Please Don't Bless My Children

[Denise]

Please Don't Bless My Children

February 2006By Larry A. Carstens

Larry A. Carstens teaches English in a public high school and community college in the Los Angeles area.

Sometimes a practice creeps into the Mass that nobody seems to notice, and upon which nobody comments. But for those to whom their Catholic faith really matters, the barely noticed and gradually ubiquitous practice is a source of discomfort and concern. Take, for example, the distracting and uncomfortable custom of peer-pressured hand-holding during the Our Father. A number of orthodox voices were raised against it and, in some parishes, the inappropriate hand-holding diminished.

Nowadays, another practice has crept into the Mass in various dioceses throughout the country. It seems a very sensitive area, and objections to it are likely to offend a large number of people. But my concern is the proper worship of God, not approval among men. But how do you tell a sweet little old lady who loves the Lord and cheerfully does her best to assist at Mass that what she's doing might not be the best way to honor God?

Quite some time ago, there developed among priests distributing Communion at Mass the custom of placing their hands on the heads of children too young to receive the Sacrament to bless them. I have no objection to this practice at Mass, as long as the person blessing the children is an ordained priest (or deacon). However, as time has passed and more and more Eucharistic ministers have been distributing Communion at Mass, these helpful, but non-ordained, persons have taken it upon themselves -- or have been instructed -- to bless children in the manner of an ordained priest. And herein lies the rub: It does not seem appropriate for the non-ordained to bless children at Mass.

I know this will annoy some readers, but I would only ask such persons to consider if it really serves the purposes of our Faith for non-ordained persons, many (if not most) of whom are women, to imitate the actions and office of priests at Mass. I really do not believe that our Lord is best served by this relatively new practice that is creeping into the Mass.

If you believe that the Faith, which was handed down to us from the Apostles and preserved by the Magisterium through two millennia, is true and guided by the Holy Spirit, you will perhaps admit that God's plan for His Church has never included priestesses, and that therefore any steps in that direction, however subtle they may be, are steps away from rather than toward Him. Perhaps, too, you will recognize that the practice I have described has crept into the Mass in an illegitimate, and therefore inappropriate, manner.

And so, as the father of five children, all too young to receive Communion, my respectful but sincere message to all non-ordained Eucharistic ministers is this: Please don't bless my children during Mass. It's nothing against you, but is a reverence and respect for Christ and the ordained priest who acts in persona Christi. I appreciate your assistance in helping the priest distribute Communion, but I respectfully request that you leave the public blessing of children during the Mass to those who have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders.