concerns. About using the paten - he stated that the use of the paten is not required so that’s why we don’t use them. I expressed to him how I don’t want to stand before the Lord on my judgment day and have to explain why I was so careless with his body. I got my point across, but I don’t expect to see the paten’s used anytime soon. From my own experience, I have found particles on my hand after communion that I am sure were from the host. The very first thing I do when I get back into the pew is to check my hands for any host particles. If I see any I consume it. No, this doesn’t happen that often, but it does happen and that’s what concerns me. I also can not understand why any priest would not want to protect host particles from falling on the floor. I also discussed blessing people during communion and he agreed that a EMHC cannot actually give a true blessing to another person other than their own children. I then asked why then is it done in our Church? The answer I got was that it is harmless and if he said anything it may upset people and then he wouldn’t have anyone wanting to be a EMHC. I see his point, but I explained to him that IMO that view does more harm than good and that people should be taught the correct way no matter what happens. In the end he told me that if I don’t feel comfortable being a EMHC then I have to follow my feelings. The only plus side I can see to being a EMHC is that maybe the reverence that I show will rub off onto other people. I am going to continue to pray on it, but right now I am not getting the feeling that we should be EMHC.

Again - just how small are you worried about???

If they cannot be easily identified as the accidents of the Sacrament then they are NOT to be worried about.

 

[Lepanto]

I would not do it.

Pray for vocations instead, and maybe ask your priest to speak about vocations.

 

[MrS]

Again - just how small are you worried about???

If they cannot be easily identified as the accidents of the Sacrament then they are NOT to be worried about.

I guess you could be farther from the truth…

Identified?? by who?? You … some one with perfect vision … some one who is almost blind … a Baptist …

The Sacred Host is and remains the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord as long as it retains the appearance of bread. Once consumed, It will be only minutes before those accidents are altered.

A partical of any size is wonderfully the Real Presence. Treat IT as such… always.

.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Regarding giving a blessing to someone who cannot give communion, I brought this subject up with someone I know whose opinion I respect very much. He gave me an excellent explanation which I hope I can reproduce here, without doing him a mis-service.

As someone who is going through RCIA I cannot take communion. Often I have been told I should go up for a blessing as it is my right, but I don’t want to end up in the wrong queue, and receive a blessing from someone other than the Priest. I don’t hold the opinion as to downgrade the role done by the EMHC, I just don’t feel comfortable. I was also of the opinion that an EHMC couldn’t give a blessing and I didn’t want to put them in an awkward position by asking them for something they can’t give.

What he said to me, and I hope I get this point over well, is basically anyone can give a ‘blessing’. That is, a Catholic say to someone, “God Bless You” and mean it to be a real blessing. A Catholic can say “May you be blessed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” and mean it to be a real blessing. And that is what it is, it is a blessing given in all reverence from one person to another.

I can say to you all now “God bless you all” and I mean it. It is not what you would get from a Priest. On that basis if an EMHC offers a blessing, it is valid from that level. It just isn’t what a Priest can give.

I hope I have done the argument justice, because it certainly helped clear things up in my mind.

You are very much correct, except that a lay person cannot give a blessing within the contaxt of a public liturgy, That is reserved to a deacon or priest, or Bishop

 

[Rose_Maniple]

I’ve never understood this going up for a blessing if you can’t receive. You’ll find it nowhere in the rubrics and makes no liturgical sense. It’s almost as though someone decided one day that everyone should participate in the Communion procession whether or not they could receive

Yeah, what a subversive liberal thought, eh?

 

[arkenbergcn]

Something to consider: Gold mines will actually use chemicals to leech out the smallest particles of gold in the raw ore. Why? Because these small pieces are still Gold and they have value. Why wouldn’t the smallest piece of the host, even if we can just barely see it still be the body and blood of Christ? These pieces are the body & blood of Christ no matter what their size and that’s why I worry about ignoring them. I do realize however, that it is nearly impossible to catch every small piece of host that might break off, but it would be highly disrespectful to our Lord if we just ignore these particles as if they were just dust.

 

[Just_1_hr_a_wk]

I guess you could be farther from the truth…

Identified?? by who?? You … some one with perfect vision … some one who is almost blind … a Baptist …

The Sacred Host is and remains the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord as long as it retains the appearance of bread. Once consumed, It will be only minutes before those accidents are altered.

A partical of any size is wonderfully the Real Presence. Treat IT as such… always.

.

**Once the accidents no longer are truly visible and identifiable as the bread/wine consecrated at the mass then they are no longer the Sacrament.

This, and the fact that the hosts today make very little ''dust" or “flakes”, makes some levels of concern excessive.**

 

[Just_1_hr_a_wk]

Something to consider: Gold mines will actually use chemicals to leech out the smallest particles of gold in the raw ore. Why? Because these small pieces are still Gold and they have value. Why wouldn’t the smallest piece of the host, even if we can just barely see it still be the body and blood of Christ? These pieces are the body & blood of Christ no matter what their size and that’s why I worry about ignoring them. I do realize however, that it is nearly impossible to catch every small piece of host that might break off, but it would be highly disrespectful to our Lord if we just ignore these particles as if they were just dust.

Hosts used today are pretty sturdy - it is unlikely bits will just ‘break off’.

Something to keep in mind re the gold example - chemicals are used as a part of greed - the ore collected and melted together into larger sizes.