Lessons from Serra Altar Server 2009 

The Serra Club of Singapore has received positive feedback as well as well-meaning concerns regarding the Serra Altar Server 2009 initiative. The concerns mainly hinged on the fact that the prize money (which is meant to benefit the entire server community to which the winners belong) might send the wrong message to our altar servers. We fully appreciate these concerns and would like to address them here. We thank Catholic News for giving us the opportunity to do so. 

Before embarking on this initiative, we prayed and deliberated on the pros and cons and felt that the advantages out-weighed the dangers of sending the wrong message. In fact, in itself – it can be used as an opportunity to educate our young about the rightful use of money. 

Firstly, we would like to stress again that the money is not for the individual winning altar server but to benefit his whole altar server community which the spiritual director can use to purchase books or other materials for their spiritual development. The lesson can come in the form of even a charitable act – that if the server community does not need the money to embark on a spiritual programme – they can even do an act of charity with the prize money by donating it for a good cause. The gift hampers which will be given to the winners to keep for themselves will comprise sacramentals, a compact Catholic bible, and some inspirational books that will help the spiritual growth of the altar server/s. 

Jesus said “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33). The Serra Altar Server 2009 initiative does not run contrary to the promise of Our Lord in Scriptures; we are giving recognition to a few faithful altar servers and “rewarding” their community with the funds to give them the opportunity to exercise discretion (with the guidance of their priests) on how best to honour the Lord with this prize money.   

Furthermore, it is not a competition per se, meaning that it is not an event that requires the altar servers to start pitting themselves against one another to win this prize but it is to seek out those who have already been models in their love and service and we would like to give recognition to that. Our youths need encouragement and guidance in the reality of life. We also need to be realistic that materials and programmes for spiritual development cost money and we should not be afraid to use money to enrich God’s Kingdom on earth. 

Priests are given a stipend (though a small amount of money) when they celebrate Mass, can we then say that this is wrong? Obviously not. We need to teach our children that it is NOT money that is the root of evil but it is the love of money that is evil. (For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 1Timothy 6:10, NIV). We need money even to buy a bible, and bibles like the Life Application Bible costs more than $100 and though a cheaper one can be gotten for $15, money is still required. Have we ever given a thought that even just to keep open an Adoration Room for the faithful to go and adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament needs money to maintain (PUB bills to pay for lighting and air-con)? For such a holy and sacred activity, we still need money to keep it going. On a side note, we are really grateful to our priests who keep the adoration rooms open despite the cost of maintaining them. 

Furthermore, we are exhorted in Scriptures to “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with first fruits of all your produce” Proverbs 3:9, NAB. More often than not, our priests have to spend so much time raising funds for Church building, tapping into their precious time and energy which could be better used to shepherd the people of God. It is the norm that parishes take a few years to raise the required amount. This is because we often have the mindset of separating money with our “spiritual life” and hence leads to the majority’s thinking that anything related to the church should come free or very cheaply which is not the case in reality. One priest once commented that he observed that for most Catholics, when it comes to buying a sacramental like a crucifix, they only want to pay the least for it but when it comes to buying secular materials, they will pay top dollars for a brand name. Hence if we avoid confronting the issue of teaching our youths about the rightful place of money in their lives, we will inevitably continue to perpetuate this mindset.  

Detachment from material things and money does not come with the deprivation of these things but from an interior conversion and attachment to God alone, which entails the process of spiritual development and growth. Left on their own, most altar servers who are just at the school-going age (who are yet to earn their keep) will not have the luxury of using their pocket money to buy an inspirational book to enrich their spiritual life simply because there are other “priorities” that take precedence over the use of the pocket money they are given. 

We do appreciate the concerns of our fellow well-meaning Catholics about sending the wrong message with this initiative but we believe that we need to take that step to tangibly show our altar servers that we love and appreciate them and hence care for their spiritual development and growth for they are the future of our beloved Church.

Prepared by Serra Club of Singapore for Catholic News

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