Help! I'm creeped out going to EMHCs for Communion!

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juliasmith said:
I think maybe the poster is perhaps looking for a more traditional experience of the Eucharist and that entails receiving from a priest in proper vestments. Maybe I am wrong.
Who are you people to suddenly judge him/her as being insulting because he wants a priest instead of some woman with bad taste in clothes (my opinion, don’t care if you agree and will laugh at you when you get your knickers in a bunch because I am being insulting.) ?
Really? He wasn’t trying to be insulting. Get over it.
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graceandglory said:
This really bugs me too. I don’t know those people who are EHMCs, for the most part. There really is no criteria. At least with the priest, you know he is ordained, he acts “in persona Christi” when he is distributing the Body of Christ.

As for touching the Body of Christ, during Mass, the priest washes his hands in front of all of us and prays, “Wash me from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sins.” That goes all the way back to the tradition in OT temple worship, when the Jewish priest would do the exact same thing. I really like that part. Nothing unclean enters the Holy of Holies.
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Just so I understand, are you really saying that it is more about from whom you receive, rather than He who is being received???
 
juno24 said:
Just so I understand, are you really saying that it is more about from whom you receive, rather than He who is being received???
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That’s an unfair rhetorical question. Let’s stick to what he said and assume good faith and put the pin back in the grenade.
 
My two cents:

I usually sit on the side where the priest goes to distribute communion. The other day he went to the opposite side and normally I would have changed lines to receive from him; but I thought it would be an act of humility to receive from the EMHC, who was a tiny, elderly lady. I kept telling myself “this is the body of Christ” and felt it as such. Still it wasn’t the same for me as receiving from the priest. Perhaps it’s because I’m a revert too and am not comfortable receiving from an EMHC. I will probably appreciate them if, God forbid, one day I can no longer attend mass and need to be visited to receive. I was really freaked out when I saw EMHC’s making the sign of the cross with ashes on Ash Wednesday and changed lines then. I was told one of them even made a “smiley face” of ashes on a friend’s forhead. :eek: I am sure the EMHC’s are wonderful Catholics; but they’re not priests which IMHO counts for a lot (anointed hands, in persona Christi, years of hard discipline and learning, etc.). Pray for an increase in vocations.
 
RosalieM said:
I was told one of them even made a “smiley face” of ashes on a friend’s forhead. :eek:
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:eek: I hope that was just a rumor.

At my old parish I would always go to EMs for the ashes because the priest was old and lazy and would just put a thumbprint of ashes while the EMs made proper crosses.
 
Scottgun said:
That’s an unfair rhetorical question. Let’s stick to what he said and assume good faith and put the pin back in the grenade.
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No grenades here. I’ve read through the whole thread and that’s how it appeared to me.
Maybe it’s because it doesn’t matter to me if I receive the Eucharist from an EMHC, a deacon. or the priest as long as I am receiving Jesus Christ.
 
No it wasn’t a rumor. My friend told me, saying, “I hope this doesn’t freak you out…”:bigyikes:
 
graceandglory said:
How do I know where to sit, so I can receive on the tongue from the priest, instead of in the hand by a woman wearing lavender polyester stretchy pants?
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Simply change “lines” so that you end up in front of the Priest.

You can now close this thread. Thanks for asking. Have a nice day. 🙂

:shamrock2:
 
If you are not used to receive the Communion from EMHCs, then get to the line where there is the Priest. IF you don’t have a choice, receive it from the EMHC anyway.

If you can’t imagine you could that - put yourself in a situation where you get shut in for few weeks or live in a Nursing Home, you would be glad to receive Jesus from an EMHC.

If the EMHC wears something weird, perhaps you could train yourself that your eyes and mind are focusing on receiving Jesus. It is hard not to be distracted, but we all can try.

Welcome back home! I am very happy for you.
 
CatsAndDogs said:
Simply change “lines” so that you end up in front of the Priest.

You can now close this thread. Thanks for asking. Have a nice day. 🙂

:shamrock2:
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One of the priests at our church makes it a point to stand in a different place each Sunday. Occasionally, if he notices “line jumpers,” he will quietly switch with the EMHC next to him.
 
JulianN said:
One of the priests at our church makes it a point to stand in a different place each Sunday. Occasionally, if he notices “line jumpers,” he will quietly switch with the EMHC next to him.
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Ugh. What a sad testament.
 
water said:
If you are not used to receive the Communion from EMHCs, then get to the line where there is the Priest. IF you don’t have a choice, receive it from the EMHC anyway.

If you can’t imagine you could that - put yourself in a situation where you get shut in for few weeks or live in a Nursing Home, you would be glad to receive Jesus from an EMHC.

If the EMHC wears something weird, perhaps you could train yourself that your eyes and mind are focusing on receiving Jesus. It is hard not to be distracted, but we all can try.

