FRIDAY POTPOURRI: HELP WANTED

GIRM 107 - 110

My father was a difficult man with whom to play volley ball.  He was that guy that liked to play everybody’s position for them.  I could stand through an entire game and not have to to

uch the ball. 

In the same way, liturgists will tell us that ministries should not be all done by one person: lecturing, serving, and distributing communion all at one Mass.  Neither should they be artificially divided up in order to give as many people as possible a chance to “do a ministry.” So, for example, a reading should not be divided up between lectors, one starting, one reading the middle, one reading the end of any given reading.  The noted exception noted being the Passion.

The priests, save for those parts that are explicitly allowed, are not permitted to divide their roles up such as, “I’ll take the Liturgy of the World and you take the Liturgy of the Eucharist.”  Deacons can do that however such as the above example or one takes the singing parts and one does the working parts . . . 

Different ministries can be done by one person if there is a lack of ministers.  So if you were serving and there was nobody else available, you could also do the readings but this is clearly a permit-able but none-the-less exception to the rule.

Remembering Pope Emeritus’s writings however, the MOST IMPORTANT JOB for the lay faithful at the Mass is to PRAY THE MASS.  This is essential.  Those doing the readings or ushering or serving are not “getting to do more,” they are in some ways being distracted from doing the most important job: that of giving glory and praise to God - offering themselves for all that their Father has given them.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: SUITED AND PREPARED

Nobody has a right to any ministry at Mass save for the most important one which is to pray the Mass and offer up your own sacrifice.  Nobody has a right to be an altar server, EMHC, or even reader.  It is never recommended that someone be given a ministry to perform who can’t quite do it in order to be “fair.”  When the ministry becomes about a certain person, it is their mishaps or inadequacies that becomes the focus and the prayer of the congregation suffers.  

So, for example, in the absence of an installed lector, a reader may do the readings.  But, according to paragraph 101 in the GIRM, this person should be, “truly suited to carrying out this function and carefully prepared.”  This is so that when a reader reads, he or she does not become the focus of attention but that they become a finger pointing toward God, or, as the GIRM itself says, this is so that the congregation, “by their hearing the readings from the sacred texts  . . . may conceive in their hearts a sweet and living affection for Sacred Scripture.”

Of course, there is a certain amount of leeway here.  There is no universal test to be a lector.  Everybody has an opinion.  Readings should be more/less dramatically read.  They should be read more quickly/slowly.  There are considerations to be weighed such as how adequate of a sound system, if any, is used, how echoey is the space, to what group of people is the reading being proclaimed.  Absolute rules are difficult to put down for universal observance other than, “suited” and “prepared.”

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: THE ALMOST FORGOTTEN MINISTRY

GIRM paragraphs 98 & 99

Before becoming a priest or permanent deacon, a man must become an installed acolyte and an installed lector.  As a matter of fact, two seminarians who are associated with St. Sebastian, Mike Petkosik and Brian Petro are being installed as lectors this evening.  Please say a prayer for them.  Congratulations guys!

One thing that they make perfectly clear every year: this is not a step to the priesthood (though one must be installed as both an acolyte and lector before being ordained.)  But a layman may also share in these ministries if they are installed as such by the bishop.  This is different than being an alter server or a reader (open to just about any Catholic) at the Mass and involves greater responsibilities.

Interestingly enough, these two ministries are reserved for men.  And just like the case is that when a priest is concelebrating the Mass that he, as an ordinary minister of Holy Communion is to fulfill that role before and extraordinary ministry of Holy Communion, if an installed acolyte or lector is at the Mass, he should really fulfill that ministry before someone who has not been installed by the bishop.

 Besides those preparing for holy orders, I do not believe we have any further installed lay persons in the diocese.  At one time, the cathedral had only installed acolytes serving but they were disbanded in favor of expanding service at the altar to a broader number of people.  I would guess this would have happened about 25 years ago or so.

