If you are an EMHC . .

[MSSheBear]

:whacky:So glad I am not an EMHC. I always just stepped to the side and consumed the Host and never thought that much about it. Occasionally I have wondered if someone was taking a Host back to their seat but I was never sure. Once in awhile our pastor announces that we are to consume the Host in the presence of the Eucharistic minister but I have never seen anyone confront somebody. I watched part of the Communion line today at Daily Mass and most of us just stepped aside to place the Host in the mouth. One elderly woman did it on the way back to the pew. Maybe we need to have COTT?:whacky:

 

[DaveBj]

:whacky:So glad I am not an EMHC. I always just stepped to the side and consumed the Host and never thought that much about it. Occasionally I have wondered if someone was taking a Host back to their seat but I was never sure. Once in awhile our pastor announces that we are to consume the Host in the presence of the Eucharistic minister but I have never seen anyone confront somebody. I watched part of the Communion line today at Daily Mass and most of us just stepped aside to place the Host in the mouth. One elderly woman did it on the way back to the pew. Maybe we need to have COTT?:whacky:

I’ve studied enough history to know that CITH has a much more ancient history than COTT (Jesus didn’t go around putting pieces of bread in the disciples’ open mouths, for starters). You can tell from the date at the upper right that I am a relative newcomer to this; I am old enough to have spend a several decades under the ancient regime and to have survived the upheaval surrounding the implementation of Vatican II, but I didn’t. Nevertheless, when I started receiving Holy Communion, I did so on the tongue, not for any historical or logical reason, but out of personal choice; I think I have received in the hand only one time in nine years, because on that day I was sick and probably contagious. It would definitely not hurt my sensitivities to see COTT become universal again, for no other reason than it would prevent what I saw yesterday. But I don’t expect it in my lifetime.

Nevertheless, my purpose for starting this thread was not to shill for COTT and disparage CITH; my intention was to alert Ministers of Holy Communion to what I see as one of their responsibilities.

 

[MSSheBear]

I’ve studied enough history to know that CITH has a much more ancient history than COTT (Jesus didn’t go around putting pieces of bread in the disciples’ open mouths, for starters). You can tell from the date at the upper right that I am a relative newcomer to this; I am old enough to have spend a several decades under the ancient regime and to have survived the upheaval surrounding the implementation of Vatican II, but I didn’t. Nevertheless, when I started receiving Holy Communion, I did so on the tongue, not for any historical or logical reason, but out of personal choice; I think I have received in the hand only one time in nine years, because on that day I was sick and probably contagious. It would definitely not hurt my sensitivities to see COTT become universal again, for no other reason than it would prevent what I saw yesterday. But I don’t expect it in my lifetime.

Nevertheless, my purpose for starting this thread was not to shill for COTT and disparage CITH; my intention was to alert Ministers of Holy Communion to what I see as one of their responsibilities.

My apologies, I am more of a newbie than you and I have actually never received COTT. If I switch over I will do it on God’s timing. COTT isn’t allowed during the annual flu emergency anyway. The Communion line goes so fast in our parish I don’t think the EMHC’s could spot anyone and I myself wouldn’t confront anyone unless I was sure they had pocketed the Host.

 

[maryjk]

Oh, sure, I, a 60-something geezer, am going to step out in the aisle and stop a 20-ish female and say, “You eat that host, you naughty girl!”

Actually, what I have said is, “Are you going to consume the Host?”

If you had caught her right away, the chances of it ending up in her purse would have been lessened. Or you would have seen that she *did *consume the Host.

Obviously, there are no such documents, but see below.

We seem to have a conumdrum. The Blessed Sacrament is the Body and Blood of Christ, and therefore must be protected from desecration, but no one is willing to take responsibility for protecting it from desecration. Or it’s the priest’s responsibility, but not mine as an EMHC. Or everybody can jump up and confront anyone who, they think, might have palmed a Host.

It seems that this is what you have done. Although you did not do the confronting yourself. You assigned someone else to do that.

Tim, what you stated is not a “fact;” it is the procedure that has been set up at your parish. Okay. But if it is important that the Blessed Sacrament be protected from desecration, then the Ministers of Holy Communion, whether Ordinary or Extraordinary, are the ones who are on the front lines of this protection. And if they are unwilling or unable to exercise their responsibilities, then we all might just as well paraphrase the words of Joash, the father of Gideon (Judges 6:31): “Jesus is a big boy; let him stand up for himself.”

Further to this incident, I learned that the young woman was confronted, and she claimed to have eaten the Host. I would be willing to bet a large amount that it was till in her purse, but at this point, what could be done?

Or it could be that she did consume the Host, and you were wrong.

 

[DaveBj]

My apologies, I am more of a newbie than you and I have actually never received COTT. If I switch over I will do it on God’s timing. COTT isn’t allowed during the annual flu emergency anyway.

You have absolutely NOTHING to apologize for; in fact, I apologize if I said anything that made you feel uneasy. My response was not based on any negative reaction whatsoever to what you said. I completely agree with your sentiments and your choices.

