Arguing about how to receive Holy Communion

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thereseozi

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I’ve been reading the posts where people are arguing over how to receive Holy Communion and it breaks my heart to see this. I’m even afraid to comment for fear that I will be attacked since it’s happened before. Why fellow Catholics do this to each other, and treat each other uncharitably, I don’t know. But anyways, I wanted to share the following information:

This excerpt is from the book, " 7 Secrets of the Eucharist " by Vinny Flynn; Introduction by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J.; published by MercySong, Inc. in collaboration with Ignatius Press, pg. 12-13:
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 "Pope Benedict XVI also discusses this issue of how to receive, emphasizing that, instead of arguing about whether it's better to receive kneeling or standing, in the hand or on the tongue, we need to focus on the spirit of reverence with which the early Fathers of the Church received Communion.

 "First urging priests to 'exercise tolerance and to recognize the decision of each person,' he goes on to ask everyone 'to exercise the same tolerance and not to cast aspersions on anyone who may have opted for this or that way of doing it.'  What is important is reverence:

      "It is quite wrong to argue about this or that form of behavior.  We should be concerned only to argue in favor of...a reverence in the heart, an inner submission before the mystery of God."
Notes, Sources and References, page 111-112:
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 " 'It is quite wrong to argue about this or that form of behavior.'  Pope Benedict XVI, God is Near Us, p. 71.  The pope goes on to urge that instead of arguing about the outer forms or rituals of receiving Communion, we 'should be concerned only to argue in favor of a 'reverence in the heart, an inner submission before the mystery of God who puts himself into our hands.'

 "He admonishes us 'not to forget that not only our hands are impure but also our tongue and also our heart and that we often sin more with the tongue than with our hands.'  He explains that, by coming to us in Communion, 'God takes an enormous risk...allowing not only our hand and our tongue but even our heart to come into contact with him.  We see this in the Lord's willingness to enter into us and live with us, within us, and to become from within the heart of our life and the agent of its transformation' (p.71)"
 
Great post.

I have not recieved Communion in the Church, yet… but luckly my Parish/Priest allows people to receive however they feel comfortable. I see people kneeling, on the tongue, in the hands, etc…and I think it’s wonderful to be able to receive (when I do) in the way that will feed my soul…Thanks be to God.
 
DJgang said:
Great post.

I have not recieved Communion in the Church, yet… but luckly my Parish/Priest allows people to receive however they feel comfortable. I see people kneeling, on the tongue, in the hands, etc…and I think it’s wonderful to be able to receive (when I do) in the way that will feed my soul…Thanks be to God.
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👍
 
My father nearly quit the church because a priest did not want to give communion to my 7 year old brother because he put the right hand above the left hand (my brother was left handed). The priest looked at my younger brother with scorn and corrected him as he was receiving the eucharist.

True story. Obviously, we switched to another parish.
 
ABiii said:
My father nearly quit the church because a priest did not want to give communion to my 7 year old brother because he put the right hand above the left hand (my brother was left handed). The priest looked at my younger brother with scorn and corrected him as he was receiving the eucharist.

True story. Obviously, we switched to another parish.
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As a left-hander I have had this happen to me once by an elderly visiting Priest who almost missed Mass because his driver couldn’t find the school where our Chapel is:D. He told me to switch hands and wouldn’t take “I am left handed father” as an answer - he was ready to refuse me Communion so instead of making a scene I just switched hands - awkward, yes, doable for me, yes.

Now if this had been my regular Priest I would have discussed it after Mass with him and then found the documents to prove I could do this - being left-handed does not make me sinister or evil or possessed by the devil 😉 which is what many people over a certain age were taught.

As for the OP, wonderful information!

Brenda V.
 
Great post, OP. In my training as an EMHC, the first thing I asked is what to do for each way a communicant wished to receive. The next thing I asked is if I could distribute left handed. The answer was certainly.

John
 
Recieving on the tongue is the normative way, recieving in the hand can only be done where the diocese has an indult from the Holy See. In some dioceses in the world it’s not allowed.
In the EF there should be no hand-communion at all.
 
I personally recieve on the tongue while kneeling. It doesn’t concern me how others do it as long as they are reverent. I started receiving on the knees after I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament and I was reading some prayers from a prayer book, and one of the lines was like “Lord if I could receive you know I would, but since I can not please send down your grace” you know something in that sorts. I thought to myself, “I am kneeling here praying to the Lord about not being able to recieve communion, but when I recieve communion I stand.” My reasoning is if I don’t kneel to recieve communion there is absolutely no reason to kneel at any other time.
 