I do remember when John Paul II (now saint) allowed female altar servers.  It was intended for mission countries where the lack of boys (because they were working in the fields or whatnot) were not available.  As per usual, the United States picked up on it and ran with it and today it is far more common to have female servers than not.  If one reads the decree, it did say that where it is possible to retain the tradition of having all boys, it should be retained.  I think this was the incident that cause Mother Angelica to have her order return to the full habit.  

Aren’t we an interesting bunch?

It’s difficult enough running a parish.  I can’t imagine being responsible for the Church.  Every little thing you say, do, or decree not matter how well intentioned falls on deaf ears in some circles, causes undo rejoicing in others and major distress and anger in still others with unforeseen consequences.  Good thing it is the Holy Spirit at the helm.

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: DO YOU HAVE A READ ON THIS?

Paragraph 59 of the GIRM

Okay, I was wrong.

Live and learn.

So one of the very few sadnesses that I have becoming a priest is no longer having the opportunity to read Paul.  Too often he is read like this (which I know some people prefer)  

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. ;>)

How fun he can be to read however!

YOU, my brothers and sisters, were CALLED. TO. BE. FREE.            But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another.  Humbly.  In love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you BITE and DEVOUR each other, watch out! or you will be destroyed by each other.

As the celebrant, it is rare that we do not have a reader so I don't get to read him.  Almost as rarely do I get to read the Gospel because we have a VERY dedicated and great deacon who assists at almost every Mass.  UNFORTUNATELY he broke his ankle (stay off ladders dude!  There are plenty of people in the parish who will climb them for you!) so the job of reading the Gospel was opened for a spell. 

So I'm all excited that I get to read the Gospel for a spell.  THEN - preparing for today's post I read that perhaps I was not the preferred person to read the Gospel.  (sigh)

Here is the scoop on who is to read what:

Proclaiming the readings is not a presidential function (done by the celebrant) but a ministerial one.  First preference is that the readings are done by a lector or reader.  The Gospel is most properly proclaimed by a deacon.  If there is no deacon ANOTHER PRIEST (who is not the celebrant.)  Ah!  We had an embarrassment of riches for a short spell here at St. Sebastian, which came to and end yesterday of all days.  As a matter of fact, we had three priests on for Mass yesterday morning.  I was the celebrant and as such was not the one to read the Gospel.  It was properly the role of one of the other priests.  ONLY IF the deacon and other priests are not present should the celebrant read the Gospel.  And if there is no "suitable reader"  (it is not a right, one MUST be able to to do this well) then the celebrant may read the readings.

Now, I know to many it may appear that all these rubrics seem rather silly.  "Who cares who reads what?"  Right?  But there is always a reason behind every one of these rubrics.  Remember that we had 2,000 years to work up to this and many things are put into place to solve problems and misunderstandings.  When even simple things are misunderstood, they can lead to much larger misinterpretations that speed and cause huge problems.  So - proclaiming Paul - is this a presidential function?  Can nobody else do this?  Is the person who proclaims Paul acting in persona Christi?  Does one need to be ordained to do this?      (These were just a few things off the top of my head - I'm sure there are much better reasons if given a chance to think about it.)

MASS BY THE NUMBERS

Years ago my family was heavily involved in the restoration of an old silent movie theater in my hometown. It became the home of a professional company that produced shows for younger audiences and families. The family reupholstered every seat, installed windows, repaired plaster and painted, cleaned, and any other number of odd and dirty jobs to get the theater up and running often spending long hours late into the night.

The day the theater was to open they worked until the last possible moment, went home, showered and changed, and came back and ushered for a great little show called, “Cheaper by the Dozen.” When the show was done the director stood up to offer thanks for all those who played a role in the opening of the theater. Those who played obvious roles in the production, those who gave much money, those who were important people from the city were all given gushing thanks and flowers, but no mention was made of anybody who volunteered to do the actual grimy work of making the building itself useful let alone presentable.

As such things go, the people who were forgotten didn’t mind so much, it was those who love those who were forgotten that were hot under the collar. (Read: Me.)

