Holy_Cross_Liturgical_Ministry

PARISH OF THE HOLY CROSS

Liturgical Ministry Schedule

The assignments of the lectors, eucharistic ministers, altar servers and ushers are contained
in these files. Please arrange for a substitute, if you will be unable to keep your assignment.

To see the schedule, click on the link below. This is an Adobe PDF file.

Are you home on Wednesdays. Eucharistic Ministers are needed to bring
communion to our parishioners at Olsens on Wednesdays @ 10am.

Helpful Sites For Lector Preparation

By clicking on these links, you will be
leaving the Parish website
Http://www.lectorprep.org

Pronunciation Guide
For those Biblical names that
sometimes challenge us.
This is an Adobe pdf file.

Those who exercise a liturgical ministry at our worship are public people. While it’s obvious that the ordained ministers of bishops,
priests and deacons should model good liturgical behavior, carrying out their ministries with proper reverence and decorum, the same is
true for all liturgical ministers, including lay liturgical ministers. As everyone at the liturgy participates equally in the act of worship
according to their role within the body, lay liturgical ministers have just as much responsibility as role models for proper reverence and
decorum as do ordained ministers.

Now, before the letters start pouring in, let me say clearly that I am not against lay liturgical ministers, nor am I picking on them! Just the
opposite: they fulfill a genuine ministry of service to the body that is integral to the Church’s vision of what liturgy should be. The presence
of a variety of roles and ministers within the liturgy is presumed in the rites themselves. However, I think it is helpful for all of us, ordained
and lay, to take seriously the tremendous impact we have on the external aspects of our liturgies, and to be sure we are bringing to
liturgy the full sense of dignity, importance and reverence that the nature of the rites demand. (The same is true of everyone in the
assembly, namely, the “people in the pews.” Although this column is focused only on the ministers, it would be beneficial for everyone to
apply these thoughts to himself or herself.)

The first and most obvious area to think about is attire. This is a perennial problem in parishes because we live in a more casual society
than a generation or two ago. Occasions for which people dress up are fewer and fewer, and even the standard of what it means to be
“dressed up” has been “dressed down,” so to speak. Personally, I think this is a great loss, and I think liturgical ministers have to be
especially aware of this. To my mind, all who exercise a public ministry at liturgy (again, this really applies to everyone at Mass) should
be especially attentive to dressing up — not just dressing nicely or neatly, but dressing up. It boils down to not only a matter of respect for
the Lord (that’s obvious) but also a matter of respect for one’s brothers and sisters, and to acknowledging the centrality of the sacred
actions in which we are all engaged. Yes, it takes time and effort to change into our “Sunday best,” but that’s the whole point, isn’t it?
Mass (and all liturgy) is not just “business as usual” and not just something else we do. It is the prayer of Christ to the Father to which we
join ourselves, a celebration where God’s grace is effective in our life through the rituals of the Church. It is an occasion to acknowledge
the presence of God at liturgy and in one another. We often hear, “God doesn’t care how I’m dressed, as long as I’m there.” Well, maybe
not. I don’t presume to speak for God, but I will say I’m rather sure other people care: not because we’re being judgmental, but because
we don’t want to be a distraction, calling attention to ourselves and away from the ritual action. So, lectors, ushers, cantors,
instrumentalists, choir members, sacristans, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion: how do you dress for your ministry, and how
much effort do you put into your attire?

A second area is the idea just mentioned, not drawing attention to oneself — in other words, not obscuring the presence of Christ. No
one at liturgy, ordained or lay, is free to add or subtract or change anything (unless the ritual allows it) on his or her own. Sometimes we
like to add our own little signs of piety: unnecessary bowing or genuflecting, making the sign of the cross, etc. Doing these things is
distracting; liturgy is not about displaying our own preferences for gestures or signs of reverence, it’s about the communal act of worship.
In other words, it’s not about you or me! We need to be faithful to the corporate nature of worship. For lectors, for example, this includes
not adding little personal tidbits before or after readings. For extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, it means not adding any other
words (or names!) or gestures (blessing those who do not receive communion) to the formulae “The Body of Christ” and “The Blood of
Christ.”

A third thing to think about is that all ministers must remember to participate fully in the act. Sometimes ministers become distracted in
their ministry, as though they are performing a role that is somehow distinct from the liturgical action. Lectors might be reviewing the
General Intercessions during the Gospel reading or homily; cantors might be reading through the Responsorial Psalm during the
readings; instrumentalists might be fidgeting with music books or other papers when they are not playing; ushers might be walking
around in the back of the church, or talking to each other when they are not assisting people or taking up the collection. Everyone in the
assembly has the responsibility to be fully engaged in the communal actions taking place in addition to performing one’s specific
ministry. It is also important not to distract others from being engaged in the action; for example, latecomers should not be seated during
the proclamation of a reading or the singing of the Responsorial Psalm.

Finally, all liturgical ministers have the responsibility to grow in spirituality and competence in their ministry. Parishes are supposed to
have regular (semi-annual?) gatherings for liturgical ministers as opportunities for spiritual enrichment and to address business details
and practicalities. Ministers who do not attend these meetings are not living up to their responsibilities as people who are supposed to
give witness to being continually formed in the faith.

Over the next two years, we will be transitioning into the new translations for the celebration of Mass. Perhaps we can use this time of
transition to focus not only on the exterior of what we will be saying, but also on the other externals that are part of our behaviors at Mass
and other liturgies. We might just be surprised to discover how much the externals really have an effect on our interior participation.

Liturgical ministers as role models
by Msgr. Joseph DeGrocco

reprinted from The Long Island Catholic 11/11/09

Spring 2010

Spring 2nd Half 2010