Communion in the Hand

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As a former Eucharistic Minister, the idea of receiving Eucharist on the tongue was repulsive. As much as I tried not to touch the tongue, there were times when it could not be avoided. Having touched a tongue by accident, I now wondered what I was passing on to others. I do not think Jesus went around at the Passover dropping bread into the mouths of his disciples. The men and women at the Passover meal broke bread with their hands and brought their life’s difficulties with them. It is my hope that we never return to the tongue only way of receiving the Eucharist.
 
According to Vatican I, the Pope cannot err when speaking on faith and morals using either the extraordinary magisterium or the ordinary magisterium. Whichever form his pronouncements take, we are required to believe them.

“By divine and catholic faith everything must be believed that is contained in the written word of God or in tradition, and that is proposed by the Church as a divinely revealed object of belief, either in a solemn decree or in her ordinary, universal magisterium.” First Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Catholic Faith, 3: Denziger 1792 (3011).

Father John Hardon adds, in his catechism, “It is especially this second form of transmission, found in the ordinary and universal teaching of the Catholic hierarchy, that has come under assault by those who want nothing less than solemn definitions as an index of obligation to believe.”
 
I’ve struggled with this, but, it seems we agonize over little trifles lik thiis instead of amending our lives, and agonizing over whether we are living the Gospel. I find it irritating, and having a negative impact on my spiritual life.

I know people who are very holy who receive on the hand. It is a big deal to those of us who either look for human respect, or are concerned with what others are doing. If the Church has said it is okay, then we shouldn’t be spouting our opinions on the subject.

Just go with what the Holy Spirit directs you to do. It may not be the same as for someone else. What business is it of yours?
 
Lynn_Suer said:
According to Vatican I, the Pope cannot err when speaking on faith and morals using either the extraordinary magisterium or the ordinary magisterium. Whichever form his pronouncements take, we are required to believe them.
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Actually, Vatican I states that the Pope cannot err when he speaks Ex-Cathedra or makes an Ex-Cathedra statement. This is only the Extraordinary Magisterium.

When he errs during his pontificate, the mistake is not part of the Ordinary Magisterium. Any error of a Pope is not counted as part of the Ordinary Magisterium.
 
I am truly amazed by some of the intemperate and illogical arguments put forward in connection with receiving the Blessed Sacrament in the hand. Either practice has been prescribed at various times either as the only method or, as at the present time, with a choice of either. This has always been a matter of liturgical discipline and at no time has infallibility ever been invoked for such a matter or ever would be.
Some of the comments on the Church’s infallibility border on the hysterical. Of course the Church has made mistakes and been in error and made mis-judgements. Just a few random examples: The Crusades - would anyone argue that the wholesale slaughter of men women and children authorised by papal authority was anything other than horrendous error? (Incidently we are still suffering from the fallout from this catastrophic decision today when Moslem fanatics use the atrocities of the Crusaders, operating under papal warrant, as justification for 9/11etc.)
Was the persecution of Gallileo by the Roman Inquisition, established by Pope Paul III in 1542, for his proposition that the earth moved around the sun not an error - or do the proponents of the Church being aways correct about everything still believe the reverse to be true?
In 1233 Pope Gregory IX established the papal inquisition. Those who were accused of heresy were tried secretly, had no right of counsel, torture of the accused became the norm, and although Pope Nicholas I condemned the practice Pope Innocent IV explicity endorsed it again.
The Holy Spirit keeps the Church free from doctrinal error in very circumscribed conditions as proclaimed in the proclamation of Papal Infallability made by Pope Pius XII.
Please, brothers and sisters, rejoice we have this most wonderful Sacrament. Receive it reverently and in accordance with the prevailing liturgical discipline of your place and time and do not fret over the minutiae of the actual delivery and acceptance of this most precious gift.
Kevin
 
Kevin_Driffield said:
Please, brothers and sisters, rejoice we have this most wonderful Sacrament. Receive it reverently and in accordance with the prevailing liturgical discipline of your place and time and do not fret over the minutiae of the actual delivery and acceptance of this most precious gift.
Kevin
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Agreed. it seems many are more concerned on how we recieve than they are whom, we are recieving.
 