I suppose that is one reason (as you all well know) I am so opposed to clapping at mass. Those for whom we clap of course do work many hard hours and deserve some recognition. But have you ever stopped to consider how many people it takes to make mass possible at an average size parish on a typical weekend; those whose efforts are not always obvious but whose services are heavily depended upon none-the-less? (We may not notice some of them when they do their job, but we would sure notice when they did not!)

Consider the numbers.

Here are some of the people that you might need for the whole weekend.

SEXTON - A sexton is the person who gets to church earlier than everyone else because he unlocks the place. Of course this role is often undertaken by the priest, sacristan, or janitor so we won’t count it.

SACRISTAN – This is the person who gets everything ready for mass by making sure all the altar appointments are ready and what not. Some places have a sacristan (or two!) for each mass others have only one. For the sake of argument we will count two for a whole weekend.

JANITORS AND ALTAR GUILDS – The church has to be cleaned. Even if there is a cleaning company (rare) there are still some things that need extra care. Let us suppose that you have one janitor and three Ladies who change candles, straighten books, and polish the brass.

LAUNDERER – All the altar linens must be cleaned in a special way. That is, they cannot be simply thrown in the wash. In addition they must also be ironed and in some cases, such as with corporals, heavily starched. Then there are the server’s cassocks and surpluses or albs and such things often done by another team of people. Let us cut the difference and say that there are two people doing everything.

ART & ENVIRONMENT – You might have one person doing this or a whole committee handling this. Then again, it might just be the pastor! They decorate for the high holy days as well as make sure the sanctuary is properly appointed throughout the year. The also keep the plants watered and make sure everything is in keeping with the liturgical season. Let’s say you have a three person committee that does everything from setting up the Christmas trees to having flowers at the Marian shrine in May.

COORDINATORS OF MINISTRIES – Somebody has to keep track of the servers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and lectors, assign them to the masses and make sure they are showing up. This is a huge logistical job. Most of the parishes I have been at have three different persons doing this so I will use the number three.

LITURGIST OR LITURGY COMMITTEE – Some places have this, others don’t, and many that do are using people already being mentioned so I will not add numbers for them.

MONEY COUNTERS – A delicate topic indeed, but necessary none-the-less. It is best to have at least three people and to have at least three teams of three. But for the sake of argument, we will only count three in total.

Now hear is a list of people that need for every mass on each weekend.

SERVERS – I like to use many, but here I am only allowed three a mass, and since many people only use two, so perhaps three works out to be average.

LECTORS – Let us just say one though many people use two.

EMHC – Here is bone of contention. I know some people will say that they are overused and maybe so, but that is not the point here. To keep mass under an hour here we use about eleven per mass.

MUSICIANS – This is hard to calculate. You might have a choir so let us assume there are 20 people in it. And there might be three more masses at which there is only an instrumentalist and a cantor. Let us average it out to six people per mass.

USHERS & GREETERS – Often these are the same people. How about we only use four for per mass though at this parish we usually have six.

CLERGY – Of course you need a priest and some places there are deacons. Let us count that as two.

GIFT BEARERS – At least two.

So, the total number of people needed to get the parish up and running for a weekend with four masses is:

Those needed only once: 17
Those we multiplied by 4 to cover all the masses: 116
For a grand total of: 133

(And we didn't even get into those who work with the RCIA or, as is in some places, youngsters and the like.)

Your parish may have a great deal more people in these roles or somewhat less. But these are the people I have in mind when I baulk (thanks for the correction in spelling) at singling obvious people out for applause at mass.

These (what Pope Benedict emphasizes as) secondary roles make it possible for the Church to fulfill their primary role of prayer and worship. They are not more involved because they get to “do something”, everybody is doing something and most of the people are doing the most important thing. But it is nice when ALL of the “secondary – though necessary – jobs” are done well. It sure makes life a lot easier and more pleasant.

So for all you unsung behind the scenes people out there: THANK YOU!

