Dropped hosts after Mass - what to do?

[McatholicN]

Someone who was assigned to bring communion to the elderly in the nursing home dropped about fifteen hosts after Mass today in the parking lot. They scattered in the wind and she was only able to collect a few. When I heard this, I walked back to church and found one and gave it to the deacon. Should I go back and find all that I can?

 

[Iheartcoffee]

I would try to find all that you can. It sounds like dropping them was an honest mistake. Nevertheless, the host must be consumed and therefore significant effort should be made to find all that were lost and retrieve them. Good job going back to find another. I hope all can be found.

 

[Robertanthony]

Someone who was assigned to bring communion to the elderly in the nursing home dropped about fifteen hosts after Mass today in the parking lot. They scattered in the wind and she was only able to collect a few. When I heard this, I walked back to church and found one and gave it to the deacon. Should I go back and find all that I can?

The thing with consecrated hosts is that you need to be careful. If you accidentally drop them, you do your best to pick them up, if one host slips under a pew and rots there, Jesus will not suffer nor will be offended. Jesus’ real presence is not Jesus’ real presence, if you break the host, Jesus is not missing a body part, nor is he in pain. The real presence is like being on the phone with someone from the other end of the world, they’re with you, they’re present with you, somehow, but not physically. Jesus will be fine.

 

[Nige90]

"The real presence is like being on the phone with someone from the other end of the world, they’re with you, they’re present with you, somehow, but not physically. Jesus will be fine"

This is not true! The real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is exactly what it says on the tin. It is the real body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord. The same flesh that walked this earth, the same flesh that was nailed to the Cross and the same flesh that now dwells in Heaven.

 

[ac_milan]

The thing with consecrated hosts is that you need to be careful. If you accidentally drop them, you do your best to pick them up, if one host slips under a pew and rots there, Jesus will not suffer nor will be offended. Jesus’ real presence is not Jesus’ real presence, if you break the host, Jesus is not missing a body part, nor is he in pain. The real presence is like being on the phone with someone from the other end of the world, they’re with you, they’re present with you, somehow, but not physically. Jesus will be fine.

That’s totally wrong and also bordering on heresy. If one host slips under a pew our Lord does suffer. His Sacred Heart suffers from the indifference regarding this wonderful gift He has given us in the Most Holy Eucharist.

The real presence is like being on the phone with someone from the other end of the world, they’re with you, they’re present with you, somehow, but not physically.

and that’s heresy.

 

[bben15]

The thing with consecrated hosts is that you need to be careful. If you accidentally drop them, you do your best to pick them up, if one host slips under a pew and rots there, Jesus will not suffer nor will be offended. Jesus’ real presence is not Jesus’ real presence, if you break the host, Jesus is not missing a body part, nor is he in pain. The real presence is like being on the phone with someone from the other end of the world, they’re with you, they’re present with you, somehow, but not physically. Jesus will be fine.

That is not true. Jesus is fully present. When we touch the Host, we touch Jesus, not a telephone line to him.

Jesus is not hurt when the Host is damaged or chewed. A better way to think is that Jesus is fully present, but he doesn’t have any nerves to feel the pain.

He is not hurt physically, but he is hurt emotionally when a Host is mistreated.

 

[bben15]

That’s totally wrong and also bordering on heresy. If one host slips under a pew our Lord does suffer. His Sacred Heart suffers from the indifference regarding this wonderful gift He has given us in the Most Holy Eucharist.

and that’s heresy.

Be nice. It was just a simple misunderstanding of the Eucharist.

 

[ac_milan]

Be nice. It was just a simple misunderstanding of the Eucharist.

No, I do not take back what I said. Wrong is wrong and it is a moral obligation for Catholics to call out heresy when they see it. Also, we already have too many “nice” people in the Church and often times that can be taken advantage of and ultimately can lead to toleration of sinful ideas and practices.

 

[ac_milan]

That is not true. Jesus is fully present. When we touch the Host, we touch Jesus, not a telephone line to him.

Jesus is not hurt when the Host is damaged or chewed. A better way to think is that Jesus is fully present, but he doesn’t have any nerves to feel the pain.

He is not hurt physically, but he is hurt emotionally when a Host is mistreated.

Correct. Though, I would say the type of pain that the Lord feels is unique and cannot truly be explained utilizing any human concepts. It’s the type of pain that only He can feel.

 

[Cristiano]

No, I do not take back what I said. Wrong is wrong and it is a moral obligation for Catholics to call out heresy when they see it. Also, we already have too many “nice” people in the Church and often times that can be taken advantage of and ultimately can lead to toleration of sinful ideas and practices.

The statement was not heresy but at best heretical thinking. If you look at the Curch documents you can se there there is a substantial difference between the two, and you will see who is that person that can declare heresy.

