Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote:
1) If you mean setting up the chalice etc., that's been the job of lay sacristans for ages.
2) So it doesn't need to be explicitly said. It's customary.
3) I hope it's not casually. Oftentimes sacristans will ask me to check the amount of hosts in the tabernacle, but they can check on their own for a good reason.
I've recently found myself coordinating and giving guidance to altar servers, (mostly college Military cadets) and suddenly realized the priest wants the Chalice set up for him, it is something I have never done and frankly am not comfortable with. I spoke with another priest I know, he said he has never relegated that responsibility to anyone, so he never dealt with the issue and was not aware of how to direct me to the guidance. Perhaps it is as you say, we just starting doing it a long time ago, so what begins as an abuse, becomes customary then it becomes an accepted norm, like altar girls.