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donna_ray
Guest
If a Eucharistic Minister is living with someone out of wedlock, and I know it, should I not receive Communion from them?
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1ke
Guest
The priest is the Eucharistic Minister.
I believe you are talking about an Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. The sacraments are not dependent upon the sanctity of the priest who confects the sacrament or anyone who may be assisting in its distribution.
However, if you do not feel comfortable going to them, then don’t. An EMHC should be living a life in keeping with Church teaching and cohabiting is definitely scandalous. I would suggest you bring this up with your pastor.
I believe you are talking about an Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. The sacraments are not dependent upon the sanctity of the priest who confects the sacrament or anyone who may be assisting in its distribution.
However, if you do not feel comfortable going to them, then don’t. An EMHC should be living a life in keeping with Church teaching and cohabiting is definitely scandalous. I would suggest you bring this up with your pastor.
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donna_ray
Guest
Thank you for your answer. You make a good point.
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jwinch2
Guest
As has already been noted, the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion should not be living in such a way that they are giving public scandal to others. This is a problem, given their selection for this particular ministry. Obviously, as has also been noted, being in or out of mortal sin does not invalidate the sacrament on the part of the priest, nor does it diminish the validity of the sacrament on the part of the deacon who is assisting the celebrant. However, it does seem that the Mass may not necessarily the same between sinful and a holy priest. taylormarshall.com/2013/01/was-mass-of-padre-pio-equal-to-mass-of.html
Its hard to know how to answer this. We had a similar situation once in a previous parish with someone who was a lector, EMHC, and the sponsor of the local Catholic Campus Center. This particular person openly dissented from Church teachings on abortion, women priests, etc. and wasn’t shy about speaking on such things in front of the college students or even in online forums such as Facebook. As one college student put it to me at the time "she makes it really hard to be Catholic at the Catholic Center.
I handled it similarly to you. I came on here and solicited opinions. In addition, I asked some people who had been in the parish for a long time for their advice and I prayed about it a great deal. After some time, I decided to say something, and asked the priest at the Catholic Center and our pastor for a meeting. I spelled things out, explained the situation, and told them I trusted them to do whatever they thought was best and that I intended to leave it alone from there. Then I asked my pastor to hear my confession so that I could get the sin of detraction off of my conscience. From the sounds of things you are in the same place now that I was then. I wanted no part of this in the first place, and wanted to move on.
If I were in your shoes, I would probably handle it like that. I would certainly not wish to receive from this person, even though as noted it does not change the sacrament at all. And frankly, I would probably even feel guilty about that, since I am a huge sinner also.
Again, tough situation. I will pray for you tonight.
Peace,
Its hard to know how to answer this. We had a similar situation once in a previous parish with someone who was a lector, EMHC, and the sponsor of the local Catholic Campus Center. This particular person openly dissented from Church teachings on abortion, women priests, etc. and wasn’t shy about speaking on such things in front of the college students or even in online forums such as Facebook. As one college student put it to me at the time "she makes it really hard to be Catholic at the Catholic Center.
I handled it similarly to you. I came on here and solicited opinions. In addition, I asked some people who had been in the parish for a long time for their advice and I prayed about it a great deal. After some time, I decided to say something, and asked the priest at the Catholic Center and our pastor for a meeting. I spelled things out, explained the situation, and told them I trusted them to do whatever they thought was best and that I intended to leave it alone from there. Then I asked my pastor to hear my confession so that I could get the sin of detraction off of my conscience. From the sounds of things you are in the same place now that I was then. I wanted no part of this in the first place, and wanted to move on.
If I were in your shoes, I would probably handle it like that. I would certainly not wish to receive from this person, even though as noted it does not change the sacrament at all. And frankly, I would probably even feel guilty about that, since I am a huge sinner also.
Again, tough situation. I will pray for you tonight.
Peace,
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donna_ray
Guest
Thank you Jason for your answer and prayers. I am praying also and I will take your advice seriously. I do not want to judge this person, I just needed to know it was ok to receive Communion in this situation. I imagine a lot of people find these situations and don’t know the right way to go with it. Thanks again you’ve been a big help.
