Mass volunteers

Albert Schweitzer once said: “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” Christ changed the world with twelve volunteers. Real happiness is found in the ability to love one another. To love is to be willing to serve, to make oneself available to each other’s needs. – Fr. Frank

The 85
By Paul Barra

(This is the first in an ongoing series of articles about the many volunteers, who make the parish of Jesus Our Risen Savior function properly, and more importantly Give Honour and Glory to God. We are calling it “The 85” because it takes 17 volunteer ministers to fill all the slots at a Sunday (or Saturday vigil) mass, and there are five masses each weekend at JORS.

The next Article is about our Choirs

 If you come early to a weekend mass at Jesus Our Risen Savior Catholic Church, you will see lay people moving around the worship space, filling and setting out chalices, ciboria and cruets, arranging the purificators on the credence table in the sanctuary, reading over the epistles for the liturgy, lighting candles and performing many other tasks to help the celebration of the Eucharist go smoothly.

 During the mass itself, these volunteers read, sing, distribute the Body and Blood of Christ, assist the celebrant at the altar, collect and present the offering and manage the Communion line. They are the seventeen volunteers needed at each Sunday mass.

 A fully staffed mass requires the following: a sacristan, six Ministers of Communion, three altar servers, two lectors, one cantor and four ushers. If Deacon Bob Sturm is serving, the number of MCs is reduced by one.

 All of the volunteers are trained in their respective ministries by the deacon and perform their tasks under the supervision of the pastor. The sacristan functions as the mass coordinator, ensuring that the sacramentals are ready and all the altar ministries filled with qualified personnel. The head usher is in charge of the usher corps.

 The Ministers of Communion distribute the Body and Blood of Christ if there are not enough ordained ministers to serve the entire congregation in a timely manner. Lectors prepare for and proclaim the first and second readings; they also read the Prayers of the faithful and the announcements when there is no deacon serving at the altar. Only a priest or deacon may proclaim the Gospel. 

 MCs and lectors take their duties seriously: “Answering the call to serve as a lector at Jesus, Our Risen Savior continues to be an awe-inspiring responsibility for me,” said Laura Meyers, a veteran lector and MC. “It is certainly a humbling privilege to proclaim the Scriptures in a way so that the Word of God is heard by the faithful.  I continue to grow spiritually through this ministry.”

 The cantor sings the psalms and leads the responses. If there is no cantor, a lector will read the psalms. The cantor is usually part of a choir, a voluntary ministry that will be covered in a separate article.

 Altar servers assist the mass celebrant by carrying the processional and recessional candles and crucifix, attending at the altar with water and wine before the Consecration, pouring the water for the washing of the hands ceremony and holding the Roman Missal for the opening and closing prayers. They ring the bells when the priest elevates the host and the chalice and assist the celebrant with clearing the altar at the end of mass.

 Ushers maintain order during liturgies. They find seats for worshipers at busy times, pass the collection basket and recruit people for bringing up the gifts. They organize the flow of communicants. Most importantly, they are responsible for the security of collection monies and for the security of the church as a whole.