Mother Theresa was asked by a priest what of all the things in the world caused her the most Sorrow…She said it makes me most sad when I see people take communion in the hand…

Pretty interesting coming from a woman who witnessed extreme poverty on a daily basis.
 
That is quite interesting from Mother Theresa, but I suppose that just shows how deep her love for Our Lord was, and how she had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

As was said in the OP, it all boils down to reverence. Although I have come out as a great supporter of the normative and traditional form (on the tongue) I also usually add that if you feel more of a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament by putting it in your mouth yourself, be my guest.

The only thing that upsets me is that often, CITH can be accompanied by irreverence toward the Host. Many people in my parish grab the host with one hand from the priest, and chomp on it as they stomp back to their pews. This greatly upsets me, as I know Our Lord deserves better, whether in the hand or on the tongue.

Whether we’re “in the hand” or “on the tongue” people, we all ought to band together to promote the Real Presence, and the sanctity of the Eucharist.
 
I agree that we can receive reverently on both the tongue and the hand. I go to a Latin Mass and personally feel that it is more reverent…IMO…*for me *to receive on the tongue and while kneeling at the communion rail. However…at my NO parish there is no possible way I could get down and kneel and ever hope to be able to get back up.😃

I am reminded of an incident awhile back where during a daily Mass at my NO parish a woman garbbed…yes grabbed the host out of the hand of an astonished priest whose eyes followed her until she had put the host in her mouth. That probably has been the most outrageous incident…except for the 11-12 y/o who dropped the host…laughed and picked it back up and comsumed.

:heart:Blyss
 
I am so glad that someone finally pointed out how ridiculous it is to argue over things such as the way someone receives communion. It seems like many people are so worried about doing everything during mass correctly that they miss the purpose of the mass, and the overall message of the Lord’s love which he expressed in his ultimate sacrifice.
 
There would be no arguments if we had just stuck to the way we’d been receiving communion in the Roman Rite for the last 1000 yrs. They don’t argue about how to receive communion in the Eastern Rites-because there are no options!

If we want peace, the first thing we ought to do is to get rid of the rediculous amount of options in the NO.
 
No, Comrade, if we want peace, show peace. Find a Mass you find reverent and go there. No one appointed you or anyone else without a miter to be the liturgy police. If you don’t like the options in the Novus Ordo, don’t go. The original poster is right. Arguing about what is the best way to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist is goofy (my word).

John
 
Regardless of people’s personal preferences (which I think are rather irrelevant) postures mean something. Standing means something different than kneeling; CITH will ultimately produce a different effect (good or bad) than receiving on the tongue.

We can’t just take a posture such as standing and declare it (or expect it) to mean the same thing as kneeling;–it doesn’t. Different postures ultimately produce different effects.
 
I would never receive via the hand; for me, it seems so disrespectful. I recieve the Lord on my tongue while kneeling and this is the way I like it.

However, I have no problem with those who do recieve by hand; it’s a matter of personal preference and it has nothing to do with me. Personally, I would always receive on the tongue.
 
“It is quite wrong to argue about this or that form of behavior.”
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This was not a problem before Vatican II. I believe the progressives are entirely to blame if there is any culpability. They started it by questioning pre-Vatican II practices. Suspect motives at the best. Self-serving ones at the least.
 
In all of Poland no one could recieve communion in the hand in the NO. They got the indult from the Holy Father less than a year ago.
I think it’s still forbidden in the Phillipines.
I’m talking about the ordinary form of the Roman rite Mass.
 
ComradeAndrei said:
There would be no arguments if we had just stuck to the way we’d been receiving communion in the Roman Rite for the last 1000 yrs. They don’t argue about how to receive communion in the Eastern Rites-because there are no options!

If we want peace, the first thing we ought to do is to get rid of the rediculous amount of options in the NO.
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And if you go back even further you would find that people received in the hand at the beginning of the church. I’m not trying to start an argument, but with 2000 years of history most anybody can look back and find something in the Church’s history to support their side of the argument. I love th TLM but I also believe that the NO is a valid mass. Above all I am loyal to the Church, and she has spoken and said that receiving both ways is valid. As long as a person receives with reverence I really don’t care about they receive. We have bigger problems today then how to receive.

Historybrat
 
Can’t we just receive communion like they did in the early millenium of Christianity? (Which is by the hand)… it’s nice to have order, but Jesus was practical.

After all it is not what a person eats that makes him dirty but what comes out of his mouth…
 
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