Does anyone really believe that Jesus Christ is concerned if one receives the Eucharist in the hand or the tongue? He must be filled with joy when one of His children comes to the table. Discussions like this are good but should be dealing with important topics in the church. How one receives the Eucharist fades into the background when the discussion comes to the corruption in the hierarchy. From the Pope to his bishops it is clear that they have abandoned our children and left them to the sexual predators. This is what should get us angry. The hierarchy have forfeited their right to be listened to.
 
Ed_Hartmann said:
Does anyone really believe that Jesus Christ is concerned if one receives the Eucharist in the hand or the tongue? He must be filled with joy when one of His children comes to the table. Discussions like this are good but should be dealing with important topics in the church. How one receives the Eucharist fades into the background when the discussion comes to the corruption in the hierarchy. From the Pope to his bishops it is clear that they have abandoned our children and left them to the sexual predators. This is what should get us angry. The hierarchy have forfeited their right to be listened to.
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I only took 47 posts for someone to start ranitng about the homosexual Priest scandal. I would have though it would take at least 75.
 
My reply had NOTHING to do with homosexual priests.In fact I said nothing about homosexuality. My “rant” was about the betrayal of our children by the clergy and the hierarchy, homosexual or not. Read carefully or run the risk of exposing ones own narrow thinking.
 
“When he errs during his pontificate, the mistake is not part of the Ordinary Magisterium. Any error of a Pope is not counted as part of the Ordinary Magisterium.”
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I don’t follow your argument. Are you being cynical? Popes don’t make errors when speaking on faith and morals to the universal church. If you are maintaining they do, please give an example.
 
Ed_Hartmann said:
My reply had NOTHING to do with homosexual priests.In fact I said nothing about homosexuality. My “rant” was about the betrayal of our children by the clergy and the hierarchy, homosexual or not. Read carefully or run the risk of exposing ones own narrow thinking.
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90% of the abuses were homosexual rape of post pubescent boys. Perhaps you should have a little more understanging of an issue before you bring it up.
 
Ed_Hartmann said:
As a former Eucharistic Minister, the idea of receiving Eucharist on the tongue was repulsive. As much as I tried not to touch the tongue, there were times when it could not be avoided. Having touched a tongue by accident, I now wondered what I was passing on to others. I do not think Jesus went around at the Passover dropping bread into the mouths of his disciples. The men and women at the Passover meal broke bread with their hands and brought their life’s difficulties with them. It is my hope that we never return to the tongue only way of receiving the Eucharist.
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Were you a priest or a deacon… or just used to using the wrong title???

😊

.
 
Ceil-1 said:
I’ve struggled with this, but, it seems we agonize over little trifles lik thiis instead of amending our lives, and agonizing over whether we are living the Gospel. I find it irritating, and having a negative impact on my spiritual life.

I know people who are very holy who receive on the hand. It is a big deal to those of us who either look for human respect, or are concerned with what others are doing. If the Church has said it is okay, then we shouldn’t be spouting our opinions on the subject.

Just go with what the Holy Spirit directs you to do. It may not be the same as for someone else. What business is it of yours?
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Ed_Hartmann said:
My reply had NOTHING to do with homosexual priests.In fact I said nothing about homosexuality. My “rant” was about the betrayal of our children by the clergy and the hierarchy, homosexual or not. Read carefully or run the risk of exposing ones own narrow thinking.
Click to expand...
In no way am I excusing the hierarchy of the Church for the way they have handled this problem. But we must remember, they are only men. Unless they move in accord with the Holy Spirit, unless they are speaking of an infallible doctrine, this is what they are, only men. Please don’t lay a blanket charge on Holy Mother Church for this fiasco.
 
elts1956 said:
In the Early Church, communion of course, was received in the hand. Then it was noticed that some people were using this as a means to desecrate the Host/Bread. It was so easy to slip it into the pocket or a fold of cloth and remove it from the Church. I don’t know when communion in the hand became the mode, but today one can receive our Lord either way.
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Actually the policy then was to bring the Eucharist home to consume it during the week. There was where the abuses actually started.

