Posted on 07/14/2011 3:45:09 PM PDT by NYer
That, in the early Church, the faithful stood when receiving into their hands the consecrated particle can hardly be questioned. . . . St. Dionysius of Alexandria, writing to one of the popes of his time, speaks emphatically of "one who has stood by the table and has extended his hand to receive the Holy Food" (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., VII, ix).
(Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911, "Genuflexion")
there is a smaller percentage of Catholics who believe in the real presence today than before this practice was allowed.
We should probably be more concerned w/how we're treating Christ in our daily lives, than our reverance, piety and posturing in front of the other sheep.
I am not opposed in principle to Communion in the hand; I have both administered and received Communion in this way myself.
The idea behind my current practice of having people kneel to receive Communion on the tongue was to send a signal and to underscore the Real Presence with an exclamation point. One important reason is that there is a great danger of superficiality precisely in the kinds of Mass events we hold at St. Peter’s, both in the Basilica and in the Square. I have heard of people who, after receiving Communion, stick the Host in their wallet to take home as a kind of souvenir.
In this context, where people think that everyone is just automatically supposed to receive Communion—everyone else is going up, so I will, too—I wanted to send a clear signal. I wanted it to be clear: something quite special is going on here! He is here, the One before Whom we fall on our knees! Pay attention!
This is not just some social ritual in which we can take part if we want to.
(Light of the World, 2010)
Absolutely correct! The same is true for eating meat on Fridays and a host of other issues. Our Lord points us toward this truth when He states in Matthew 6:6
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
While the topic is reception of communion, our Lord indicates in this scripture passage how God reads our hearts.
not in my lifetime...
Whether a Catholic receives the Holy Eucharist in the hand or on the tongue is as relevant as discussing how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. It is reverence for the Holy Eucharist by the recipient that matters. Plus, it is less of a health risk in the hand. During past flu epidemics, our diocese stopped all tongue distribution.
As for distribution of the Holy Eucharist being performed only by a priest or deacon is irrelevant because it is not at all practical in a huge number of US Catholic churches. In our diocese, less than 5% of the parishes have more than one priest. Our parish is standing room only for 8 months out of the year at every Mass. We are speaking about over 600 people at each Mass. Distribution of the Holy Eucharist under both species requires 17 Extraordinary Ministers in addition to our one priest.
The distribution of priests in the US is completely out of whack. While we in Southern California have one priest and a packed church at every Mass, back in New York, I attended Mass at my high school parish church. While it used to be packed 40 years ago, the 9AM Mass was not even 20% full. Yet, the parish has 3 active priests, one retired priest and two deacons. Maybe it is time for the US bishops to consider urging priests to relocate to other dioceses in need.
Plus, it is less of a health risk in the hand. During past flu epidemics, our diocese stopped all tongue distribution.
This strikes me as a rather dubious assertion. People going up to receive communion have just exchanged the sign of peace, and by extension, every germ on the hands of the people around them. By taking the Host into their hands and placing it on their tongue they then transfer those germs into their mouths. The problem which exists today is that ministers are not in any way taught how to distribute communion properly and do not generally have a clue how to place the Host on the tongue without accidents. The modern Church in America simply pretends communion on the tongue doesn't exist and so do not teach children how to receive that way, or even offer it as a possibility, and neither do they teach Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion how to distribute in such a manner.
Also, I have grave doubts that anyone has the authority to stop a Catholic from receiving communion on the tongue as that is the universal norm for reception. Communion in the hand is an indult which can always be rescinded or waived, but communion on the tongue has no such status. Unfounded paranoia about health risks hardly seems adequate to abandon the universal norm of reception. Not to mention that such an assertion is to accept that the Body of Christ, the eternal source of all life and healing, can somehow be a party to the spread of disease and death. A very odd argument for any Catholic to make I would think.
Folks in our Parish don't do that either, during flu season. They might nod to each other, or do a lower arm grasp, but many don't shake hands during the winter, which is big time cold and flu season here in MA.
The Pope mentions people walking away with the Host -- some do it out of ignorance, but some do it for nefarious purposes. There are Satanists (yes, there really are, as well as stupid teenage Goths and Satanist-wannabes) and there are evil people like that idiotic professor who photographed the stolen Host thrown in the garbage.
That alone is good enough reason for communion on the tongue.
And, if it's done properly, there's no contact between fingers and tongue. Even our EMHCs have learned to administer the Host correctly, between thumb and forefinger, sliding the thumb back just as the Host is placed on the tongue and then removing the forefinger. The tongue is never touched -- if the communicant will just hold still so that they don't have to hit a moving target!
It's not just the Peace that contaminates the hands, either. Other handshaking, coughing into the hand, scratching the nose, eyes or mouth, biting nails, handling a handkerchief that's been used . . . the possibilities are pretty darned near endless.
Doesn’t it strike you as odd that an option, the Sign of Peace, is still allowed at all while a universal norm guaranteed by the Church to all Catholics is entirely denied to them? I find that very telling. And, of course, it doesn’t change the fact that there is no evidence of any kind that communion on the tongue can contribute to spread of disease in the first place. I would dispute that concept vigorously.
How one receives Communion isn’t relevant to me. I just hope folks BELIEVE when they receive.
If what you say is true, and I will take you at your word, then can you explain why you are comfortable with a church denying communion on the tongue? Somebody surely thinks how other people receive is relevant to them. Additionally, how can a person BELIEVE and yet insist that the Host can be a disease vector? That seems contradictory to me. If the Bread we receive truly is the Body of Christ, which would seem to me to be the real matter of belief involved, then how could it spread disease?
It is possible, of course, that one could instead argue that it is not the Body which presents the vector but rather the hands of the minister, or the mouth of the communicant, but wouldn’t the real problem then be untrained ministers rather than Catholics receiving Communion on the tongue? Done properly Communion on the tongue presents less, not more, risk of disease than Communion in the hand. If Eucharistic Ministers were trained on how to distribute communion there would simply be no issue. And if they are improperly trained it surely seems wrong-headed to ignore that deficiency and instead try to force Catholics not to receive in a manner to which Holy Mother Church says they have every right. Surely all of this is relevant to us as Catholics.
the key is discerning the body and blood of our Lord in a worthy manner.
1Co 11:26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1Co 11:27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
1Co 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1Co 11:30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
1Co 11:31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
1Co 11:32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
have no problem with it... would like they eastern rite way of doing it, both species at once placed in a spoon and dropped in the mouth where the priest’s dirty hands do not touch the Holy Eucharist. Very sanitary, no particles falling on the floor or in your hand.
Actually, the Maronite Church uses hosts not leaven bread but distribute communion by intinction. There is no communion in the hand and no Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.
thanks for the info...
I like the byzantine way the best. Very clean. In a regular Roman diocesan church, I once saw a priest stop distributing communion, take out his mucus encrusted handkerchief, blow his nose, and continue to distribute communion. Whether on the tongue or in the hand, have he had a flu, cold or norovius, everyone would have been infected.
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