Strengthen Your Brethren, Eucharistic Ministers Part 2 - September 17, 2006
As you recall, Father Dennis Worzalla, our senior priest in residence, recently spent several days being examined at Saint Michael Hospital due to significant failure of his kidneys. He did not let this deter him from his customary visit to his sister and brother-in-law in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Since arriving out east, however, his condition has not improved and he is once again hospitalized. Father’s spirits are good and he is confident that the physicians will discover the cause of the kidney malfunction. Please keep Father Worzalla and the medical professionals caring for him in your prayers. He very much looks forward to his return to Stevens Point at the end of this month at which time he can thank you in person for your kind remembrance in prayer!
At the 10:00 Mass this weekend we invoke God’s blessings on those who serve as catechists in our Religious Education Program: “With your fatherly blessing, Lord, strengthen these servants of yours in their resolve to dedicate themselves as catechists. Grant that they will strive to share with others what they themselves derive from pondering your Word and studying the Church’s teaching. And let them gladly join those they teach in honoring and serving your Name” (Book of Blessings, 507). Thank you to Phil Lawson, who coordinates our program, and to all the catechists for assisting our parents to form our children in the faith!
In last week’s discussion of the distribution of Holy Communion we were reminded that “by reason of their sacred Ordination, the ordinary ministers of Holy Communion are the bishop, the priest and the deacon” (Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum On Certain Matters to Be Observed or to Be Avoided Regarding the Most Holy Eucharist [25 March 2004], 154). In times of real necessity when ordinary ministers are not present in sufficient numbers or are impeded from distributing Communion due to physical limitations (for example, arthritis in the hip that prevents one from standing in one place for any length of time), “the priest may call upon extraordinary ministers to assist him, that is, duly instituted acolytes or even other faithful who have been deputed for this purpose” (General Instruction of the Roman Missal Third Typical Edition [20 April 2000], 162).
Members of the lay faithful of Saint Peter devotedly exercise this valuable service at Mass and in visiting our homebound and institutionalized parishioners. The “supplementary and extraordinary” (Instruction on Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-ordained Faithful in the Sacred Ministry of Priests [15 August 1997], 8.2) nature of this function is clearly manifested at Mass at Saint Peter insofar as the extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion: (1) are employed only when there are not sufficient priests (or deacons) present; (2) number only three at a normal Mass of the Lord’s Day; (3) wear around their neck a special emblem (a large cross) identifying them as extraordinary and do not wear the vesture of an ordinary minister (for example, the white alb); (4) do not perform any actions that could be mistakenly interpreted as if they were concelebrating (for example, flanking the celebrant at the altar in the sanctuary); (5) receive Holy Communion from an ordinary minister and do not self-communicate; (6) receive the communion set (ciborium) for distribution from the ordinary minister rather than take it directly off the altar; and (7) do not transfer the Eucharist from or to the tabernacle, a function that is fulfilled by an ordinary minister.
I invite you to prayerfully consider becoming an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. (1) Our parish can always use more people to assist with the distribution of Communion at Mass. With sufficient numbers this means being assigned to a weekend Mass once every four to six weeks. (2) Our greatest need, however, is for people to bring Holy Communion to our homebound parishioners. The scheduling of these visits is very flexible as you work it out with the person to whom you are bringing Communion. Please note, you can become an extraordinary minister to distribute Holy Communion only at Mass OR only to the homebound OR both at Mass and to the homebound. A conference for all current and prospective extraordinary ministers will be held in church on Tuesday, September 26, from 6:30-7:45 PM. I will personally conduct this training and refresher session. You may call the parish office to register.
Saint Peter, pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!