Altar girls - my personal reaction.

I have been challenged as to why my daughters don’t serve Mass. My son is a welcome sight on the altar but it didn’t seem right to them that my girls merely stayed in the pew as uninvolved bystanders.

This started me thinking back on the stories concerning Our Blessed Mother. In spite of her major role in the redemption, there is really very little information about her. The main theme that comes through, however, is her devotion to being a mother, a respected mother, by both her Son and her husband, Joseph. You don’t hear her words yet her actions speak quite loudly.

When the Angel Gabriel announced that she could be the Mother of God, she accepted the blessing with love and obedience. What better way to bring about the redemption of the world than by way of a mother’s love?

When Jesus was lost, she didn’t think about herself but of her child. She was a mother first and she didn’t look for recognition beyond that place in life.

At the marriage feast, she had her Son’s total obedience and respect. Christ willingly obeyed His mother’s request to change water into wine.

In all this, Mary was a quiet force, keeping the home and her family in tact regardless of upheaval and poverty. She looked to the ultimate exaltation of her Son keeping a quiet, prayerful, life-long vigil.

When I see young girls serving in the sanctuary, I am very sad. I see them minimizing their femininity, their chance to be Mary-life. My daughters are not serving at Mass because I have too much respect for them and their potential as women. Mary is the perfect example of modesty, love and motherhood.

Trying to be like the ‘boys’ would only dilute my daughters’ efforts to emulate Mary. And the devote prayers of the mothers and future mothers in the pews are listened to by Jesus Christ . . . as He often listened to His own Mother.

(Yes, I know altar girls are allowed and I have never been rude or dismissive of them. This is just my personal reaction to the situation. Altar girls were initially allowed to fill in the gaps when there weren't enough boys available to serve. Too many parishes have put the girls ahead of the boys which has many boys not even bothering. My son has often had to serve with females and has done so in a respectful manner.)