Ushers

[truetofaith]

Consecrate the bread and wine.

I looked up confect in the dictionary & it said " to make or prepare from ingredients."
The priest or Bishop Consecrate the bread & wine & they become the Body & Blood of Christ but the hosts are confected or made by nuns or a company & so is the altar wine.

 

[Usige]

I looked up confect in the dictionary & it said " to make or prepare from ingredients."
The priest or Bishop Consecrate the bread & wine & they become the Body & Blood of Christ but the hosts are confected or made by nuns or a company & so is the altar wine.

That is the general meaning of confect, but in this instance it means to bring together 2 separate elements; specifically the host/wine and the Holy Spirit. Those two elements is what are joined in confecting the Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist. You are correct that others confect the altar bread and wine, but a priest or bishop further confects those elements into the Precious Body and Blood.

That is not probably completely theologically correct, but it’s the best way I can explain why the Church has used the phrase “confecting the Eucharist” when speaking about the consecration.

You are nit-picking on a point that is not relevant here. You know what I meant!

The point was…people disrupt the flow of communicants by jockeying for position to get to the cleric.

I was not being nit-picky, but using what my pastor refers to as a “teaching moment”. Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum is very clear in section 154 that “the only minister who can confect the Sacrament of the Eucharist in persona Christi is a validly ordained Priest. Hence the name “minister of the Eucharist” belongs properly to the Priest alone.” When we get lazy in using terms we can start to distort the underlying meaning of those terms.

The “teaching moment” that is relevant here is that there is a difference between clergy (i.e. Ordinary Ministers of Holy communion) and ExtraordinaryMinisters of Holy Communion. It is the duty of clergy to distribute the Precious Body and Blood, but it is an indulgence/concession to necessity to allow EMHCs to distribute. Just as the universal norm for receiving the host (i.e. ordinary) is on the tongue and therefore cannot be abridged, so too is it the right of the faithful to receive from the ordinary minister of communion (i.e. clergy) without prejudice. In other words, while is is perfectly okay to receive from an EMHC, no one should restrict those who chose to receive from the clergy from doing so even if it “disrupts the flow”.

There is no reason to not offer fraternal correction if someone is being rude, but at the same time if ushers are insisting people return to their section it is not their place to block the faithful from their right to receive from a member of the clergy.

 

[Phemie]

Wow…
I can’t believe such hard feelings towards people who are ushers and doing a **service **for their parish!!! This makes me so sad.

I don’t think people have a problem with ushers per se. They are useful in many ways even if in many parishes the only thing they do is take up the collection and maybe help find a pew at Midnight Mass.

No, the thing that really gets people’s dander up is the Communion line policing that has developed in many parishes. It’s ludicrous to me that for centuries people knew how to go to Communion and suddenly you need traffic cops to so. In my baptismal parish I saw ushers used this way once or twice, at Midnight Mass in the early 70s. It hasn’t happened since and people seem to make it to Communion just fine.

I’ve been to many parishes over the years and never did I have a problem figuring out how to get to Communion. I’ve even been to Mass where there were well over 1000 people and they didn’t go row by row but just surged forward. Everyone who wanted to receive somehow managed to make it the head of the line at some point and, lo and behold, no fights broke out when someone left their pew and cut in line. We all managed to receive and make it back to our pew without direction.

 

[maryjk]

Wow…
I can’t believe such hard feelings towards people who are ushers and doing a **service **for their parish!!! This makes me so sad.

I agree.

I can pretty much guarantee that the ushers are doing exactly what the pastor wants them to do. And if they aren’t, then it is the pastor’s problem, not the congregation.

If you don’t like what an usher does at your parish, take it up with the pastor.

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

I looked up confect in the dictionary & it said " to make or prepare from ingredients."
The priest or Bishop Consecrate the bread & wine & they become the Body & Blood of Christ but the hosts are confected or made by nuns or a company & so is the altar wine.

“Confecting the Sacrament of the Eucharist” is a well-established Church usage of the term, and appears in many documents, including on the Vatican website. I wouldn’t rely on secular dictionaries to reflect specialized meanings of terms.

 

[Magdalena59]

I apologize if this is in the wrong forum.

Why do we have ushers? Except at a wedding or Christmas and Easter, I’ve never seen them actually “usher” people to a seat. A major duty I see is that they physically block pews so that only one pew can go to communion at a time. I don’t get it. Are we too stupid to know when to go up and take our turn? Perhaps a newcomer would need direction, but even newcomers can see the pattern from watching the first people (and I’ve never seen a newcomer sit in the first row).

I’m a cradle Catholic and always sit in the first row. I know when to stand up and get in line. At Christmas mass, the usher was trying to get me up and in line a little but too soon (I was first). Instead of getting up, I smiled at the usher to let her know I saw her. She then started jabbing me on the shoulder and loudly whispered “Come on!”

What if I weren’t able to receive communion that day?

I always have thought that the job of ushers was basically useless (can the congregants not be trusted to pass the offertory basket around?), but the situation at Christmas was just ridiculous.

If I am missing something with the role of ushers, please let me know. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

You’re probably right. We can pretty much figure out what to do at Communion time. I think a lot of rules come about because something happened somewhere. Maybe there have been times when confusion happened.

I have seen parishes with them and parishes without them.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

While I recognize the practical need for them, most parishes I have ever been to have had ushers that are just part of a small old folks club. They chat among themselves and sit in the back, rarely really participating or serving much. Has anyone seen the Everybody Loves Raymond about the ushers. That has pretty much been my experience with them. Not to mention they are pretty unapproachable. I have always wanted to put on a little friendlier face to those coming into Mass.

