Communion services

[jmjconder]

I am confused on this topic.

Thought that Communion Services were offered in an emergency due the absence of a priest on Sundays. I was taught this only applies to very rural areas where a priest could not be substituted and the faithful could not attend another Sunday Mass.

Then there is this question of Communion Services during the week. I do not understand this practice. Do Catholics have a right to be offered the Holy Eucharist everyday day - or that matter on Sunday?

I was under the impression that the Church precepts did not include these two points.

I am not trying to criticize any Diocese…I am trying to understand this practice.

 

[garn9173]

Nothing wrong with a Communion Service during the week. My Parish has one on Thursday instead of Mass…its the only day of the week my Priest has off.

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[UncleBill]

Nothing wrong with a Communion Service during the week. My Parish has one on Thursday instead of Mass…its the only day of the week my Priest has off.

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When did it become the Latin Catholic practice that one can’t go a day without communion?



More modernism!

 

[Phemie]

I am confused on this topic.

Thought that Communion Services were offered in an emergency due the absence of a priest on Sundays. I was taught this only applies to very rural areas where a priest could not be substituted and the faithful could not attend another Sunday Mass.

Then there is this question of Communion Services during the week. I do not understand this practice. Do Catholics have a right to be offered the Holy Eucharist everyday day - or that matter on Sunday?

I was under the impression that the Church precepts did not include these two points.

I am not trying to criticize any Diocese…I am trying to understand this practice.

It’s up to the Bishop.

2004’s Redemptionis Sacramentum says this

[164.] “If participation at the celebration of the Eucharist is impossible on account of the absence of a sacred minister or for some other grave cause,”[269] then it is the Christian people’s right that the diocesan Bishop should provide as far as he is able for some celebration to be held on Sundays for that community under his authority and according to the Church’s norms. Sunday celebrations of this specific kind, however, are to be considered altogether extraordinary. All Deacons or lay members of Christ’s faithful who are assigned a part in such celebrations by the diocesan Bishop should strive “to keep alive in the community a genuine ‘hunger’ for the Eucharist, so that no opportunity for the celebration of Mass will ever be missed, also taking advantage of the occasional presence of a Priest who is not impeded by Church law from celebrating Mass”.[270]

[165.] It is necessary to avoid any sort of confusion between this type of gathering and the celebration of the Eucharist.[271] The diocesan Bishops, therefore, should prudently discern whether Holy Communion ought to be distributed in these gatherings. The matter would appropriately be determined in view of a more ample co-ordination in the Bishops’ Conference, to be put into effect after the recognitio of the acts by the Apostolic See through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. It will be preferable, moreover, when both a Priest and a Deacon are absent, that the various parts be distributed among several faithful rather than having a single lay member of the faithful direct the whole celebration alone. Nor is it ever appropriate to refer to any member of the lay faithful as “presiding” over the celebration.

[166.] Likewise, especially if Holy Communion is distributed during such celebrations, the diocesan Bishop, to whose exclusive competence this matter pertains, must not easily grant permission for such celebrations to be held on weekdays, especially in places where it was possible or would be possible to have the celebration of Mass on the preceding or the following Sunday. Priests are therefore earnestly requested to celebrate Mass daily for the people in one of the churches entrusted to their care.

Pastors in my parish have refused to have these celebrations on weekdays. On his day off, our former pastor celebrated Mass at 9 a.m. then he went off for the day.

On weekends when there is no possibility of having a priest, something which happens a couple of times a year in my parish, we do have a Sunday Celebration of the Word with Communion (the official name of the Rite in Canada). The danger is that some people have come to prefer this to Mass, showing a distinct lack of understanding of the difference.

 

[jmjconder]

Nothing wrong with a Communion Service during the week. My Parish has one on Thursday instead of Mass…its the only day of the week my Priest has off.

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Are you a rural parish? I understand this practice if this is the case.

I want to understand about the times this practice is offered when Mass is available in the area.

Please read this. There are many points that offer food for thought on this practice that has become almost a norm.

cuf.org/FileDownloads/commserv.pdf

 

[dshix]

Nothing wrong with a Communion Service during the week. My Parish has one on Thursday instead of Mass…its the only day of the week my Priest has off.

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I think it is somewhat of an abuse to use Communion Services (which are reserved for emergency situations in which the people have been deprived of Communion for a long time) weekly, just because the priest can’t be there that particular day.

That’s just like the abuse we have with EMHCs being used every Sunday. Mediator Dei said NOT to do that!!

 

[1ke]

I understand this practice if this is the case.

I don’t.

We are a rural parish. We share our priest with two other parishes. Our daily mass is on Thursdays. We do not have mass any other weekday. We have one Sunday Mass.

 

[mountee]

Another time I am surprised by what I am reading as I thought it was the norm for a parish to have communion services, ours does. And we have lay ministers, I have served as one, distributing communion at every Mass. Is that what is meant by an EMHC.
Based on what has been posted by Phemie from the Redemptionis Sacramentum it would seem as though our parish should not be doing communion services. This is confusing to me as I have felt that the communion service was meant to give the priests a break, we have a huge parish and one priest. Are the rules being bent for this reason or broken by choice. Is this an example of a place where a Bishop can make a choice such as this?

