The Eucharistic Revival: An Altar Server's Perspective
[ 6 minute read ]
Our hands may be 'Marthas', but our hearts are 'Marys'.
We at Saint John Henry Newman Catholic Church, Victoria, BC, a community of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, are blessed with devoted altar servers who, thanks to ongoing formation provided by our priests and by consulting vital approved liturgical resources, understand the need to pray their roles in the Liturgy. Divine Worship, the Mass of the Ordinariate, makes it easy to enter into prayerful service by virtue of its sheer beauty and goodness.
Our clergy are excellent preachers and modellers of the Faith. They, like so many of us at Saint John Henry's, are converts from elsewhere: Anglicanism, continuing Anglicanism, the Traditional Anglican Church/ACCC, Methodism; Protestant evangelical and pentecostal communities; Lutheranism; atheism; and so on. Many lifelong Catholics attend; among them are reverts to the Faith. A few Byzantine Catholics regularly attend. All there present cherish the sublime gift of the Holy Eucharist and strive to honour the Lord. The many children who hug their parents' legs or rest in their mothers' arms - or sing their own version of the hymns whenever they want... yes, this is a Catholic community with lots of young ones! - are transfixed when brought up for a blessing as their parents receive Holy Communion on the tongue.
Pleasing God
Some might think that it is difficult to pray while serving, given that we altar servers appear to be the "Marthas" of the parish, always busy about the sanctuary. "Distractions" are hardly distractions, however, when every act (of sitting, kneeling, bowing, singing, serving) is glued to the intention to please God.
The intention to please God allows one to be guided by the hand of God and to be immersed in prayerful service. By the grace of God, every action can be a channel through which the Lord liberates one's attention to enable one to remain concentrated. Sure, there are those moments when one gets hung up on a benign omission. Tiredness can slow the mind and inhibit one's response time. A younger server's attention might drift toward all those fascinating people in the nave of the church, among them one's siblings and parents. The cry of a child can seize one's attention for a brief moment. Distractions can test our composure, refine our disposition to God's grace, and deepen prayer.
Bearing the ciborium containing the hosts for consecration and the water and wine cruets as one ascends up to the predella to meet the priest, a server is mindful that those gifts are symbols of himself and all those present. The bread and wine image our self offering to God. At the hands of His priest, the Lord transforms those gifts into Himself. Jesus offers Himself to us. Jesus is really and truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. During Holy Communion, we are consumed by the Lord Whom we consume. Our service is consummated, crowned, by the Lord we receive in Holy Communion.
God is always present to us.
A most beautiful and good reason for serving? Jesus is really Present, there present in the hands of the priest, held aloft, adored and consumed.
The altar server has a privileged place in liturgical celebrations. Those who serve at Mass present themselves to a community. They experience from close at hand that Jesus Christ is present and active in every liturgy. Jesus is present whenever the community gathers to pray and give praise to God. Jesus is present in the words of Sacred Scripture. Jesus is present above all in the Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine. He acts through the priest who celebrates Holy Mass and administers the sacraments in persona Christi [in the person of Christ]. Therefore in the liturgy you are far more than mere "helpers of the parish priest". Above all, you are servants of Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest. Thus you altar servers especially are called to be young friends of Jesus. Strive to deepen and foster this friendship with him. You will discover that in Jesus you have found a true friend for life. - POPE (SAINT) JOHN PAUL II GENERAL AUDIENCE, Wednesday 1 August 2001.
Take to one and all that love which you receive in the Liturgy, especially to places where you realize that they lack love, where they do not receive goodness, where they suffer and are lonely. With the power of the Holy Spirit, try to take Jesus to those very people who are outcast, who are not very popular or have problems. With the power of the Holy Spirit, it is precisely there that you must take Jesus. In this way, the Bread you see broken upon the altar will be shared and multiplied even more, and you, like the Twelve Apostles, will help Jesus distribute it to the people of today in their different walks of life. So it is, dear Altar Servers, that my last words to you are: May you always be friends and apostles of Jesus Christ! - BENEDICT XVI GENERAL AUDIENCE St Peter's Square Wednesday, 2 August 2006, Special catechesis for the European Pilgrimage of Altar Servers.
Adore God in spirit and in truth.
A renewal of reverence for the Holy Eucharist may wisely include the deep formation of the altar servers whose actions model for others an appropriate disposition during the Mass and beyond. Well trained altar servers can bring to others a necessary sense of decorum appropriate in the temple of the Lord. Reverent servers model the selfless service, humility and sober fervour of a disciple of Jesus Christ, an example that others may be and usually are inspired to embrace. This "organic" approach to renewal helps people encounter and then embody the desired change in a way that appeals to and configures the whole person - mind, body and spirit - to the Presence and action of Jesus.
Joined to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered by the priest, our service is an intercession before the Lord on behalf of our brothers and sisters. Our loving actions - the movements, the responses, the gestures - mirror those of the angels before the throne of God. Our intentions, purified of egoism and pride, align with the intentions of the pure spirits adoring the Lord in majesty.
Catechesis
As good as book and video catechetical programs may be to any renewal, and can indeed be effective contributions to the formation of faithful disciples, the opportunity for the brethren to encounter and participate in reverent service, be served by and to be formed through the generous witness of others, provides disciples with a content rich approach that:
- allows all to freely identify fundamental ways of whole-heartedly worshipping the Lord;
- informs and supports us to be better disciples, to be "servants of Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest";
- avoids the fatigue created by verbose approaches that often fall flat on lazy ears;
- allows children to identify with their siblings who are servers and other young people who are engaged and engaging;
- provides for positive, holy intergenerational engagement whereby the Faith is shared between adults and young people, and wisdom is learned and practiced.
Authentic Lay Leadership
- To augment the formation of people in the pew, a homily might include a brief mention of the 'how and what' of altar service.
- A well trained altar server corps is capable of functioning interdependently. Members can evangelize parents and recruit peers, and free up time for the pastor to concentrate on other equality important matters that can help him find balance in his own life and service.
- A well trained corps helps facilitate a culture of prayer: praise, adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, supplication (PACTS).
Living the Eucharist
The Holy Ghost crafts us (servers) into icons of service for the edification of others. Through our service at the altar of God, the Holy Ghost forms others into joyful, serene and confident missionaries of the Holy Eucharist for the salvation of souls.
The "conversation" between the sanctuary and nave of the church can be one that helps all to be habitually oriented to Jesus during the Mass and in daily life.
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