Later this month, Archbishop Shelton will celebrate a special Mass with the youth and young adults who minister as altar servers throughout the archdiocese. I want to offer some reflections on this significant liturgical role, which so often goes unnoticed.
It takes many hands and talents from the worshiping community to celebrate Mass with beauty and reverence. Altar servers are uniquely gifted in managing the flow of the liturgy. Like good stagehands, they know the various props, scene changes and set design. The Mass is, of course, not a play, but this analogy acknowledges all the behind-the-scenes action that contributes to the smooth and dignified execution of a sacred celebration.
Notably, service at the altar draws heavily from the church’s youth. Many parishes begin intentional recruitment and formation of altar servers around the fourth grade or even younger. This raises two related questions in my mind.
First, why don’t other liturgical ministries follow this model? Where are the youth lectors and cantors, for example? We could all be more intentional about shepherding young parishioners into those roles as well.
Second, why do altar servers seem to “graduate” out of their ministry as they grow into young adulthood? The presence of older and adult servers is crucial. Young servers need role models at their side. Furthermore, the servers’ tasks range in difficulty. Some of the more advanced jobs, like working the thurible or handling the sacred vessels, require more experience.
Complex liturgies often employ a master (or mistress!) of ceremonies, a sort of super-server who ensures that the other servers and all the liturgical ministers know what to do at all times. This person must study the ritual and know it intimately.
The tradition of youth altar servers recalls a time when that ministry was viewed primarily as a training ground for priesthood. Today, this is only one part of a larger picture. I hope that many young male servers will pursue a vocation to the priesthood. But this is just one of many ways of responding to a call to serve the church.
The young men and women in this ministry are especially primed to continue to serve in some way — for example, as catechists, liturgists, consecrated religious, youth ministers or teachers — if we are prepared to support and accompany them.
This month’s Mass with Archbishop Shelton is an opportunity to come together to appreciate the young people who do this important ministry and their families who support them.
At the end of Mass, I will share information about our pontifical servers, a group of high school and college-aged youth who serve at a more advanced level, assisting the archbishop at various archdiocesan liturgies. This group provides one avenue for young men and women servers to continue their ministry and to consider what their adult service in the church might look like.
The Mass for altar servers is on Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at Ascension Church, 4600 Lynnbrook Drive. Registration is requested atwww.tinyurl.com/archlouservers.
