At the age of 10, I became an altar server at SS. Peter and Paul Church in Lehighton. In those days, the mid-1960s, only boys could be altar servers, and only boys from the local parish school. As the youngest, my class of altar servers felt honored to be associated with the older kids. Over the next five years, I served at Mass hundreds of times. I was alone with priests early in the morning for weekday Mass, and along with my peers at funerals, holy days, weddings and special services as well as many Saturday afternoons at the Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton. I never saw or heard of any sexual misconduct involving the priests or anyone involved with the church, nor did any of my fellow servers. I am sure that there are millions of former altar servers like me, men and subsequently women, who had the same wonderful experience that I did.

In fact, I will never receive a greater honor than I received at age 10, when I was allowed to serve the priest and the hold sacrifice of the Mass. Many of us take the Mass for granted, and as an altar server I did not understand it as I do now, but because I went to Catholic school, I did know that in the Bible, Jesus said that the bread turned into his body and the wine turned into his blood. I handed the bread to the priest, which turns into Jesus’ body and the wine which turns into Jesus’ blood. There I was at age 10 being involved in the sacrifice of Jesus to his Father. God being offered to God for the forgiveness of sins. Awesome!

In my adult years I am a mortgage banker. We often have to determine if a property we are financing is being utilized as its highest and best use. At age 10 I was being utilized for my highest and best use, assisting in the sacrifice of the Mass.

John Meier,

Lehighton