People doing wrong are not a justiication for us to share the truth without charity.

 

[McatholicN]

I didn’t go back and look for more? Was that sinful of me? I mean, there’s now like ten hosts on the ground in the neighborhood now. Also, the one host I did find, I put it in my pocket and now I’m worried that there may be crumbs of the host in it. What should I do about that?

 

[bben15]

No, I do not take back what I said. Wrong is wrong and it is a moral obligation for Catholics to call out heresy when they see it. Also, we already have too many “nice” people in the Church and often times that can be taken advantage of and ultimately can lead to toleration of sinful ideas and practices.

This person was not knowingly going against Church doctrine. We did correct him, and we can assume that he immediately believed what the Church really taught. This isn’t a case of masturbation, abortion, fornication, etc. In those cases, the ones who commit the sin know it is against Church teaching. But this case was different. The user did not know it was against Church doctrine. Therefore, we must be charitable.

 

[bben15]

I didn’t go back and look for more? Was that sinful of me? I mean, there’s now like ten hosts on the ground in the neighborhood now.

I would suggest you go back and look for more. If you can’t find them, then God knows you did your best.

As for the sinful part, if you intentionally left them there because you were lazy or because you wanted to desecrate the Eucharist, then that would be sinful. However, it may have just been a natural reaction, and you may not have even thought about searching for the other Hosts, so you probably did not incur any sin.

May I ask how 15 Hosts were dropped? Weren’t they in a pyx?

 

[GPGT]

I would say the sin is likely on the person who dropped the blessed sacrament in the first place and didn’t seem to make much of an effort to pick them up while they were still within reasonable reach. Then again mistakes happen and I’m only speculating.

 

[The_Serpent]

I didn’t go back and look for more? Was that sinful of me? I mean, there’s now like ten hosts on the ground in the neighborhood now. Also, the one host I did find, I put it in my pocket and now I’m worried that there may be crumbs of the host in it. What should I do about that?

Kindly consider this suggestion; pray Psalm 126 over the article of clothing in question. You might also try it in the area of the incident. Also suggest a lid for the person who lost the hosts! :knight2:

 

[clem456]

That’s totally wrong and also bordering on heresy. If one host slips under a pew our Lord does suffer. His Sacred Heart suffers from the indifference regarding this wonderful gift He has given us in the Most Holy Eucharist.

and that’s heresy.

Not really…

"Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same;

 

[esieffe]

No, I do not take back what I said. Wrong is wrong and it is a moral obligation for Catholics to call out heresy when they see it. Also, we already have too many “nice” people in the Church and often times that can be taken advantage of and ultimately can lead to toleration of sinful ideas and practices.

This person brought up a very important topic. Accidents do happen. In this case it was a good soul who was trying to find out what to do in an alarming situation. Others offered what they thought were helpful opinions. I don’t feel being overbearing is helpful. I think the moderators should decide.

 

[bben15]

I didn’t go back and look for more? Was that sinful of me? I mean, there’s now like ten hosts on the ground in the neighborhood now. Also, the one host I did find, I put it in my pocket and now I’m worried that there may be crumbs of the host in it. What should I do about that?

We appreciate you taking so much care to find the Hosts, but please, do not ever put a Host in your pocket. If you cannot obtain a pyx for your search, bring a sandwich zip-lock bag. The Host must be protected. Your pocket is not a place of protection.

As for the crumbs, you said that you are “worried” that there are crumbs in there. If you cannot see the crumbs because they are so small, the crumbs have changed back into regular bread and ceased to be the Body of Christ. If you can see the crumbs, reverently consume them, if possible. If not, then dissolve them in a glass of water, and they will cease to be the Body of Christ.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I am very suprised that anyone could drop a pyx and have the hosts all scatter to the wind in such a way that they weren’t able to find them all!

It was very windy on Sunday, but I don’t think a pyx would burst open and fling the contents out. Ah well, strange accidents do happen.

The EMHC should have called for help right then in collecting all the consecrated hosts if they were being blown around. The deacon and priests of the parish should also be concerned with finding the dropped hosts - especially in a parking lot!

It was good of you to look, but if you couldn’t find any more, than you seem t have done what you can. After the fact, it is much harder to find lost items that were blown around. Next time though, please do not put the host in your pocket. Hold it in your hand or wrap it in a tissue first.

Hopefully it will rain soon in your area, so that the remaining hosts can melt into the ground.

Please say a prayer of repairation and I will too.

 

[Stillsosola]

this is exactly why lay persons should not handle the host or take communion to others a priest should do all that the person who dropped the hosts was being very irresponsible by not picking them up immediately Im sorry Im just mortified by hosts blowing in the wind around the neighborhood.
Please go back and look for them before birds eat them or people unknowingly step on them