 

[Ohana]

The Eucharist “is food indeed”.

From earlier posts, it appears that the Bishop must give permission for Communion services. That permission being given, I think it would be up to the local Pastor as to how that permission would be applied. We are not required to receive Communion more that once a year as I understand it, yet many like to receive more often than once a week. In our parish, we have Mass almost every day, but on days when no priest is present, one of the deacons leads a Communion service using the previously Consecrated Hosts. My brother is in a rural parish with a shared priest. There they have Communion services more frequently. In both cases, the local pastor could refuse to have these services, but apparently believe that it is for the well-being of their community to have them.

 

[dshix]

Another time I am surprised by what I am reading as I thought it was the norm for a parish to have communion services, ours does. And we have lay ministers, I have served as one, distributing communion at every Mass. Is that what is meant by an EMHC.
Based on what has been posted by Phemie from the Redemptionis Sacramentum it would seem as though our parish should not be doing communion services. This is confusing to me as I have felt that the communion service was meant to give the priests a break, we have a huge parish and one priest. Are the rules being bent for this reason or broken by choice. Is this an example of a place where a Bishop can make a choice such as this?

The purpose of Communion services is not to “give the priest a break.” There original intention was to give the faithful communion when they have been deprived of it for weeks, months, or sometimes a year or two, and there is no priest available.

They are an emergency measure. As a matter of fact, the faithful are not even obligated to receive Communion on a regular basis; distribution to the faithful isn’t even in the 1962 rubrics. The common practice a few hundred years ago was that people would receive weekly, every few months, or once a year, and daily Communion was almost unheard of.

Now, we have the privilege of the option of daily Communion, but that doesn’t make a right.

 

[jmjconder]

I don’t.

We are a rural parish. We share our priest with two other parishes. Our daily mass is on Thursdays. We do not have mass any other weekday. We have one Sunday Mass.

In my soul I agree with your post. My question is the use of Communion Services in parishes and the practice of offering them unless the parish is very rural. My other question was - why do people feel it is their right to receive Communion during the week?

Is more catechesis needed of the huge difference between Mass and Communion Service?

 

[mountee]

The purpose of Communion services is not to “give the priest a break.” There original intention was to give the faithful communion when they have been deprived of it for weeks, months, or sometimes a year or two, and there is no priest available.

They are an emergency measure. As a matter of fact, the faithful are not even obligated to receive Communion on a regular basis; distribution to the faithful isn’t even in the 1962 rubrics. The common practice a few hundred years ago was that people would receive weekly, every few months, or once a year, and daily Communion was almost unheard of.

Now, we have the privilege of the option of daily Communion, but that doesn’t make a right.

Sounds like a case of something becoming normal practice just because it was happening. Could you tell me if our “lay minister” is the same as what you are referring to as EMHC, which I have not seen used before except on this forum. And you stated that Mediator Dei said not to use them every Sunday and yet they are used at every Mass in our area no matter what church. I appreciate your help

 

[Phemie]

Another time I am surprised by what I am reading as I thought it was the norm for a parish to have communion services, ours does. And we have lay ministers, I have served as one, distributing communion at every Mass. Is that what is meant by an EMHC.
Based on what has been posted by Phemie from the Redemptionis Sacramentum it would seem as though our parish should not be doing communion services. This is confusing to me as I have felt that the communion service was meant to give the priests a break, we have a huge parish and one priest. Are the rules being bent for this reason or broken by choice. Is this an example of a place where a Bishop can make a choice such as this?

As RS says, the decision on these matters is the bishop’s alone.

If the bishop says that these services are only to be used on Sundays, when there is no possibility of attending Mass elsewhere, then the Pastor is bound to obey.

When I hear of parishes where these services happen on weekdays, sometimes when Mass is also celebrated at a different time on the same day, I want to scream. It gets to the point where people think it’s more important to receive Communion than to have Mass. I suspect that in many cases the diocesan bishop isn’t even aware of the practice.

In our diocese there is one parish that, barring a storm, gets a priest at Christmas and at Easter. If they are very lucky they might see a priest once or twice during the summer. That is a parish where there is a need for a Celebration of the Word with Communion on a regular basis on Sundays. It’s necessary so that the community maintains a link to the Church, to the Mass and to God. Even there they do not do this during the week.

 

[mountee]

As RS says, the decision on these matters is the bishop’s alone.

If the bishop says that these services are only to be used on Sundays, when there is no possibility of attending Mass elsewhere, then the Pastor is bound to obey.

When I hear of parishes where these services happen on weekdays, sometimes when Mass is also celebrated at a different time on the same day, I want to scream. It gets to the point where people think it’s more important to receive Communion than to have Mass. I suspect that in many cases the diocesan bishop isn’t even aware of the practice.