 

[Joshua_Shorter]

When I was being taught for first communion, my pastor told us that we aren’t to step aside but to consume the host immediately in front of the person, whether that was a priest or an EMHC. That way, if anything happened to the host (dropped on the floor, not consumed, etc.), they would be able to take care of it immediately.

For me, I’ve only received COTH 1 time. I was visiting a parish in Lawrenceville, GA. I am about 6’ 5" tall. The nice little EMHC lady was about 4’ 0" tall. I had been playing a ton of golf that week and my back was just to sore to bend over.

 

[DaveBj]

When I was being taught for first communion, my pastor told us that we aren’t to step aside but to consume the host immediately in front of the person, whether that was a priest or an EMHC. That way, if anything happened to the host (dropped on the floor, not consumed, etc.), they would be able to take care of it immediately.

For me, I’ve only received COTH 1 time. I was visiting a parish in Lawrenceville, GA. I am about 6’ 5" tall. The nice little EMHC lady was about 4’ 0" tall. I had been playing a ton of golf that week and my back was just to sore to bend over.

 

[TimothyH]

I have lived 50 years of life on this earth. I have experienced the death of a daughter, abandonment by a spouse, and other miscellaneous life crushing events, and have learned a few lessons.

One of the lessons I have learned is that reality often doesn’t line up perfectly with the way things are supposed to be, the way things are designed to be, and the way the rules say they should be.

While you guys all live in your preconceived world bolstered by your selective reading of documents with Latin names, I am the guy standing at the foot of the sanctuary with a ciborium in my hand, facing a man with cerebral palsy who can barely raise his hand or open his mouth to receive. I’m the one who has to step out of line to administer communion to a 93 year old woman in a wheelchair while I try to see if the teenager who just received in the hand is chewing or not as he trots up the aisle with his back toward me. I’m the guy who the pastor calls into the vestry because he just had a conversation with a parishoner in a rage because I told his gum-chewing son that he couldn’t receive. And I’m the guy who stood up, left my family sitting in the pew, and walked in front of 900 people when Father said, “I need one more extraordinary minister.”

I live in the real world, and at the end of each day I examine my conscience to see if it is clean. If someone has walked away with a host which they received from me then I will answer to Jesus for not paying attention and the person who walked away with the host will answer double. And you who lectured EMHC’s about reverence and responsibility will answer to Jesus about your own reverence and responsibility toward that which He has placed you in charge of - that will be between you and God at the end of your life.

The only thing I have to say to those in their own binary world of absolutes is that if you think it is so easy, then go ahead and do it yourself. I hope you are able to live up to your own standards.

-Tim-

 

[DaveBj]

I have lived 50 years of life on this earth. I have experienced the death of a daughter, abandonment by a spouse, and other miscellaneous life crushing events, and have learned a few lessons.

One of the lessons I have learned is that reality often doesn’t line up perfectly with the way things are supposed to be, the way things are designed to be, and the way the rules say they should be.

While you guys all live in your preconceived world bolstered by your selective reading of documents with Latin names, I am the guy standing at the foot of the sanctuary with a ciborium in my hand, facing a man with cerebral palsy who can barely raise his hand or open his mouth to receive. I’m the one who has to step out of line to administer communion to a 93 year old woman in a wheelchair while I try to see if the teenager who just received in the hand is chewing or not as he trots up the aisle with his back toward me. I’m the guy who the pastor calls into the vestry because he just had a conversation with a parishoner in a rage because I told his gum-chewing son that he couldn’t receive. And I’m the guy who stood up, left my family sitting in the pew, and walked in front of 900 people when Father said, “I need one more extraordinary minister.”

I live in the real world, and at the end of each day I examine my conscience to see if it is clean. If someone has walked away with a host which they received from me then I will answer to Jesus for not paying attention and the person who walked away with the host will answer double. And you who lectured EMHC’s about reverence and responsibility will answer to Jesus about your own reverence and responsibility toward that which He has placed you in charge of - that will be between you and God at the end of your life.

The only thing I have to say to those in their own binary world of absolutes is that if you think it is so easy, then go ahead and do it yourself. I hope you are able to live up to your own standards.

-Tim-

Well thought out, and well said, and bless you for you attention to detail under your own circumstances. However, I will not go ahead and do it myself, because in my little world, I would prefer for the distribution of Holy Communion to be from the hands of ordained men. However, I don’t make the rules; they were made in one of those Latin-named documents.

Yes, I know I’m currently fixated on one concept, because of what I saw Sunday morning, but this is a concept that is said to be important. If it is important, then we need to arrange how we do things around the importance of the sanctity of the Blessed Sacrament. If it is not important enough for us to do that, then we need to quit pretending that it is important at all.

 

[Joshua_Shorter]

I have lived 50 years of life on this earth. I have experienced the death of a daughter, abandonment by a spouse, and other miscellaneous life crushing events, and have learned a few lessons.

One of the lessons I have learned is that reality often doesn’t line up perfectly with the way things are supposed to be, the way things are designed to be, and the way the rules say they should be.

