Catholic and Loving it!

Hi, Ella here...

Well, I have just got back from the study day for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. I have to say I was a little disappointed - when it said it was a study day, forgive me, but I thought it would be one! It was most definitely not!

I foolishly expected it to be a day of studying the importance of the Holy Eucharist (that being the key) perhaps looking at preparation for mass and getting the most out of mass with particular reference to our ministry and then lastly how we take that out to the people we minister to. Today however was not like that!

The talk was by Sister Mary Bernard Potter. She briefly touched on taking communion out but to be perfectly honest I found the talks hard to follow, maybe it's a dyslexic thing. I dunno but the speaker seemed to be telling lots of little stories that were not really linked so there was no real structure (hence finding it hard to follow) like one story was about one of her nephews taking up a lamb to the altar at Christmas, then he disappeared and turned up at the the altar with the ciborium... he said "did you see me? did you see me? I brought up the teapot!" this was because at their family table there was always a teapot. Some of the congregation were charmed and some where not but regardless I am not sure what that story had to do with the Blessed Sacrament.

She told lots of stories but I didn't really get what she was trying to say. It was all over the place and I just came away feeling confused.

I am all for talks on taking it out to the community but as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion going to a study day or even a reflection day I expected some of the focus to be on our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. There was a mention of what the Holy Eucharist was (and I quote) "by helping people to believe in themselves they can create a better world, that is what the Eucharist is". Now I don't deny that as Christians we strive to take this aspect of Christ to the world but primarily the Eucharist is our Lord who died for us that we may have salvation!

There was also a large chunk devoted to how bad the world is getting... you know like knife crime and how the Church was not seen to be doing anything to do with that but once again I did not see how this related to why we were there.

There was also a feel of how the Church was too constricting - another quote: "we become paralized by the institutional Church and we become like sheep" Um... would it not be better to help us to take the beauty of the Church and the Mass to people. If this is a hard concept was this meeting not the place to teach us how to share the beauty of the Church by implying it is "an institution" it is implying you think it is a bad hindering thing. The Church is not, if we can just help people to see. When I tell my daughter not to run across the road I am not institutionalising her I am helping her to see that some rules are there to help her.

She also said: "People are looking for spirituality, not religion. Spirituality, not something that boxes you in" She spent a few moments looking at being faced with problems of people wanting communion who cannot receive for some reason or another and what would the Lord do he wouldn't refuse them if they wanted to receive him and yet in John 6 Jesus did turn people away."This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" It is a hard teaching and as ministers of holy communion we should be trained in how to deal with talking to people who are maybe from a different denomination or divorced and remarried to help them understand these Church teachings and that they are not there to hurt them but to help them to grow closer to Christ.

I hate to seem negative but I was really looking forward to a bit of study... running the local youth group you put your energies into the youth and you yourself need to be replenished and I just felt confused and frustrated that I did not get what was being said.

A lot of the people there really enjoyed it and maybe it was a generational thing as she did pitch it at the over 55s I dunno but at least I could tell James that they used metal chalices and plates... he will be pleased :o)

As I say many, people enjoyed it and maybe if I had know it was a reflection I would not have had such expectations and therefore been less disappointed who knows. Though I did wonder why our own fine adult formation team did not do the talks as it surely counts as formation? I suspect they are quite busy.

Personally, I wish I had gone to Archery.