Catholic Sensibility

From my bulletin column last week: A change for Eucharistic Ministers: you’ve noticed it. I wanted to take some column space to explain it. In 2003, we revised Communion procedures to be in accord with the latest General Instruction on the Roman Missal (GIRM), the book that instructs parishes how to celebrate the Mass. The section in question (#162) reads as follows: “(Lay) ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion, and they are always to receive from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing either species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful.”

In his directive to parishes this past summer, which you may have read in the Catholic Key, Bishop Finn chose to interpret this passage more strictly, instructing that lay Eucharistic Ministers should “enter the sanctuary after the priest has received Communion ….” So the adjustment we’ve made is for Eucharistic Ministers to wait on the carpet until the priest receives from the chalice, then enter the sanctuary, where all other procedures continue as usual. Does this mean lay people are less-valued in the eyes of God? Not at all. Are these procedures that all-fired important? Yes and no. Procedures are important in the sense that they provide a framework for people to serve others at Mass and, for the sake of organization, they permit duties to be carried out with less distraction. In another sense, we cannot let ourselves get bogged down in details (with feelings of either dismay or triumph) and miss the bigger picture. Vatican II said it well: “... when the liturgy is celebrated, something more is required than the mere observation of the laws governing valid and licit celebration; … the faithful take part fully aware of what they are doing, actively engaged in the rite, and enriched by its effects.” Getting the procedure right isn’t the end of the job; it’s only square one. The real task is engaging people who come to Mass, helping them to full awareness, active engagement, and a spiritual enrichment for their lives. When procedures assist us in those ways, I support them. When they do not assist us toward these goals, we comply and then quickly move on to the more important things. For those dismayed by liturgy changes, I offer my open ear anytime, as well as the suggestion: let’s keep our eyes on the greater goal.