 

[CyrilSebastian]

Here the ushers take up the collection. They also count the number of people who are attending Mass.

 

[TimothyH]

The only issue in the original post was forcing/preventing entrance into the communion line. No one in their right mind will say that ushers are a bad idea or that they are bad people.

We all understand the need for order. St. Paul speaks about orderly worship in his letters to the Corinthians. Forced row by row communion however is a bad idea.

If someone in the back wants to go up early so that they can pray after then they should be allowed - no one should prevent them by blocking the pew. Similarly, if someone in the front wants to pray a bit and then receive, they should not be made to feel as if they have broken some rule. Approaching the Jesus at the sacred altar shouldn’t be treated like the line to get into a ride at Disney World.

Aggressive row-by-row communion causes people who should never leave the pew - those not disposed, non-Catholics and even non-Christians - to go up. EMHC’s then give blessings which they shouldn’t be giving in the first place.

Ushers are great. Aggressive, forced, row by row communion isn’t. That’s all.

-Tim-

 

[CB_Catholic]

Of all the things to complain about–the Ushers. Really. Can we not go a day on these forums without complaining about something? Can we not appreciate our brothers and sisters efforts to serve God in some capacity? Must we always assume ulterior or faulty motives? Must we assume anything about people?

Most people are just doing their best. Maybe we don’t think that’s true or good enough, but that’s really our own clouded perspective. We can’t see them as God sees them. That is not our privilege. We should assume nothing* about the spiritual state or the motives of others. Why people are going to Communion is just as private as why they are not. The judgment is not ours to make, even if it just a general statement, because we don’t really know the truth.

This is really just a complaint thread over something insignificant. We all need to count our blessings and get out of that habit. The next time you go to Church, thank the ushers, cantor, greeters, EMHC,s, etc for their service. Thank God for them.*

 

[truetofaith]

The only issue in the original post was forcing/preventing entrance into the communion line. No one in their right mind will say that ushers are a bad idea or that they are bad people.

We all understand the need for order. St. Paul speaks about orderly worship in his letters to the Corinthians. Forced row by row communion however is a bad idea.

If someone in the back wants to go up early so that they can pray after then they should be allowed - no one should prevent them by blocking the pew. Similarly, if someone in the front wants to pray a bit and then receive, they should not be made to feel as if they have broken some rule. Approaching the Jesus at the sacred altar shouldn’t be treated like the line to get into a ride at Disney World.

Aggressive row-by-row communion causes people who should never leave the pew - those not disposed, non-Catholics and even non-Christians - to go up. EMHC’s then give blessings which they shouldn’t be giving in the first place.

Ushers are great. Aggressive, forced, row by row communion isn’t. That’s all.

-Tim-

You may be right about row by row communion but that’s the way our parish wants it!

 

[CB_Catholic]

I apologize if this is in the wrong forum.

Why do we have ushers? Except at a wedding or Christmas and Easter, I’ve never seen them actually “usher” people to a seat. A major duty I see is that they physically block pews so that only one pew can go to communion at a time. I don’t get it. Are we too stupid to know when to go up and take our turn? Perhaps a newcomer would need direction, but even newcomers can see the pattern from watching the first people (and I’ve never seen a newcomer sit in the first row).

I’m a cradle Catholic and always sit in the first row. I know when to stand up and get in line. At Christmas mass, the usher was trying to get me up and in line a little but too soon (I was first). Instead of getting up, I smiled at the usher to let her know I saw her. She then started jabbing me on the shoulder and loudly whispered “Come on!”

What if I weren’t able to receive communion that day?

I always have thought that the job of ushers was basically useless (can the congregants not be trusted to pass the offertory basket around?), but the situation at Christmas was just ridiculous.

If I am missing something with the role of ushers, please let me know. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Maybe you can’t see the need for them, but that is just you. They serve God in his Church in various ways. Maybe others have not seen chaos at Communion time, but I have, and an usher would have made it easier by directing the people to the proper station when there are multiple stations. They take up the collection, they count the number of people attending Mass (this is a requirement), they assist people to their seats, they assist handicapped people with their walkers and wheelchairs, they direct people to the bathroom, they keep track of where those unable to go up to Communion sit, so they can be brought Communion. They handle emergencies, and in our parish they know CPR and can operate the defibrillator. They pass out bulletins and clean up the pews after Mass. If a pew is somehow in need of repair, they note it and report it to maintenance. And they answer endless questions about the facilities to make it easier for people to get around.

So the next time you see one, thank him/her for their service, doing all the little things we haven’t paid attention to.

 

[truetofaith]

Maybe you can’t see the need for them, but that is just you. They serve God in his Church in various ways. Maybe others have not seen chaos at Communion time, but I have, and an usher would have made it easier by directing the people to the proper station when there are multiple stations. They take up the collection, they count the number of people attending Mass (this is a requirement), they assist people to their seats, they assist handicapped people with their walkers and wheelchairs, they direct people to the bathroom, they keep track of where those unable to go up to Communion sit, so they can be brought Communion. They handle emergencies, and in our parish they know CPR and can operate the defibrillator. They pass out bulletins and clean up the pews after Mass. If a pew is somehow in need of repair, they note it and report it to maintenance. And they answer endless questions about the facilities to make it easier for people to get around.

So the next time you see one, thank him/her for their service, doing all the little things we haven’t paid attention to.

:clapping: