Father's Day 2013.

The date settings on my Blogspot account are set for Eastern Standard Time in the U.S of A.. Be that as it may, I'm in Sibulan, Negros Oriental Philippines, where it is almost 11:30 AM, Sunday morning.

We've already attended Mass....our normal Mass time at home in Georgia is still 12 hours away. I've already given my impressions of Masses here in comparison to those in the United States; no need to rehash what I've written before.

I will make one observation, however. As in the U.S., the priest in Sibulan is assisted during Holy Communion by a number of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. To my best recollection, I can't recall ever seeing female EMHC in Philippines - I'm not saying they don't exist, I'm only saying I haven't seen any. Also, I'm tempted to think that the EMHC I have seen here may be Acolytes and not simply ordinary laymen. They're certainly dressed the part.

My question is; do these EMHC ever skip out on their assigned Sunday like the EMHC do at my parish at home? Do they just decide at the last minute to stay home, not even showing up for Mass? If they do choose to act like their American counterparts, would the priest here turn a blind eye the way the priests do at home?

I suspect he wouldn't.