Men and women and pastoral work

By Domenico Bettinelli, Jr. ( articles - email ) | Oct 06, 2003

Maybe I'll be thought a bit odd in some circles, but I don't have a problem with altar girls. This article examines the expanded role in liturgy and formal pastoral work for women since Vatican II. Mostly it talks about altar girls.

As it points out, being an altar boy was once a major part of the path to priesthood, but not so much anymore. Yes, experience serving at the altar can bring thoughts about a vocation to the priesthood... but it can inspire vocational thoughts about the convent as well.

What bugs me is the feminist claptrap that some people use to justify women and girls serving at the altar. Don't tell me it's sexist if you can't have a particular liturgical role. Don't tell me it's the first step to ordination of women.

And it also bugs me that fewer and fewer men are serving in liturgical ministry. I don't think it's because they think it's a "women's job"; those days are long gone. Many men are just lazy. They don't want to be bothered. Time to step up to the plate, guys. Get involved. Serving our Lord is not just for the priest and the women around him. Your priest needs other men as his friends, not just other priests, but regular guys like you. And the best way to start is to become involved in the life of your parish. and you can be a role model for the boys of your parish, so that they can see that being a publicly Catholic man is not passe or dorky.