"Body of God" is this an abuse?

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****This morning at mass I received communion from a Eucharistic minister and she said “The body of God” to me. I was shocked and I know that my face said volumes when I heard her utter something other than “The body of Christ.”

My knee-jerk reaction is always to reject this kind of “progressive” act. Is this an abuse?
 
Was it an older person? Sometimes folks just plain misspeak. Especially in a liturgical situation, it can make people uncomfortable , because they are supposed to say ‘the rgiht thing’ at ‘the right time’. Unless you noticed them saying that to EVERYONE in the line, I wouldn’t worry about it. The look on your face was probably reminder enough to them that it was wrong, assuming it was a mistake and not an intentional violation. Even as a mistake, it’s not really all that disrespectful, like dropping it or something would be.
 
josiecoe said:
****This morning at mass I received communion from a Eucharistic minister and she said “The body of God” to me. I was shocked and I know that my face said volumes when I heard her utter something other than “The body of Christ.”

My knee-jerk reaction is always to reject this kind of “progressive” act. Is this an abuse?
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The only acceptable words for the person distributing the Body of Christ at that moment are “The Body of Christ” (if the language is English of course!).

Anyone can make a mistake. However if this is done intentionally it is indeed an abuse.
 
Once a priest refused to say “the Body of Christ.” I received, but I was highly disturbed. What should I have done?!
 
FrDavid96 said:
The only acceptable words for the person distributing the Body of Christ at that moment are “The Body of Christ” (if the language is English of course!).

Anyone can make a mistake. However if this is done intentionally it is indeed an abuse.
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Yes. From my own experience tho’ as a Lay Eucharistic Minister (their term, also termed a “lem”) in the Episcopalian church, before I converted - Sometimes when I was serving in this capacity, I felt like a deer in the headlights. What was happening (I believed in a sort of consubstantiation at the time) was sooooo very tremendous that I wasn’t able to keep my focus, at all.
 
This is kind of off topic, but when I receive the cup from hispanic people with heavy accents, it sounds as if they say “The bloodless Christ.”
 
Muffinmojo - Yes, it was a woman in her mid 50’s I guess … and she repeated it more than once, she repeated it to my wife too!
 
josiecoe said:
****This morning at mass I received communion from a Eucharistic minister and she said “The body of God” to me. I was shocked and I know that my face said volumes when I heard her utter something other than “The body of Christ.”

My knee-jerk reaction is always to reject this kind of “progressive” act. Is this an abuse?
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hmm, maybe in her own way she was trying to tell people something about the real presence, but clearly it was an abuse. although maybe she didn’t know that so she wouldn’t be culpable. I think that unless there is a real emergency, only priests should be giving out communion, and directly on the tongue.
 
brigid12 said:
Yes. From my own experience tho’ as a Lay Eucharistic Minister (their term, also termed a “lem”) in the Episcopalian church, before I converted - Sometimes when I was serving in this capacity, I felt like a deer in the headlights. What was happening (I believed in a sort of consubstantiation at the time) was sooooo very tremendous that I wasn’t able to keep my focus, at all.
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I attended an Episcopal Church for 10 years. I always received the consecrated bread from one of the priests (the Cup-Bearer was usually a Eucharistic Minister, i.e., Layperson). And the priests said one of two things: “The Body of Christ.” Or, “The Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven.” As a Catholic, I never heard my priest ever refer to the wafer as “The Body of God.”
 
Reg_Smith said:
👍 👍 👍

I could almost start a new thread about this.
Hmmmm…
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Thanks Reg. My other question is why do 70 and 80 year olds receive communion in their hand. For half their lives they’ve been receiving it on their tongue, why wouldn’t they just keep it up?
 
We have a new nun in our parish. The only time I’ve heard her read at Mass, she ended the readings with “The Word of our Gawd.” (Spelling to emphasize her delighted pronunciation.)

If I hear it again, I’m chewing butt. Charitably, of course. 🙂
 
MusicMan said:
We have a new nun in our parish. The only time I’ve heard her read at Mass, she ended the readings with “The Word of our Gawd.” (Spelling to emphasize her delighted pronunciation.)

If I hear it again, I’m chewing butt. Charitably, of course. 🙂
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What’s chewing butt?
 
Last summer I attended a Mass in a nearby parish (NOT “my” parish!)…the priest there (a known liberal one thru the years…) said “Body of God” when we went up to recieve. I think I may have posted about that here (I dont remember…gettin old~LOL!) but I did consult a friend who suggested that I call the bishops office. I did and they must have spoken to him as a few weeks later I ended up having to attend that Mass again, but this time he did say, “Body of Christ”. The first time when he said “Body of God” I was so startled that I am suprised I pulled myself together enough to recieve (on the tongue I might add~this priest didnt seem to happy to do that either. This same priest when I went to confession to him ONCE , told me that I didnt have to say the Act of Contrision, only what I wanted to, I could say my own…:eek: ) Needless to say we made sure to find other masses to attend if we cant attend our regular parish!
 
phil8888 said:
Thanks Reg. My other question is why do 70 and 80 year olds receive communion in their hand. For half their lives they’ve been receiving it on their tongue, why wouldn’t they just keep it up?
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I have wondered about that for FOREVER!!!:rolleyes:
 
wifenmommy said:
Last summer I attended a Mass in a nearby parish (NOT “my” parish!)…the priest there (a known liberal one thru the years…) said “Body of God” when we went up to recieve. I think I may have posted about that here (I dont remember…gettin old~LOL!) but I did consult a friend who suggested that I call the bishops office. I did and they must have spoken to him as a few weeks later I ended up having to attend that Mass again, but this time he did say, “Body of Christ”. The first time when he said “Body of God” I was so startled that I am suprised I pulled myself together enough to recieve (on the tongue I might add~this priest didnt seem to happy to do that either. This same priest when I went to confession to him ONCE , told me that I didnt have to say the Act of Contrision, only what I wanted to, I could say my own…:eek: ) Needless to say we made sure to find other masses to attend if we cant attend our regular parish!
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What’s wrong with saying your own act of contrition? That’s totally legitimate I think.
 
My question about all these cases is “why?” It’s like these people are trying to say something that is not outright wrong, but that’s still not the norm. It’s almost like they just want to break the rule, like they don’t believe in rules or something. If he said something completely heretical, then you can see that he has some motive, but it’s like they try to find how far they can stretch it before it goes too far. Of course Christ is God, so it makes “sense”, but what would be the motivation for doing that.
 
phil8888 said:
What’s wrong with saying your own act of contrition? That’s totally legitimate I think.
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I just wasnt aware that was possible…actually the whole confession seemed more like a therapy session than the Sacrament of Penance…
 
wifenmommy said:
I just wasnt aware that was possible…actually the whole confession seemed more like a therapy session than the Sacrament of Penance…
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Oh ok, yeh he could have been taking too many liberties.

I actually don’t go to confession enough, adn I do not have an act of contrition memorized, so he says just say one yourself. Which several priests have told me. On an episode of CAL, Jimmy Akin said it’s ok to do that because there doesn’t have to be a specific way we say sorry to God.
 
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