THE FIRST, THE LAST, AND THE ONLY II

(Continued from yesterday. Here are some specific suggestions for people who take up different ministries at mass.)

EMHC, be careful about referring to the sacred species as bread and wine as in, “Am I distributing Bread or Wine today?” You know what you mean and I know what you mean, but unfortunately far too many other people do not. Try to use more specific terms such as Body and Blood.

Also, guard against becoming “used to” your ministry. Remind yourself often of the awesome and sacred task that you are permitted to do. Make that a part of your prayer. The first time I ever distributed the Body of Christ was in the seminary. Every host that I distributed was like giving away a piece of my heart. And the incredible unworthiness I felt giving Him to His priests that were in attendance but not concelebrating was almost overwhelming. Do you remember the first time you distributed? Try to recapture the awe and the reverence you had. The miraculous in the abundance we have access to it as ministers of His Body and Blood can become common to us through familiarity. We have a special duty to fight that mind set.

Lastly, we must fight against falling into a rhythm of distributing Him to people as if laying down playing cards, “Body of Christ Body of Christ Body of Christ . . .” Wait for the “Amen”, which signifies their agreement with your statement. Be deliberate.

Lectors, treat your book with care and reverence. Always handle it with both hands, opening it, closing it, and setting it down as if it were an ancient and valuable manuscript for in many ways it is.

Servers you are one of the very public faces of the parish. You have a particular calling to not only participate inwardly but outwardly by making the responses, singing, and making the appropriate gestures well as one of your many roles is to be an example for the congregation and lead those who may not be familiar. And how solemnly you do your job will go a long way in setting the tone for the entire parish. More than you think! (See yesterday’s post.)

Musicians, speaking to you as a former church musician, I know you put in more work than anyone knows. (Many people assume you show up at the wedding or funeral or Easter mass, play for your hour and go home. What is the big deal? You and I know better.) You start practicing for Christmas when the only other people in the world thinking of Christmas is K-tell, but you don’t actually start singing the music until everyone else stops. And though you are singing Christmas on the weekend, you are already practicing the Easter cycle during the week. You too set the tone (pun intended) for the parish. If you do your job poorly you drive everyone nuts. I once had mass with Pope John Paul in his private chapel. There were about five Polish nuns trying to sing harmony in the back of the chapel. They were horrible. And that is a charitable understatement. There I was in the center of Christendom with the Pope and what do I remember most clearly? Remember, Saint Augustine did not say, “He who sings prays twice”, he said. “He who sing well prays twice.”

At times you will be busy with folders or sheets of music. It happens. Emergencies crop up. (Communion is going long. Offertory is going short. I did not know Father was going to do this today! Quick! Get out . . .) But be vigilant to return to prayer as quickly as possible. Your music must be a reflection of your prayer.

Ushers, I don’t know you, but I know you are cool. You have something short of a secret society. I was never an usher and feel less for it. You are a cross between an airline attendant, Swiss Guard, a Brinks Truck Driver and a bouncer. My God Father and Uncle Leo was an usher. He was 6’5”, big, had a gruff voice, and nobody messed with him. He always seemed to collect more money than anyone no matter what section he was assigned.

Ushers always have the best stories. My current favorite is about a group of ushers who caught a thief at one of our local parishes. Someone came in dressed in a coat and tie, picked up a basket, made a collection and walked out the back door. The ushers caught him though. He came back the next week for a second take.

Ushers, I have three bits of advice for you. First, you are pulled away from mass a lot. Do your best to keep it to a minimum. God and your worship of Him is always the most important thing that you do. Secondly strive more than anyone to be gracious to strangers. You are many times the one person with whom a visitor makes contact. My last parish had 4,500 families. It was hard for people to get to know others or make contact. It was like trying to get to know a city. Conversely, my home parish at its zenith was only 200 families but it was very closed owing to most of the people either being related or Slovenian. You can be the difference between people thinking a parish cold or friendly. Lastly, remember this: Those who most need love are seldom those who deserve it.

