EME or EMHC?

What term do you use in your community?

I'm not an expert on this topic but I do remember my priest, Father Dynek, in 2003 informing our community that EME refers to the priest. Eucharistic Minister is the name used to designate the priest. Those lay people who distribute communion should be referred to as EMHC (Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Communion) since they are extra-ordinary not part of the ordinary distribution of the Communion.

So, for 10 years now, I've continued to say EMHC and everyone else still continues to say EME's. Most likely because it's easier to say EME's over EMHC's. Maybe instead of saying the "Eucharist Ministers" we should say the "Extraordinary Ministers".


But this is what the Pope said:

This is incorrect termniology. The Vatican has repeatedly made statements that the correct wording should be used.


Quote:
Need for an Appropriate Terminology

In his address to participants at the Symposium on "Collaboration of the Lay Faithful with the Priestly Ministry", the Holy Father emphasised the need to clarify and distinguish the various meanings which have accrued to the term "ministry" in theological and canonical language.(53)

§ 1. "For some time now, it has been customary to use the word ministries not only for the officia (officies) and non-ordained (functions) munera exercised by Pastors in virtue of the sacrament of Orders, but also for those exercised by the lay faithful in virtue of their baptismal priesthood. The terminological question becomes even more complex and delicate when all the faithful are recognized as having the possibility of supplying-by official deputation given by the Pastors-certain functions more proper to clerics, which, nevertheless, do not require the character of Orders. It must be admitted that the language becomes doubtful, confused, and hence not helpful for expressing the doctrine of the faith whenever the difference 'of essence and not merely of degree' between the baptismal priesthood and the ordained priesthood is in any way obscured".(54)

§ 2. "In some cases, the extension of the term "ministry" to the munera belonging to the lay faithful has been permitted by the fact that the latter, to their own degree, are a participation in the one priesthood of Christ. The officia temporarily entrusted to them, however, are exclusively the result of a deputation by the Church. Only with constant reference to the one source, the 'ministry of Christ' (...) may the term ministry be applied to a certain extent and without ambiguity to the lay faithful: that is, without it being perceived and lived as an undue aspiration to the ordained ministry or as a progressive erosion of its specific nature.

In this original sense the term ministry (servitium) expresses only the work by which the Church's members continue the mission and ministry of Christ within her and the whole world. However, when the term is distinguished from and compared with the various munera and officia, then it should be clearly noted that only in virtue of sacred ordination does the work obtain that full, univocal meaning that tradition has attributed to it." (55)

§ 3. The non-ordained faithful may be generically designated "extraordinary ministers" when deputed by competent authority to discharge, solely by way of supply, those offices mentioned in Canon 230, § 3(56) and in Canons 943 and 1112. Naturally, the concrete term may be applied to those to whom functions are canonically entrusted e.g. catechists, acolytes, lectors etc.

Temporary deputation for liturgical purposes — mentioned in Canon 230, § 2 — does not confer any special or permanent title on the non-ordained faithful.(57)

It is unlawful for the non-ordained faithful to assume titles such as "pastor", "chaplain", "coordinator", " moderator" or other such similar titles which can confuse their role and that of the Pastor, who is always a Bishop or Priest.(58)


This specifically applies to an EMHC:


Quote:
§ 1. The canonical discipline concerning extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion must be correctly applied so as to avoid generating confusion. The same discipline establishes that the ordinary minister of Holy Communion is the Bishop, the Priest and the the Deacon.(96) Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are those instituted as acolytes and the faithful so deputed in accordance with Canon 230, § 3.(97)

A non-ordained member of the faithful, in cases of true necessity, may be deputed by the diocesan bishop, using the appropriate form of blessing for these situation, to act as an extraordinary minister to distribute Holy Communion outside of liturgical celebrations ad actum vel ad tempus or for a more stable period. In exceptional cases or in un foreseen circumstances, the priest presiding at the liturgy may authorize such ad actum.(98)

§ 2. Extraordinary ministers may distribute Holy Communion at eucharistic celebrations only when there are no ordained ministers present or when those ordained ministers present at a liturgical celebration are truly unable to distribute Holy Communion.(99) They may also exercise this function at eucharistic celebrations where there are particularly large numbers of the faithful and which would be excessively prolonged because of an insufficient number of ordained ministers to distribute Holy Communion. (100)

This function is supplementary and extraordinary (101) and must be exercised in accordance with the norm of law. It is thus useful for the diocesan bishop to issue particular norms concerning extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion which, in complete harmony with the universal law of the Church, should regulate the exercise of this function in his diocese. Such norms should provide, amongst other things, for matters such as the instruction in eucharistic doctrine of those chosen to be extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, the meaning of the service they provide, the rubrics to be observed, the reverence to be shown for such an august Sacrament and instruction concerning the discipline on admission to Holy Communion.


