Here’s another question for you. Does your parish use a lot of extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion?
And if so, how? I’m asking cautiously, because I know this is a popular ministry.
In the Catholics in Australia 2022 survey, it was the second most popular parish role, next to reading at Mass.
I also know that different dioceses in Australia have different guidelines about this.
I’m an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion myself—but only for sick rounds at the local aged care home.
Back in 2004 the Vatican issued an instruction called Redemptionis Sacramentum.
It says that you might use extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion at Mass:
“only when the priest is prevented by weakness or advanced age or some other genuine reason, or when the number of faithful coming to Communion is so great that the very celebration of Mass would be unduly prolonged.
“This, however, is to be understood in such a way that a brief prolongation, considering the circumstances and culture of the place, is not at all a sufficient reason.” (s158).
So if you have a thousand people at Mass on a Sunday, and it’s just Father up the front, distributing Holy Communion even under one species might make Mass too long.
Do you attend a parish with over a thousand people at every Sunday Mass? If so, please email me at philippa.martyr@gmail.com immediately.
I think people would like to know about your parish and would like to come along and join you some time.
But I strongly suspect that most parishes in Australia are doing well if they get around 200-300 people to any single Sunday Mass.
“The distribution of Holy Communion should never be rushed. It’s too important for that.”
That’s not a big crowd. And if you’re getting around 30-40 people at each weekday Mass, that’s also not a big crowd.
It’s unlikely that these parishes really need the help of extraordinary ministers to distribute Holy Communion.
In some parishes they’ll even double up as readers at the same Mass, which actually isn’t permitted.
And then there’s the question of both species. I’m genuinely curious, now that we’re on the other side of COVID19.
Has your parish gone back to distributing Holy Communion under both kinds?
I used to love receiving Holy Communion in this way before COVID19.
But I am also aware that the way it was done in many parishes was sometimes sloppy and careless.
For example, “dunking” of a host into the chalice is not permitted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
And yet I saw it happen so often. I have also seen more spillage on carpet than I care to remember.
You receive the whole Jesus, body, blood, soul and divinity, in the host alone. Give him a chance to be enough for you, and you won’t be disappointed.
But if people are keen on both species, I’ve always liked the intinction set. The priest intincts the host in the blood of Christ and places it directly on the person’s tongue.
But not everyone really likes that way of receiving Holy Communion.
So let’s assume that you’re only using one species, and you’re in a parish with 500 people at every Sunday Mass.
Well done! You’re clearly doing something right.
But you could probably manage with a priest and just a single acolyte or suitably mature altar server to act as the extraordinary minister of Holy Communion.
The distribution of Holy Communion should never be rushed. It’s too important for that.
But we probably don’t need to fill up the sanctuary with lay people for the sake of shaving one minute off a four-minute distribution process.
I would totally support a diocesan-level rule that if it’s only one species, the priest and acolytes should distribute Holy Communion unless the congregation is larger than 300 people at a single Mass.
Where and when could your parish use all those other extraordinary ministers? At Christmas and the Easter Triduum.
There are usually big crowds of people at these Masses, and Holy Communion can get a bit chaotic.
They can also help assist the parish priest by taking Holy Communion to the sick and housebound.
Please understand that I’m not saying extraordinary ministers are a bad thing and should be stopped. I’m not.
I’m just saying that we use them a lot in Australia when we really don’t need to. And I think it’s because we’ve got muddled ideas about “active participation.”
It’s like if we don’t all have a task to do during Mass, then we’re not really taking part.
This isn’t true. And now might be a good time to review this.
