Answering "Amen"

CatholicExchange.com ^ | 02-17-06 | Fr. William Saunders

[Salvation]

by Fr. William Saunders

Other Articles by Fr. William Saunders

Answering "Amen"

02/17/06

I am an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. In distributing Communion, I am surprised by the different answers to “The Body of Christ” I receive. Most people say, “Amen,” but some say, “I believe.” Does it matter?

The simple answer is, “Yes, it does matter.” According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (2000), the following rubric was again prescribed concerning the reception of holy Communion: “The priest raises the Eucharistic bread slightly and shows it to each one, saying, ‘The Body of Christ.’ The communicants reply, ‘Amen,’ and receive the Sacrament as they choose, either on the tongue, or in the hand, where this is allowed” (No. 161). The same response of “Amen” also is mandated if the communicant receives the Precious Blood from the chalice or if he receives Holy Communion by intinction, i.e. the priest intincts (dips) the Sacred Host into the Precious Blood and places the Sacrament on the tongue of the communicant (see also No. 286-7).

Given the basic rule, why is the word “Amen” important? The word “Amen” in Hebrew means, “truly,” “it is true” or “so be it.” In sacred Scripture, “Amen” introduces a solemn affirmation and an acclamation of assent. “Amen” denotes not only an asseveration but also a recognition of authority of the one making the proclamation.

For instance, in the Gospel of St. John (6:53), Jesus said, “Amen, amen I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” Often, English translations of the Bible will have “Let me solemnly assure you,” or "Truly, truly I say to you.” Here the Lord solemnly underscores the truth of what He is teaching.

In the Book of Revelation (3:14) Jesus identifies Himself as “Amen”: “The Amen, the faithful Witness and true, the Source of God’s creation...” for He is always faithful to His word. Here the word “Amen” highlights our Lord’s authority since He is Truth.

Finally, in apostolic times, the word “Amen” was used in liturgy as a positive response to the truth of the belief and the authority by which the belief was taught.

For these reasons, since the earliest times of the Church, “Amen” has been the proper response of the communicant receiving the holy Eucharist. For example, St. Justin Martyr (d. 165) in his First Apology (chapters 65-66) notes how “Amen” is the response of the people to the prayers and thanksgiving offered by the priest in the Eucharist Prayer. “Amen” is the assent of the people that the holy Eucharist truly is the Body and Blood of Christ, that the priest has the authority to act in the person of Christ to confect the Eucharist, and that the teaching handed down from the Apostles is truly the teaching of the Lord. St. Justin wrote,

We call this food Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration, and is thereby living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by Him and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the flesh and blood of that incarnated Jesus.

Without the “Amen,” one should not receive.

St. Augustine (d. 430) in a Sermon (No. 272), taught,

If you are the body and members of Christ, then it is your sacrament that is placed on the table of the Lord. It is your sacrament that you receive. To that which you are to respond, "Amen" ("Yes, it is true!") And by responding to it, you assent to it. For you hear the words, "the Body of Christ" and respond, "Amen." Be then a member of the Body of Christ that your Amen may be true. (Cited in the Catechism, No. 1396.)

Therefore, we must say our “Amen” with great confidence before receiving the holy Eucharist. Sadly, some people have decided to change the response to “I believe,” or “Thank you,” “or “We are,” or “I am.” All of these responses are inadequate. If a person says, “I believe,” does that person only assent to the holy Communion he is receiving, or also to the whole Church and all of its teachings which “communion” signifies? If a person says, “Thank you,” he is taking, but what is he giving? If a person says, “We are,” does he mean his group, his congregation, the whole Church or his concept of Church? If a person says, “I am,” we ought to lock him in the tabernacle.

The simple straight answer is, “The proper, best, and only legitimate response when receiving Holy Communion is ‘Amen.’” Amen.


Fr. Saunders is pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac Falls and a professor of catechetics and theology at Notre Dame Graduate School in Alexandria. If you enjoy reading Fr. Saunders's work, his new book entitled Straight Answers (400 pages) is available at the Pauline Book and Media Center of Arlington, Virginia (703/549-3806).

(This article courtesy of the Arlington Catholic Herald.)

[donbosco74]

Actually, I'm glad nobody has replied saying that it's not the diocese's or the bishops' fault that individual Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence, or that their concept has changed over the past 40 years. Please go ahead and check with anyone who has been to one of the training programs for so-called Extraordinary E.M., and ask them what is taught there. The problem is that the people running the training sessions have lost their faith, and the bishops continue to let them teach. Does this mean the bishops have lost their faith?

I'll let you answer that question for yourself.

I know they are called "Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers," but if that were an honest title, they would be usually absent at mass. They're not. They are the norm. In fact, at some local parishes now, the person standing behind the altar saying the liturgy is one of these, not a priest. They call the service a "communion service" not a mass. Under the excuse that there "are not enough priests to go around," laymen are now standing in for the priests, and they are not necessarily deacons, either. One venue had this person in white vestments like the priests wear, without any colored sash or mantle or anything on top of the white, raising arms and saying all the words of the liturgy for the mass that day, except for the Eucharistic Prayer. Most of the scattered congregation was not in the least interested, nor did they seem to approve. The celebrant was a woman.

Another parish had the usual eucharistic ministers mulling about behind the priest during the consecration, acting a bit like circling vultures, come to think of it. When communion began, the women ministers were eager to first share the corruptible stemware with each other. They were diligent not to just take one and drink from it, but to only take one and hand it to someone ELSE for her to take a sip. Immediately after each one took her sample, she smiled at the woman that handed her the glass cup, nodding her approval, apparently like a wine tasting party, as if to compliment the choice of vintage or whatever.

At each of these events, the moment I describe is the last one I can honestly relate, because at those points in time I walked out in disgust, never to return.

[donbosco74]

Without the “Amen,” one should not receive.

Do you think this is a new rule, or has it always been this way? I mean, what did the Church say during the 1900 years before Vatican II?

And what if someone is unable to speak? What if they are "dumb" but cognizant, ready and willing to receive?

[donbosco74]

Your guess is as good as mine; perhaps better. I don't know, specifically, because I didn't ask him. But I do know someone in the area who claims that she knows of a witch's coven that sends people out, some of them men, to collect hosts at Catholic masses for their devil worship services. They don't use hosts that are not from Catholic churches.

She said that she was at one ceremony where they put about 50 or more hosts, some large, some medium or small, all on a table and spread out. Only one of them is from a Catholic mass, the rest are from other sources, but they all appear indistinguishable on a natural level. Then the lights are dimmed and chanting begins, and the procession of witches comes out from behind a curtain. They encircle the table and attempt to discover which one of the hosts is the "real" one.

The witch who is most physically upset at this time is always able to identify the true Host, because, she told me, she cannot stand to be in the presence of the "One Who Is."

[donbosco74]

I'm only trying to help. This is not meant for entertainment.

[Salvation]

It was a line that I picked up on. People can reverently bow their head in an AMEN.

It was interesting today since I was an EMHC to wait for the "Amen" before I handed them the claice.

[Salvation]

That second incident would have broken my heart -- the blessed Presence of the Son of God and lay people are acting like that?

We need to pray for them.

[donbosco74]

I asked: What did the Church say during the 1900 years before Vatican II?

You responded: It was a line that I picked up on. People can reverently bow their head in an AMEN.

That's not an answer to my question.

Once again,

During the 1900 years before Vatican II, what was the rule for receiving Holy Communion: What was the communicant supposed to say before receiving the Host?

[Bigg Red]

Scary stuff...