Recently, however, this begin to change when I was visiting relatives in a small country parish located deep in the South Texas brush, cattle, goat, and cactus country, not far from where John Wayne made "The Alamo."
The lady of the house pointed out that for many girls in such small out of the way places, training to become an altar server is the closest girls (as well as boys) can ever get to a Catholic Religious Education.
In this case, at least, the results were pretty impressive.
At Communion time every altar server, boy or girl, was ready with her (or his) long-handled wooden deal with a round thing at the end. I was impressed, as I hadn't seen them used in years, outside traditional Latin Masses.
"So, what say? Yea or Nay? Do we keep on with altar girls in the future? Or do we throw the baby out with the bath water?"
Thanks!
Dennis
Starting girl altar boys was dumb.
Stopping them abrubtly would be even dumber.
I think it was a bad idea from the beginning. That said, I have heard of one pastor who uses it to "recruit" girls for the religious life. The boy and girl altar servers have separate retreats and events, and the girls are encouraged to think about becoming nuns or sisters, while the boys are encouraged to think about the priesthood.
That said, I don't think they can be stopped until the real bane of everybody's existence, the hebes (cupbearers, that is, the little old ladies who "distribute" Communion every three feet down the aisle of the church) are done away with. There's no need for them.
Interestingly, it sounds in the case of your church as if they must give Communion the old style.
Allowing of altar girls was THE WORST mistake of Pope John Paul II papacy, and no amount of sugar coating in my eyes can justify such a rupture of tradition.
The girls at the parish you mentioned have plenty of other chances to gain a religous education rather than pushing boys off the altar. Thorw the baby out with the bathwater? Sorry, the whole mess is pure poison.
That's a patten.
I have two little girls and I have absolutely no problem telling them that serving on the altar is a boy's job. Not that they couldn't do the actual physical tasks, and in many cases do them better, but it is a step in discerning a vocation to the priesthood.
My three year old already knows all the altar terms and how they are used (thank you catechism of the Good Shepard). She isn't going to miss out by not being up there on the altar performing. And she's smart enough to know that at an early age.
Bad idea...even in Bracketville.
"At Communion time every altar server, boy or girl, was ready with her (or his) long-handled wooden deal with a round thing at the end. I was impressed, as I hadn't seen them used in years, outside traditional Latin Masses"
Why not? Are they priests?
There is no such thing as the "American Catholic Church". And, no.
The lady of the house pointed out that for many girls in such small out of the way places, training to become an altar server is the closest girls (as well as boys) can ever get to a Catholic Religious Education.
What, they have no parents?
Female altar servers should be continued, and I say that as a former altar boy.
Opposed suh, unalterably opposed.
(From "Advise and Consent" for the multitude of you too young to remember).
Should the American Catholic Church Continue with Altar Girls, Yea or Nay?
Of course!