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jwinch2
Guest
You are welcome. Its a tough situation, and there really isn’t any good way to go. Unfortunately, if you have knowledge of this, then others likely do also, which means the potential for giving scandal is pretty high. That sort of thing can infect a parish if not handled appropriately. Thus, while it is still OK to receive communion from this person, I believe you should prayerfully consider bringing this to the attention of your pastor.Thank you Jason for your answer and prayers. I am praying also and I will take your advice seriously. I do not want to judge this person, I just needed to know it was ok to receive Communion in this situation. I imagine a lot of people find these situations and don’t know the right way to go with it. Thanks again you’ve been a big help.
Peace,
I
InThePew
Guest
I would be careful about jumping to conclusions without all the facts. For example, a good friend of mine lives with her boyfriend and both are Catholic and regular mass goers. I know my friend well and because of this I am confident that her relationship is entirely consistent with Church teaching. The fact that they sleep in separate rooms also helps!Thank you Jason for your answer and prayers. I am praying also and I will take your advice seriously. I do not want to judge this person, I just needed to know it was ok to receive Communion in this situation. I imagine a lot of people find these situations and don’t know the right way to go with it. Thanks again you’ve been a big help.
We can never know what is in a person’s heart - that is known only to God.
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Aran_Houlihan
Guest
Im my parish we only need Eucharistic minister for the chalices as we have a deacon.
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paperwight66
Guest
Actually, if there is a deacon, he is to administer a chalice, even if that means an EMHC administering Hosts. He is the Minister of the Cup. I am talking about the OF, though. Are you referring to the EF?Im my parish we only need Eucharistic minister for the chalices as we have a deacon.
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jwinch2
Guest
Do you have the Canon Law reference on this? I’m not doubting you at all, I just like to have it for support. We are working on addressing some areas of the liturgy in our parish and I like to have all the information I can before I present things to our pastor.Actually, if there is a deacon, he is to administer a chalice, even if that means an EMHC administering Hosts. He is the Minister of the Cup.
Peace of Christ,
L
Lapey
Guest
GIRM # 182. After the Priest’s Communion, the Deacon receives Communion under both kinds from the Priest himself and then assists the Priest in distributing Communion to the people. If Communion is given under both kinds, the Deacon himself administers the chalice to the communicants; and, when the distribution is over, standing at the altar, he immediately and reverently consumes all of the Blood of Christ that remains, assisted, if the case requires, by other Deacons and Priests.Do you have the Canon Law reference on this? I’m not doubting you at all, I just like to have it for support. We are working on addressing some areas of the liturgy in our parish and I like to have all the information I can before I present things to our pastor.
Peace of Christ,
Keep in mind, this does not prohibit a deacon from distributing the Sacred Body. Also most important, both species, bread and wine, are in fact the full real presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity. One species is not more that the other.
Canon Law #910 §1. The ordinary minister of Holy Communion is a bishop, presbyter, or deacon.
Before EMsHC can be used, deacons, priests and bishops must be used for distribution. As far as I can see the CCL does not dictate the deacon to one species over another anymore than the priest or bishop.
If the discussion is whether a deacon should distribute the Body before an EMHC instead of the deacon distributing the Precious Blood and EMHC the Sacred Body, then the understanding of the Sacred Species is in error. The Blood is just as much the Eucharist as the Body; this is most often the mistake made by many, clergy and laity alike. But that is just my opinion on that last statement.
This is Father Z’s blog post about this topic just recently;
wdtprs.com/blog/2013/02/quaeritur-are-deacons-ministers-of-the-cup/
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thomasf
Guest
What about Deacon candidates? Aren’t they called Acolytes? What is their role in distributing Communion, if any? I ask, because we have several candidates and they seem to never assist with Communion. I would think they would be preferred before an Extraordinary Minister.
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Brendan
Guest
As a man nears Diaconal Ordination, he is installed as an Instituted Acolyte.What about Deacon candidates? Aren’t they called Acolytes? What is their role in distributing Communion, if any? I ask, because we have several candidates and they seem to never assist with Communion. I would think they would be preferred before an Extraordinary Minister.
They are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, as they are not yet Ordained… If an Extraordinary Minister is to be used at all, the Instituted Acolyte is to be preferred. (GRIM 100)
They are also the only Extraordinary Minister who can assist with the purification of the Sacred Vessels.
Here some info on the role of the Instituted Acolyte at Mass
diakonoskorner.org/Resources/Files/GIRM_Acolyte.pdf
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