As I will state a few more times in this post, I'm not calling female servers evil. I'm saying that maybe the move wasn't the best one across the board.
First, as I've said before, if either of you have read my posts on this subject, you will both recognize that I am hardly a "cafeteria Catholic" or hardly a "CINO." That characterization applies to my family, as well: family Rosary, daily recitation of the Divine Office (frankly, my daughter only does the morning and evening office), etc.
I've read your posts when I've lurked on the Catholic threads, and based on that, I can attest to your point--I'd have to infer that you're an excellent role model for our youth. I just have to disagree with you on this issue, that's all.
If I came across as being harsh or outright aggressive, I'm very sorry. I wasn't trying to offend anyone or attempt to start an all-out flame war.
But what I'm trying to get at is that I believe the move was unwise from square one, IMO. It's definitely not the female servers or their families that are the problem--it was the decision to radically alter the then-current status quo. At the same time, there's neither anything to reverse it, nor is there necessarily any justifiable action to actually implementing it.
What I'm also essentially saying is that since serving was made such that young men could be inspired to the priesthood, and women cannot become priests, it IMHO doesn't make much sense. It's been done, nonetheless.
At the same time though, having female servers opens one more door to their moral formation. And, given our culture, moral formation is sorely needed, especially within my generation. Serving has helped with this. With all due respect, I believe all of us can agree on these last two statements.
I've also said that it's virtually impossible to return to the previous status quo, given the state of our society and our culture. The reform groups and women's organizations would just go beyond nuts over any change--such that by doing so, the Church in our nation loses its credibility, which in turn removes the largest band holding our eroding morals together.
Nor did I say that change has to occur overnight. Rather, if we eventually lowered the ratio of female to male servers, and opened up another avenue designed for moral formation of young women, it's my personal opinion that this would be the logical, natural, and more orthodox approach.
Personally, I'm in favor of returning to the status quo, though I recognize that the current move cannot be undone, nor in many cases would a reversal be a wise idea. Keep in mind that this is my personal, semi-educated opinion.
Like I said, if anything else, we can and ought to agree to disagree.
I was a server for eight and a half years (from 4th grade until my freshman year of college). And, in that time, I've slowly seen almost all the guys I know drop out of serving, and now in my parish, most of the servers are girls. And even then, most of them don't take their duties seriously7 I've seen talking, people wearing street clothes, and gratuitous flirting during Mass (though almost always when there's a male and a female server paired together), and all of it right next to the priest.
Though how it sounds, it seems like you have a good parish that was able to implement female servers and maintain the spiritual integrity, thus aiding in the fostering a devout home life.
Clearly, my parish is more of a polar opposite, and I'm in suburban metro Milwaukee to top it all off.
Every Sunday when I go to Mass, and when I notice what the servers do these days, I can't help but think how this came to be. What happened? is my biggest question.
What I'm saying is that having this has posed more problems than it's solved. Perhaps it wasn't the best solution to meet everyone's needs, or maybe it wasn't the decision itself, but how it was implemented.
Especially that when I joined, one of the purposes stated to us was to encourage young men to consider religious life.
And, like I said, I don't disagree that there are few serious avenues for people of my generation to actually partake in moral formation.
But then again, shouldn't we be addressing on all levels (parish, arch/diocesan, etc.)?
Perhaps we all can work on ideas to increase the moral formation of our youth, instead of going around trying to second-guess a decision that cannot be reversed, and is equally unwise to consider.
I do appreciate the constructive response. The "evil" and "spawn of Satan" comments were reflective of, what I perceived to be the general tone of the comments on the thread, not your specific responses.
I sympathize with the situation in your parish...I have seen a number of parishes in the Washington Archdiocese that are in similar condition.
My primary concern is for the moral formation of the girls of our parish and the lack of opportunity for reinforcement in the parishes, particularly where girls are concerned.
While I agree that it would, in a conceptual world, be more advantageous to allow only males to serve at the altar (bringing back memories of the "minor orders"), in this same conceptual world there would be an adequate number and type of confraternities either specifically targeted to young women or at least open to them where their inherent desire for increased formation and function within the Church could be fostered.
Unfortunately, at least in the area where I live, this simply doesn't exist. There is only CCD, CYO, and teen groups. CCD stops at eighth grade (here), CYO is likewise aimed at the younger crowd, and the teen group is, well, a social group and could, in no way, be considered any kind of a confraternity.
The point is that, at least in the parishes I'm familiar with, there are very few opportunities for either sex to augment the moral formation received in the home or to assist with vocations discernment, particularly for teens.
My position, as advocated by a number of other posters, is that I wouldn't object if new entrants to the ranks of altar servers were restricted to males only. But that provision would have to be accompanied by a provision of other opportunities for the formation of young women that would provide similar benefits.
My daughter has wanted to be a server since she received her First Communion (I am a lector so she sees that as an example). I am personally glad that the opportunity was available for her. I would have hated to be in a situation where I had to explain that her services were not needed. If there were other opportunities made available, then the issue would be one of re-directing rather than saying that her services aren't required.
But the bottom line is that a comprehensive solution to the problem of vocations and moral formation of the youth (to stimulate that interest in vocations) is needed. We can do what we can do at home, but reinforcement and support is needed from the Church, as well. When that happens, then there simply won't be an issue.