Therefore, precise language is very important to the Church. She wouldn't have issued several documents on the subject if it weren't.

Confirmed in the Holy Spirit

Beautiful Girl

Tonight this beautiful girl was confirmed in the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Church.

Her name is Mary. She chose Mary to be her Confirmation name. I do believe her Dad and I chose the right name for her.

Why Am I Catholic Part II

In the last post, I told how my mother sparked my interest in the Catholic faith not because she was Catholic or interested herself in becoming Catholic. But because of her matter of fact statements about the Catholic Church, the Pope and the election of the new Pope.
I sat with my mom on the couch and watched the news coverage of the pope being elected. The things I remember are the white smoke coming from a chimney and my mom telling me that white smoke meant a new pope had been elected. Most likely, she didn't know all of this stuff either. She was probably just listening to the news announcers. I sate and watched with her long enough to see the new pope. I really had to see what a pope looked like. Now, I know that what I watched was the election of Pope John Paul II.
Over the next years, I didn't actively seek out the Catholic Church. I was content where I was.
But, the second thing that brought me to the Catholic Church was my future husband. When I was about 16 years old, I used to fervently pray for God to reveal to me who my future husband would be. And one time, He answered me. Of course, He didn't come down and say "Mary, one day you will be married to a man named Matt Fitter". No, it was more like a quiet inside of me and I just KNEW that my future husband's name would start with an "M". That's all I knew. And I believed it and believed in it. I told my two best friends, Carla and Julie. And that was it. I didn't feel the need to pester God any longer about my future husband.
I met Matt when I was 22. We knew each other and were friends for a year before we started dating. After five months of dating, he had joined the Army and left for basic and we spent the next two years dating long distance. And then we were engaged long distance for another year before finally tying the knot. By this time, I had forgotten that God had told me my future husband's name would start with the letter "M". It wasn't until we were almost married that I remembered. And I think it was my friend Carla who reminded me. So, Matt was chosen for me by God before I ever knew him. And Matt was/is Catholic.
And from the time that I watched a new Pope being elected, I had always felt a pull, a calling, to the Catholic Church. And being engaged to a Catholic man was not just a coincidence but a fulfillment of that calling. From then, it was only a matter of time.

Why Am I Catholic?

I am a convert.
My family's church attendance was pretty spotty while I was growing up. When I was little, I remember going to some churches that I would now describe as charismatic. I remember people praying with their arms raised up and faces turned up to God. I remember being scared as I watched grown-ups praying, singing, crying, and sometimes chanting in a language that I did not understand and sometimes falling on the ground.
As I got older, our family settled into a Pentecostal Holiness church ~ mostly because my Aunt was very active in this church and made sure that our family made it to church, too. God Bless Her. But around the age of 12, my parents and my brothers stopped going to church. Thankfully, my dad continued to bring me to church. He would drive me in to town on Sunday mornings for Sunday school and for church service and again on Wednesday nights so I could attend youth group. This church was very instrumental in my faith journey and in growing in my knowledge of Scripture. I still have lifelong friends from there.
But let me explain how I became Catholic.
I'd never heard of the Catholic church. I didn't know what it was. One day, when I was in the 7th or 8th grade, I came home and my mom was watching TV. No other shows were on except for live coverage of this one event. This was back in the days when TV's only had 3 channels and PBS. And all three channels were covering this event. So, no after school cartoons for us. I asked my mom what she was watching and she told me about this place called the Catholic Church, the Vatican and a Pope who had just died and that Catholic Church was voting for a new Pope.
What's a pope? Well, he's the leader of the Catholic Church and they elect a new one when the Pope dies.
What's the Catholic Church. It's a church and the Pope is their leader. It's one of the oldest churches in the world.
And all of this from my mom who was raised Southern Baptist and then became Pentecostal Holiness and then wasn't anything for a long time. What I remember about that conversation was that my mom was very matter of fact about what was going on. There was no negativity, no condemnation, no judgement. This was my first exposure to the Catholic Church.
And this was the first time I really felt like I was being called to become Catholic. As I grew, I heard more about the Catholic Church and a lot of it was not nice. I remember my pastor being excited everytime we had visitors who "used to be Catholic". I didn't understand at the time why that excited some people. I do now. But, negative comments about the Catholic Church only caused to raise my couriosity.
God was still calling me.
So that was the first spark, my first memory of the Catholic Church. And it came from my Mom.