In our diocese there is one parish that, barring a storm, gets a priest at Christmas and at Easter. If they are very lucky they might see a priest once or twice during the summer. That is a parish where there is a need for a Celebration of the Word with Communion on a regular basis on Sundays. It’s necessary so that the community maintains a link to the Church, to the Mass and to God. Even there they do not do this during the week.

Thank you for expanding on this. I just am shocked at some of this as at my age you get used to things and don’t even question it because that’s just the way it is for so long. My eyes are opened here frequently. By the way, I have travelled to all of Canada and have been to many places like where I imagine the parish is located that you mentioned. It must be very difficult to maintain the faith in that situation, they have my admiration.

 

[Usige]

If you go back and read the second and third sentences of section 164 of Redemptionis Sacramentum it seems pretty clear that it is meant to be used on Sundays and should be an extra-ordinary event (i.e. not a regular event.)

In my neck of the woods these are generally done on weekdays when the pastor has the day off despite the fact that there might be a parish 5 to 10 minute drive away that is offering the mass. It seems that many people just expect/demand that their local parish should allow them to receive the Eucharist everyday. It just seems to match with what is a growing trend around me of those that show up late and leave early to make sure the receive; the focus on the Eucharist as something significantly more important than the Mass.

 

[dshix]

Sounds like a case of something becoming normal practice just because it was happening. Could you tell me if our “lay minister” is the same as what you are referring to as EMHC, which I have not seen used before except on this forum. And you stated that Mediator Dei said not to use them every Sunday and yet they are used at every Mass in our area no matter what church. I appreciate your help

EMHC is short for Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, which is the same as “lay minister.”

I’m glad I was able to help. I don’t think a sin is necessarily being committed by your parish doing this, but it is definitely not how the Church intended the ministers to be used and is a stretch of the rules.

 

[Phemie]

It’s also interesting to note that while RS says it’s important for the community to be able to gather to pray on Sunday, it’s doesn’t say that it’s important that they be able to receive Communion. In fact, it says “The diocesan Bishops, therefore, should prudently discern whether Holy Communion ought to be distributed in these gatherings.”

Would the community gather simply to pray? Would Morning or Evening Prayer alone bring them out? Experience tells us ‘no’. It seems they fail to understand that we don’t go to Mass to get Communion but to worship and thank God, with and through his Son, Jesus Christ. Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ at that time is a wonderful gift, but it should not be the reason we go to Mass.

 

[dshix]

If you go back and read the second and third sentences of section 164 of Redemptionis Sacramentum it seems pretty clear that it is meant to be used on Sundays and should be an extra-ordinary event (i.e. not a regular event.)

In my neck of the woods these are generally done on weekdays when the pastor has the day off despite the fact that there might be a parish 5 to 10 minute drive away that is offering the mass. It seems that many people just expect/demand that their local parish should allow them to receive the Eucharist everyday. It just seems to match with what is a growing trend around me of those that show up late and leave early to make sure the receive; the focus on the Eucharist as something significantly more important than the Mass.

Yeah, that is a really serious problem. The interesting thing is that you actually haven’t fulfilled your Sunday obligation if you do that on a Sunday, because you missed the necessary parts of the Mass. If you aren’t there from the Offertory on, you missed Mass.

 

[JustCath]

It’s up to the

. . . Sunday Celebration of the Word with Communion (the official name of the Rite in Canada). The danger is that some people have come to prefer this to Mass, showing a distinct lack of understanding of the difference.

Do the say, or can you make any inferences, regarding the reason for this preference. People coming to prefer this exhibits the precise danger of excessively authorizing such services. Btw, I cringed and crossed myself at the reference to “Mass” in your above “prefer this Mass.”

 

[Phemie]

Yeah, that is a really serious problem. The interesting thing is that you actually haven’t fulfilled your Sunday obligation if you do that on a Sunday, because you missed the necessary parts of the Mass. If you aren’t there from the Offertory on, you missed Mass.

If these services are required there is no Sunday obligation. You have no obligation to do the impossible.

When we have these in my parish it means there is no Mass being celebrated within 300 miles, that’s how far we are from the nearest parish with a priest.

Now, in the town where I lived before, I belonged to a ‘Catholic Community’ rather than to a parish; this ‘community’, yet too small for the Bishop to erect a personal parish, was language based.

Whenever there was no French speaking priest to celebrate Sunday Mass they had a Celebration of the Word with Communion, that in spite of the fact that 100% of those in attendance could speak and understand English and 90% of them had to drive past at least one if not 5 or 6 churches to attend said Celebration. That never sat well with me. If I was not on the roster to read, I simply didn’t go. My children and I would attend Mass in one of the several parishes near us. If I was on the roster for that Sunday I would still attend Mass with my children on Saturday and then go to the Celebration of the Word alone on Sunday morning.

The problem in Canada is that originally, when these services started being promoted, at least one regional Bishops Conference put out a ritual book that, in it’s ‘notes’ said that it was more important to worship as a community on Sunday than to attend Mass. It strongly discouraged going to Mass in another parish in favour of missing Mass and worshiping with your fellow parishioners. The National ritual has corrected that but when you’ve had that mindset for 20-25 years it’s hard to get rid of it.