qfnol31 Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Technically there shouldn't be so many Extraordinary Ministers that this becomes an issue. I know of a place, a monastery, where about 400 people attend for Mass on First Fridays. Even those nights, there are two Ministers of Holy Communion, and they're both Priests. Mind you, this is an order with many Priests who could be Ministers at those Masses, but they aren't. Last Saturday I went to St. Patrick's, the Cathedral up in New York City. They had a pretty large number of people at Mass, and only had 9 Priests as Ministers and two nuns as Extraordinary Ministers during Holy Communion. The true Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion is the Acolyte (Canon Law 230), who also happens to be a male. Sorry if that sounded harsh. I'm against the use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, much to all my friends' dismay, because I think they are abused way too much today. Believe me, 95% of all the Masses I've been to that use them could easily not and not lengthen their time by much. Now to answer the first question, do I think women should be just as active as men? Honestly, I don't for a few reasons. One, it is the men who are Priests and Deacons, and that is their role, to be the Ordinary Ministers. I know that they have been allowed by Rome, and of course I can't do anything to stop that, but it's not really wrong for us to mention our concerns to our Priest. Come to find out today, our Priest may be getting ride of girl altar servers at a few of the Masses. I think the idea of allowing men and women (or boys and girls) to become synonymous in their roles is to imply that they are the same in soul, and that there need be no distiction elsewhere. I disagree with this, and think that it is really liberating women to show them that they don't have to be like men (sorry, that's something taken from Cardinal Ratzinger). In our society, it seems that women are constantly told that they need to be just like men in everything, and can do everything men do...well, that's not exactly the case... Anways, I promise not to say more on this for a while...I seem to have strong feelings. :ph34r: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfnol31 Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 [quote name='Noel's angel' date='Aug 29 2004, 12:43 PM'] in our parish, girl altar servers are fine and female Eucharistic ministers are fine as well we have male and femalr Eucharistic Ministers, thats what we call them, we dont have Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist [/quote] A Eucharistic Minister is a poor name for the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. There is no such thing as a Eucharistic Minister, but rather Ordinary and Extra-ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. No one is a Minister of the Eucharist, for that is an improper name for Holy Communion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zwergel88 Posted August 30, 2004 Author Share Posted August 30, 2004 Okay, thanks guys for your help, from what I gather from all this, it seems like it should be okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voiciblanche Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 [quote name='qfnol31' date='Aug 29 2004, 03:04 PM'] A Eucharistic Minister is a poor name for the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. There is no such thing as a Eucharistic Minister, but rather Ordinary and Extra-ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. No one is a Minister of the Eucharist, for that is an improper name for Holy Communion. [/quote] Note on the name deal - I generally refer to Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion as "EM's." By this, I mean E - Extraordinary M - Ministers. I'm sure there are others that do the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 You might be using the terms "EM" and know that it means Extra-ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, but does everyone you are talking to have the same understanding? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 the terminology may seem like it's splitting hairs, but it is important to realize that these lay people are administering Holy Communion in Extraordinary circumstances. To call them Eucharistic Ministers belies the true nature of their service, and perpetuates ignorance. I get so cranky at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 [quote name='Noel's angel' date='Aug 29 2004, 02:43 PM'] in our parish, girl altar servers are fine and female Eucharistic ministers are fine as well we have male and femalr Eucharistic Ministers, thats what we call them, we dont have Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist [/quote] You may call them Eucharistic Ministers, but that title is incorrect. The proper title is Extra-ordinary Minister of Holy Communion. Calling them EMs is like calling the Bishop "the Bish", its simply wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP2Iloveyou Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 151. Only out of true necessity is there to be recourse to the assistance of extraordinary ministers in the celebration of the Liturgy. Such recourse is not intended for the sake of a fuller participation of the laity but rather, by its very nature, is supplementary and provisional.252 Furthermore, when recourse is had out of necessity to the functions of extraordinary ministers, special urgent prayers of intercession should be multiplied that the Lord may soon send a Priest for the service of the community and raise up an abundance of vocations to sacred Orders.253 [b]156. This function is to be understood strictly according to the name by which it is known, that is to say, that of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and not “special minister of Holy Communion” nor “extraordinary minister of the Eucharist” nor “special minister of the Eucharist,” by which names the meaning of this function is unnecessarily and improperly broadened.[/b] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franciscanheart Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 whateveryou wanna call it, I AM one and I AM a girl and I take offense to people saying that I shouldn't be allowed to be one because I am attempting to take on a man's role. RAWR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfnol31 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 (edited) Eh, it's not really that sexist to say you shouldn't do it because you're a girl. You can't be a Priest because you're not a guy, so it's essentially the same thing. Guys and girls are different in many ways, and so their corresponding roles are different. I personally don't have anything against women in any way, but there are certain roles in the Church that are better suited for men, and some that are better suited for women. It comes with the sex. If there wasn't good reason for us to be different with regard to sex, we wouldn't have male and female. One of the problems I have with America today is the idea that men and women must be allowed to do the same thing, and that it's discrimination to say that one can't do the role of the other. And it is, because true discrimination is making sensible judgements. But I am not for the secular term of being prejudice, which I most certainly am not. But that's just my .02. Edited August 30, 2004 by qfnol31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franciscanheart Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Not being a priest because I am a girl seems perfectly logical. I understand and agree. I do not see the logic, however, behind this argument. I've read what everyone has had to say but still I don't understand how it is logical at all for only men to be able to take on this role. It might have something to do with the fact that since I was knee-high to a grasshopper I have been receiving from women. When I was asked to be a EM I was overjoyed and I'd hate to think that people want to take something I enjoy doing so very much away from me. Maybe I should get over it and just not do it anymore. Who knows.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 [quote]A Eucharistic Minister is a poor name for the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. There is no such thing as a Eucharistic Minister, but rather Ordinary and Extra-ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. No one is a Minister of the Eucharist, for that is an improper name for Holy Communion. [/quote] Tell that to oour Bishop and all the priests that serve in our parish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfnol31 Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Because of his duties, the Acolyte is supposed to be a male. It's in Canon Law that he must be such. The atlar server and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion stand in for the Acolyte, fulfilling most of his roles (when they're combined). Therefore, why shouldn't the altar server and EMHC not also be males? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 [quote name='Noel's angel' date='Aug 30 2004, 11:58 AM'] Tell that to oour Bishop and all the priests that serve in our parish. [/quote] I don't have to, the Pope and two different documents already did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voiciblanche Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 [quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='Aug 29 2004, 10:34 PM'] You might be using the terms "EM" and know that it means Extra-ordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, but does everyone you are talking to have the same understanding? [/quote] Probably not. Thank you for pointing that out to me. I will refer to them as EMOHC's from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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