While you guys all live in your preconceived world bolstered by your selective reading of documents with Latin names, I am the guy standing at the foot of the sanctuary with a ciborium in my hand, facing a man with cerebral palsy who can barely raise his hand or open his mouth to receive. I’m the one who has to step out of line to administer communion to a 93 year old woman in a wheelchair while I try to see if the teenager who just received in the hand is chewing or not as he trots up the aisle with his back toward me. I’m the guy who the pastor calls into the vestry because he just had a conversation with a parishoner in a rage because I told his gum-chewing son that he couldn’t receive. And I’m the guy who stood up, left my family sitting in the pew, and walked in front of 900 people when Father said, “I need one more extraordinary minister.”

I live in the real world, and at the end of each day I examine my conscience to see if it is clean. If someone has walked away with a host which they received from me then I will answer to Jesus for not paying attention and the person who walked away with the host will answer double. And you who lectured EMHC’s about reverence and responsibility will answer to Jesus about your own reverence and responsibility toward that which He has placed you in charge of - that will be between you and God at the end of your life.

The only thing I have to say to those in their own binary world of absolutes is that if you think it is so easy, then go ahead and do it yourself. I hope you are able to live up to your own standards.

-Tim-

This is a very uncharitable post. One which makes me cringe as a result of your bitterness.

I am not an EMHC. I don’t care how one choses to receive the host, so long as it follows the guidelines set by the USCCB (in America) and the Vatican.

However, I have only read in this thread from people who are trying to get an answer and discuss what-ifs. Question and answer sessions like this are what make us aware of the circumstances.

As a matter of fact, you could read back through this thread and read from several who alluded to the fact that EMHC’s job is difficult to keep an eye on everyone.

I’m very sorry for the pain you’ve felt in your life but it is no one in this thread’s fault. You’d do well to remember that.

 

[SMHW]

This is a very uncharitable post. One which makes me cringe as a result of your bitterness.

I detected no bitterness in that post. A bit of very understandable defensiveness, perhaps. But no bitterness.

 

[DaveBj]

This is a very uncharitable post. One which makes me cringe as a result of your bitterness.

I am not an EMHC. I don’t care how one choses to receive the host, so long as it follows the guidelines set by the USCCB (in America) and the Vatican.

However, I have only read in this thread from people who are trying to get an answer and discuss what-ifs. Question and answer sessions like this are what make us aware of the circumstances.

As a matter of fact, you could read back through this thread and read from several who alluded to the fact that EMHC’s job is difficult to keep an eye on everyone.

I’m very sorry for the pain you’ve felt in your life but it is no one in this thread’s fault. You’d do well to remember that.

I detected no bitterness in that post. A bit of very understandable defensiveness, perhaps. But no bitterness.

Joshua, I think that wasn’t really necessary or helpful. SMHW has it right, in my opinion.

 

[Jean_Anthony]

Please don’t discuss each others posts; stay on topic. Thank you.

 

[John_Lilburne]

From the 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum:
“[92.] Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice,[178] if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops’ Conference with the recognitio of the Apostolic See has given permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her. However, special care should be taken to ensure that the host is consumed by the communicant in the presence of the minister, so that no one goes away carrying the Eucharistic species in his hand. If there is a risk of profanation, then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to the faithful. [footnote 179: Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Dubium: Notitiae 35 (1999) pp. 160-161.]”

The Melbourne Archdiocese has a document on its website about Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, a PDF at cam.org.au/Portals/7/documents/AOFE%20Extraordinary%20Ministers%20of%20Holy%20Communion_brochure.pdf . It includes: “If a communicant receives on the hand and begins to move away before consuming the consecrated host, gently intervene and ask them to complete their Communion before you.”

 

[DaveBj]

From the 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum:
“[92.] Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice,[178] if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops’ Conference with the recognitio of the Apostolic See has given permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her. However, special care should be taken to ensure that the host is consumed by the communicant in the presence of the minister, so that no one goes away carrying the Eucharistic species in his hand. If there is a risk of profanation, then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to the faithful. [footnote 179: Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Dubium: Notitiae 35 (1999) pp. 160-161.]”

The Melbourne Archdiocese has a document on its website about Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, a PDF at cam.org.au/Portals/7/documents/AOFE%20Extraordinary%20Ministers%20of%20Holy%20Communion_brochure.pdf . It includes: “If a communicant receives on the hand and begins to move away before consuming the consecrated host, gently intervene and ask them to complete their Communion before you.”

I got an email this evening from our pastor telling me that if I see this again, to come and get him or one of the deacons and they will confront the person after Mass and, if necessary, have them empty out whatever container (purse, pocket, whatever) they were seen to put the Host into. He’d do it, too; he’s a retired Army colonel.

The only reason I happened to see it was because my wife’s back was out, and she was on her Rollator and sitting in the “handicapped pew,” and I was sitting right across the aisle from her, which put me about five feet from the head of the communion line. I think I’m going to stick to our usual seat, which is about 5 pews back on the center aisle. Things like this are just a little more traumatic than I like.