No matter what any of us do the Church will survive. As I’ve said before it is not we that will save the Catholic Church, the Catholic Church is there to save us. But we may be the source in which the faith is saved in an individual.

I CAN READ YOU LIKE A BOOK

One of the greatest sadnesses of my priesthood is that I rarely get to proclaim Paul anymore. Like him or hate him, you have to admit his passion and his gut wrenching emotion shine through in these powerful epistles. This is true even for those who think that our current translations are abysmal. So it kills me to hear somebody proclaim him with all the passion of reading aloud a grocery list.

Love is patient
Love is kind
Love is not jealous
Love is not pompous
Love is not inflated
Two cans of tomato paste
Butter
Milk
Lettuce
Bag of Dan Dee Cheese Curls: economy size

On Pentecost Day there was a reading form the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-11). The people, it says, were astounded and amazed! They were all from different places where different languages were spoken yet each heard what was being said in his native tongue. It would be as though we were saying, “There were guys there from Italy and Greece. There was a couple we met from Zimbabwe and a nice lady from El Salvador. There was a youth group from Russia and some sisters from Argentina, brothers from Singapore, priests from Hong Kong and some teens from Canada yet all of us heard what the apostles were saying in our native languages! It was mind blowing! We all stared at each other filled with the Holy Spirit and amazement!” Yet one of the renditions I heard was a close imitation of the teacher in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” reading the attendance sheet, “Bueller . . .Bueller . . .Bueller . . .”

I will grant you there is a fine line in proclaiming between simply reading and being theatrical. Grandiose theatrics can be as annoying as reading deadpan can be uninspiring. Read it like a letter (which it is) written specifically to you and this community (which it is) with the awe and wonder of having the privilege of reading to this people as if it is new for you and the first time those gathered to hear it. To that end, here are a few humble suggestions (HA!) I offer lectors in their ministry.

Never (make it an exception to the rule when you do) emphasize a pronoun, they emphasize themselves. When you do over emphasize them your listeners may miss the truly important point of the sentence. For example, do not read, “Not that HE might not offer HIMSELF repeatedly . . .” but rather, “Not that he might not offer himself REPEATEDLY . . .”

To that end, it is wise to find the important words in a sentence (this gets easier with practice) and make sure your inflections emphasize them. For example, “May the EYES of your HEARTS be ENLIGHTENED . . .”

When reading lists of things do not read them like a grocery list nor read everything as if it were all equally important (even if it is). To deemphasize everything is to lead your listener into daydreams of the BBQ that they will be having later, and to emphasize everything as being important is to render everything bland. The trick is to find gems in the list that are important to you and emphasize those. That will catch your listener’s attention.

Love is patient,
Love is kind.
IT IS NOT JEALOUS,
It is not pompous.

Study what you are going to read. What is the point of the whole reading? Make your proclamation build to that point. Is there more than one point? Choose one to emphasize. Talk to the homilist of the mass, is there a particular line from the reading that he is building upon which you can help emphasize? Determine what kind of writing it is. Is it a story? Is it an admonition? Is the writer angry, excited, or happy? All these will determine how you proclaim the reading.

Practice. Record yourself occasionally. Do you sound interesting to you? Do you sound like a credible witness to the truth of the message?

Buy yourself a little pronunciation guide. Look up words. There has been more than one parish that has had “flaming brassiere” read instead of “flaming brazier”. Don’t be that person!

Forever I would preach on a certain passage that came up every year during the week. As fate would have it, each year the same lector would read about the “Eeknocks.” Year in and year out, “Eeknocks”. And year in and year out I would say, “And then the Eeknocks, some people call them eunuchs . . .”

In all seriousness lectors, you have a terribly awesome responsibility. It is not to be taken lightly. If you feel this is too much work, think about stepping down. For those who strive to carry on this ministry, remember to pray. Pray the readings to be proclaimed, pray that you proclaim them well, pray for those who will hear you, pray that all who hear including yourself will be challenged and transformed by Him.