TASKS OF THE LAY PEOPLE IN THE LITURGY
TASKS OF THE LAY PEOPLE IN THE LITURGY
Redemptionis Sacramentum 43-47
The provide the clearity of tasks of the faithful in the liturgy especially the lay ministers are essential. It will ensure the right, solemn and meaningful celebration of the Holy Eucharist. It is the vision of the Church to ensure active and conscious participation among the faithful through service in the liturgy.
7 Tasks of the Faithful
a) Proper distribution- It is the duty of the Church to distribute and rehearsed the lay in the tasks of the liturgy. "It is advisable that they be distributed and rehearsed between the various tasks and the different parts of the same task."
b) Proper Roles- The lay faithful with their cooperation with the ordained ministers have to faithful to their roles in the liturgy. The instituted lectors and the acolytes have to be mindful of their added tasks based on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. The Lectors and Acolytes with a temporal charge, to which are added other services, described in the Roman Missal, as well as the task of preparing the hosts, washing the liturgical cloths and the like." Ordained ministers and the lay ministers should do what is particularly theirs. By d"oing so in the same liturgical celebration, or in its preparation, being carried out in such a way that the liturgy of the Church develops in a dignified and dignified manner."
c) Avoid Confusion of Tasks- The tasks of the clerics and the lay faithful should be clear. The "obscuring" of the complementarity of tasks between the ordained ministers and the lay should be avoided at all times. The roles of the ordained ministers and the lay faithful should be clear and unambiguous "lest the tasks of the laity suffer a kind of "clericalization," as they say, while sacred ministers unduly assume what is proper to the life and actions of the lay faithful."
d) Morally Sound- The lay people who serve in the liturgy should be morally upright. To live a moral and spiritual life are forms of preparation in assisting in the liturgical celebrations. "The lay faithful who are called to render assistance in liturgical celebrations and must be duly prepared and recommended by their Christian life, faith, morals, and their fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church."
e) Sufficient Formation- It is the task of the faithful to undergo liturgical and spiritual formation as he or she serves in the liturgy. "It is fitting that he should have received the liturgical formation corresponding to his age, condition, manner of life, and religious culture. None is to be chosen whose designation could cause the scandal of the faithful."
f) Suitable Catechesis- The young people who serve at the liturgy like altar serves should have proper catechesis. "It is most praiseworthy that the praiseworthy custom is maintained that children or young people, normally called assistants (altar servers), are present and perform a service at the altar, similar to acolytes, but receive a suitable catechesis, adapted to their ability, on this task. It must not be forgotten that from all these children, down the centuries, a considerable number of consecrated ministers have emerged."
g) Pastoral Care- It is the task of lay people to be under the pastoral care of ordained ministers. The Church provides the guidelines for both girls and boys serving as altar servers. "To institutionalize and promote associations for them, in which they also participate and collaborate with the priests, and with which the assistants (altar servers) are provided with effective pastoral care." Besides, "girls and women may be admitted to this class of service at the altar, according to the criteria of the diocesan Bishop and observing the established norms." Â