Workshop for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion Added

The Office of Worship has added an additional workshop for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at St. Mary Parish in Pardeeville this fall. The remaining workshops are listed below.

Sacred Hearts Parish in Sun Prairie
Wednesday, September 22 at 7 p.m.

Nativity of Mary Parish in Janesville
Saturday, September 25 at 9 a.m.

St. Peter in Madison
Wednesday, September 29 at 7:30 p.m.
for Madison east side parishes

St. Mary Parish in Pardeeville
Saturday, October 23 at 9 a.m.

For more information or to register, go to www.madisondiocese.org/emhc.

Over 5800 people have attended these workshops since September 2007.

(Artwork: La multiplication des pains by Corrine Vonaesch)

Altar Servers

Catholic News Service reported yesterday that the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, included a story which praised the Vatican's 1994 decision, during the pontifcate of Pope John Paul II, to allow girls to serve as altar servers. The article appeared shortly after Pope Benedict XVI met with 25,000 altar servers in St. Peter's Square, of which 60% were girls and young women.

The report from CNS said,

Assisting the priest during Mass is both a service and a privilege and represents "a deep and responsible way to live one's Christian identity," said an article published Aug. 7 in L'Osservatore Romano.

"The exclusion of girls from all of this, for the sole reason of their being female, has always weighed heavily and represented a deep inequality within Catholic education," it said.

The CNS article concludes mentioning the 2001 clarification which stated that priests could not be required by their bishop to use girls and women as altar servers.

The full text of the article is available here.

Questions: The Ministry of Reader

The Office of Worship regularly is asked questions about the qualifications of readers for Mass. In particular, people seem to want to know if children may read, if one must be Confirmed to read, and if a person must be Catholic to read at Mass.

Liturgical documents are relatively silent when it comes to requirements for a reader. They generally make a distinction between an instituted reader and other readers or lectors. The Ministry of Reader is one of the instituted ministries on the path to Ordination (the other is Acolyte). Prior to being ordained deacons, men are installed first as readers and then as acolytes. Because they are connected with Ordination, these ministries, in their instituted form, are reserved to men.

In the absence of such instituted readers (which is all of the time in most places), the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (no. 101) says:

"In the absence of an instituted lector, other laypersons may be commissioned to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture. They should be truly suited to perform this function and should receive careful preparation, so that the faithful by listening to the readings from the sacred texts may develop in their hearts a warm and living love for Sacred Scripture."

The Twelfth Synod of Bishops on the Word of God (2008) spoke strongly about the desire to train and form both men and women for this important ministry. (For more information on this see the November-December 2008 issue of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Divine Worship Newsletter.)

Liturgical documents do not require that readers have received the Sacrament of Confirmation (although it is certainly desirable), nor do they set a minimum age. The idea is that the reader possesses the skills of public proclamation as well as a love for Scripture (not just reading it, but living it!).

Non-Catholics often are asked to read during Wedding and Funeral Masses. Is this permissible?

The US Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship offers this answer (written in the first person by one of their officials) on their website:

Paragraph 133 of the Directory [for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism published in 1993 by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity] addresses the question of a non-Catholic fulfilling the ministry of reader at Mass. The Directory makes clear that normally "during a eucharistic celebration in the Catholic Church" the readings are to be proclaimed by a Catholic. The Directory goes on, however, to allow that "on exceptional occasions and for a just cause, the bishop of the diocese may permit a member of another church or ecclesial community to take on the task of reader.

The intentions of the General Intercessions are proposed by "the deacon, another minister, or some of the faithful," (Lectionary for Mass, Introduction, number 30.) I would suggest that the principles established by the Directory for the proclamation of the readings could be applied to the General Intercessions: ordinarily, the intercessions at Mass are proclaimed by a Catholic. As in paragraph 133 of the Directory, however, the bishop may allow a non-Catholic proclaim the General Intercessions according to his own pastoral judgement.

Keep in mind that the above guidelines are for use at Mass. Other liturgical celebrations (Weddings Outside Mass, for example), do not require special permission. It's also good to remind brides and grooms or others involved that reading Scripture is not just "one more job" that can be awarded as an honor to friends. It is an important ministry and ideally the person should exercise this function in their own church.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee's Office for Worship has a wonderful brochure about the ministry as well as numerous other excellent resources.

Finally, the Book of Blessings offers this beautiful prayer for the Blessing of Readers (no. 1844):

Everlasting God,
when he read in the synagogue at Nazareth,
your Son proclaimed the good news of salvation
for which he would give up his life.

Bless these readers.
As they proclaim your words of life,
strengthen their faith
that they may read with conviction and boldness
and put into practice what they read.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Two New Resources for Liturgical Ministers

There are a number of new publications out this Fall which help with the spiritual formation and catechesis of liturgical ministers.

Sunday Prayer 2010 (Liturgy Training Publications) contains each Sunday's Gospel (Advent 2009 through Christmas 2010) and a brief reflection. It is only slightly larger than a check book and is very inexpensive (in quantities of 30 or more the cost is only $1.00 per book). It would be a great gift for liturgical ministers to help them prepare for the Sunday Mass and would be useful for prayer at parish meetings, with RCIA groups, and people who are homebound.

Liturgical Press has expanded its Living Liturgy series with Living Liturgy for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and Living Liturgy for Cantors. While these books are slightly larger (and more expensive) than Sunday Prayer 2010, they also contain more Scripture from each Sunday and more prayer and reflection. (They still are smaller in size than the average missalette.)

The material also is geared more specifically to the ministries. For example, the book for cantors contains a section for each Sunday on "Connecting the Responsorial Psalm to the Readings" and "Psalmist Preparation." The more extensive booklet for cantors can be purchased in bulk (6 or more copies) for $6.95 each and the booklet for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion in bulk is $4.95.

These booklets would make excellent gifts or could be made available for individual purchase so that the cost to parishes is eliminated. These resources will help people prepare to participate even more fully in the Sunday Mass.

Workshop Added to Fall Schedule

The Office of Worship is adding an additional workshop for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion on Thursday, September 17 at St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo. For more information, visit our website by clicking here.