Welcome back home! I am very happy for you.
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Those are all the things I do already. I figured all that out by myself. 😉

In this thread, I was hoping someone could give me some pointers, as I said in my OP, on how to know which side the priest will be at, so I can have better luck getting a priest rather than EMHC. I don’t deny I have a hard time receiving from a woman, it just doesn’t seem Biblical. Even in my protestant denominations, it would only be males living holy lives who were to distribute the bread and grape juice.

Several people have told me that I can slip to the other aisle, and I might do that if it can be done without drawing attention.

So, unless anyone has any clues as to know which side to sit on, I suppose this thread is done.

Thanks for all the responses!
 
I think most of priests playing hard for us to guess . 😃 Sometimes, they are on the left, other times on the right. You just need to have ability to bilocate.
 
RosalieM said:
My two cents:

I usually sit on the side where the priest goes to distribute communion. The other day he went to the opposite side and normally I would have changed lines to receive from him; but I thought it would be an act of humility to receive from the EMHC, who was a tiny, elderly lady. I kept telling myself “this is the body of Christ” and felt it as such. Still it wasn’t the same for me as receiving from the priest. Perhaps it’s because I’m a revert too and am not comfortable receiving from an EMHC. I will probably appreciate them if, God forbid, one day I can no longer attend mass and need to be visited to receive. I was really freaked out when I saw EMHC’s making the sign of the cross with ashes on Ash Wednesday and changed lines then. I was told one of them even made a “smiley face” of ashes on a friend’s forhead. :eek: I am sure the EMHC’s are wonderful Catholics; but they’re not priests which IMHO counts for a lot (anointed hands, in persona Christi, years of hard discipline and learning, etc.). Pray for an increase in vocations.
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I’m trying to understand how it was an act of humility for you to receive from this women. It was still the body of Christ, which is the main reason we go to mass. You should be humble no matter who you receive Him from. It’s not about the person, it’s about Christ.
And you should be thankful that there are people who give their time to go to people’s homes, nursing homes and hospitals just to make sure that all can have the gift of Christ through communion. They spend a lot of time doing this. A friend of mine just started doing this and she said it was so emotional to see these people that are so sick, they got excited when she came in to give them the body of Christ. They didn’t care that she wasn’t a priest. They were thrilled to receive it. And that’s how we should be every week at church.

And they do have to take classes. It’s not like just anyone can walk up there and start passing out Hosts.
 
The faithful don’t have a right to receive from a priest. Where in the liturgical documents does it say that? Cite a source, please.
 
Scottgun said:
Because the laity have right (in a manner of speaking) to receive from a priest, and if the priest is playing a game to trip those up who want to excercise it, it is lame.
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OK, that one I missed. Can you give me a source?
 
happymommy said:
I’m trying to understand how it was an act of humility for you to receive from this women. It was still the body of Christ, which is the main reason we go to mass. You should be humble no matter who you receive Him from. It’s not about the person, it’s about Christ.
And you should be thankful that there are people who give their time to go to people’s homes, nursing homes and hospitals just to make sure that all can have the gift of Christ through communion. They spend a lot of time doing this. A friend of mine just started doing this and she said it was so emotional to see these people that are so sick, they got excited when she came in to give them the body of Christ. They didn’t care that she wasn’t a priest. They were thrilled to receive it. And that’s how we should be every week at church.

And they do have to take classes. It’s not like just anyone can walk up there and start passing out Hosts.
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Yes, I realize what you are saying. I am thankful that there are people who give their time to go to those who cannot receive at Mass. As I said, that’s when I would most appreciate the EMHC’s if it ever came to that for me, which I hope it doesn’t. I also said I realize the host is the body of Christ no matter who gives it. what I am saying is I much prefer to receive from a priest if I am at all able. Yes, EMHC’s “take classes”. But their hands are not anointed; they don’t spend years in study and practice rigid discipline. They are not priests. As long as there are priests giving communion, I will receive from them. As a revert, it is my preference to receive the body of Christ from one who is in persona Christi.
 
graceandglory said:
While I’m open to admonishment, especially when it comes to properly receiving the Sacraments, and when I tend toward being critical; I disagree with you here.

Nowhere in history have women taken the place of the priest to distribute the Eucharist.

Until now. And it’s wrong.
There were no women at the last Supper. Apostolic succession is masculine.

The whole woman as priests thing is really hard to take. Especially when they are dressed weird, or, like a few weeks ago in a mini skirt and go-go boots.
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If EMHCs are needed they can be women, whether or not you think it’s wrong…and it’s not of a matter of women “replacing” the priest.
Scottgun said:
There is no need to get into a whole EMHC vs. Priest thing here. As others have said, figure out where the priest will be and sit there. Most priests stay in the same place each mass.
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👍
CatsAndDogs said:
Simply change “lines” so that you end up in front of the Priest.

You can now close this thread. Thanks for asking. Have a nice day. 🙂

:shamrock2:
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👍 👍
Scottgun said:
Because the laity have right (in a manner of speaking) to receive from a priest, and if the priest is playing a game to trip those up who want to excercise it, it is lame.
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I couldn’t imagine a priest doing it for such a reason.

Anyway, to the OP, just change lines.
 
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