And yes one can receive either way. But I believe that one day the Church will again impose the old rule for exactly the same reasons they did before.
 
Several people have written that the first Eucharist at the Last Supper was obviously taken in the the hand.

That isn’t entirely true: there was a tradition in the Middle East of the Host actually feeding a bite to each guest as a symbol of his total hospitality and his service to them, and the guest’s reception was a sign of their dependence.

So while the approved means of reception has indeed gone back and forth, it’s possible that the Eucharist started out on the tongue.

As I said in my earlier post in this thread, I’m fine with receiving in the hand. But we shouldn’t assume we know just how the first Eucharist was conducted, or base our opinions on such supposition.
 
Sam_Maloney said:
Several people have written that the first Eucharist at the Last Supper was obviously taken in the the hand.

That isn’t entirely true: there was a tradition in the Middle East of the Host actually feeding a bite to each guest as a symbol of his total hospitality and his service to them, and the guest’s reception was a sign of their dependence.

So while the approved means of reception has indeed gone back and forth, it’s possible that the Eucharist started out on the tongue.

As I said in my earlier post in this thread, I’m fine with receiving in the hand. But we shouldn’t assume we know just how the first Eucharist was conducted, or base our opinions on such supposition.
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One only “could be possible” is basing the teaching on early Jewish custom in sharing bread at a communal meal.
 
Recieving Holy Communion in the hand is totally correct in the Catholic Church .If you watched World Youth Day in Australia and just now as the Pope is in Lourdes, many, actually the majority of those present in front of the Pope recieved Communion in the hand. However for me personally I recieve Holy Communion on my tongue. This is my personal choice as I think much is lost in taking the Eucharist,( which is the real Body and Blood of Jesus) in the hand as you transfer the Host to your mouth. I watch people taking the Host in their hand sometimes in a very off hand way ( do not mean to be critical of anyone) and sometimes wonder if they realise the Most Precious Gift they are holding. There are no jewels, no wealth, on this earth more precious than that of the Holy Eucharist. When the Priest calls on the Lord to change the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus, Jesus is present at the Alter for the time of the concentration and we are actually present with Him and can step in to Heaven for a short time. To me this is wonderful. A miracle we can partake of each time we are at Mass. We recieve the fruits of the death and Resuraction of the Risen Lord ( the Sacrifice of the Cross and Passion, death and Resurection of our beloved Jesus) The Bread of nurishmaent for our Souls. God Bless. May the Risen Lord watch over us all.
 
I too receive on the tongue and I understand that receiving the Host in the hand is acceptable by the Church, but what I don’t understand and that I have noticed more than once are accidents. I have witnessed too many people dropping the Host and then unsure if they should be the ones to pick up Jesus or the priest. I sometimes wonder if these accidents are caused by the priest rushing through Communion just so the mass can end in a timely manner.
 
Mrre than 5 years ago, a former priest at my parish said that to receive Holy Communion in the hand was like “giving Jesus a slap in the face”. Well, after thinking about that, I and many others decided to receive on the tongue. Now almost all morning Mass attendees receive on the tongue, including my husband.

I have been drawn to Jesus in the Eucharist. Now I also kneel to receive. It is how I grew up. Several others in my parish kneel to receive, too. We are just in line and kneel on the floor. My priests are very open to this. Only one priest in another state told me to get up to receive, which I did without argument because I did not want to draw attention to myself.

Despite what I do, I know that those who receive in the hand may certainly be receiving with much more reverence than me. It is what is in your heart that counts. If you are called to receive on the tongue or to kneel, then go ahead and do it. It is for Jesus, after all, not for anyone else.

God bless you.
 
Correction to my previous posting the definition of papal infallibility was proclaimed by Pope Pius IX . I take this oportunity to reiterate what many others have previously posted - receive this most precious gift reverently, comply with the custom of where you receive it, receive it with joy, and the understanding of your utter unworthiness to receive the body and blood soul and divinityof Our Lord and Saviour. Concentrate with all your heart and soul to appreciate the infinite magnitude of what you are priviliged to receive and totally ignore what any one else is doing, Our Almighty Father will attend to the rights and wrongs of other people’s actions, do not presume to do His work for him.
Kevin
 
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