Only Priests can give communion?

  • Thread starter Thread starter aball1035
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

aball1035

Guest
Where in the Bible does it say that only priests can give communion? My Protestant friend asked me why it couldn’t be anybody.
 
Priests and deacons are the ordinary ministers of communion, but many parishes also have EM’s (Extraordinary Ministers) who also assist in distributing the Eucharist.
 
mikeghiorso said:
Priests and deacons are the ordinary ministers of communion, but many parishes also have EM’s (Extraordinary Ministers) who also assist in distributing the Eucharist.
Click to expand...
Thank you, but I’m looking for a proper response to my friend. He wanted to know why only priests can hand out communion-rather than you or me, for example.
 
That is my point. Extraordinary Ministers are taken from the congregation. Many of them also visit hospitals and take communion to the sick and the homebound. They are not ordained, and they can be either men or women. So it is not just priests who can give out communion…
 
aball1035 said:
Thank you, but I’m looking for a proper response to my friend. He wanted to know why only priests can hand out communion-rather than you or me, for example.
Click to expand...
Are you sure that’s what he is looking for? Or is he going more for why can only Priests confect the Eucharist and not you or I? Because Priests , Deacons and some laypeople can distribute communion in the Catholic Church.
 
=aball1035;5077782]Where in the Bible does it say that only priests can give communion? My Protestant friend asked me why it couldn’t be anybody.
Click to expand...
Question: Who was Jesus giving His MANDATE to?👍

ANSWER: Mt. 26:26-28, Mk. 14: 22-24, Lk. 22:19-21, Paul 1 Cor. 11: 23-26.

Bishops, Priest and Deacons ONLY, is what God and our Pope want?
 
Seatuck said:
Are you sure that’s what he is looking for? Or is he going more for why can only Priests confect the Eucharist and not you or I? Because Priests , Deacons and some laypeople can distribute communion in the Catholic Church.
Click to expand...
O sorry ya you’re right. That’s what I meant 🤷 How do we know only priests can consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood?
 
aball1035 said:
Where in the Bible does it say that only priests can give communion? My Protestant friend asked me why it couldn’t be anybody.
Click to expand...
Because only the Apostles were given authority by Christ to make the Eucharistic sacrifice (Holy Communion). This authority the Apostles handed on to their successors, the bishops and priests, who carry that apostolic authority today, via Apostolic Succession. Not just anyone can say the words of consecration and make the Eucharist present. It has to be someone who has authority to do so-- a bishop or priest commissioned by the bishop. Because of this, Protestants do not have a valid Eucharist, because they do not have God-given authority descending from apostolic times via the bishops.

You see, the problem came when the Protestant sects broke away from the Church in the 1500’s, during which time they rejected the God-given authority of the bishops and priests (just 'cause they had other “opinions”-- remember, the ancient Greek word for “opinion” is where we get the word "heresy). They lost all sense of what the sacramental and biblical concept of authority was, and this is why many modern Protestants no longer have even the concept of what a sacrament is.

Hope this helps.
 
Matariel said:
Because only the Apostles were given authority by Christ to make the Eucharistic sacrifice (Holy Communion). This authority the Apostles handed on to their successors, the bishops and priests, who carry that apostolic authority today, via Apostolic Succession. Not just anyone can say the words of consecration and make the Eucharist present. It has to be someone who has authority to do so-- a bishop or priest commissioned by the bishop. Because of this, Protestants do not have a valid Eucharist, because they do not have God-given authority descending from apostolic times via the bishops.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
could you give some verses?
 
aball1035 said:
could you give some verses?
Click to expand...
First off, I would like to say that Scripture is only one aspect of the Deposit of Faith-- so not all true teaching is found within the Bible. Catholics’re not Sola-Scripturists.

Secondly, you can see the theme of authority throughout the OT and NT, especially in the relation of Christ to His Apostles. For instance (I’m no good at off-hand chapter/verse references) in the Last Supper narratives, only the Apostles were present, any only to them did He commission to “do this in memory of Me”. Secondly, in other verses He gives them jurisdiction over the Church (most, noteably, Peter) which of course would principly include administration of the Sacraments. Early Christian writings universally speak of the bishops or the presbyter/priests as the ones who make the Eucharist. “Let that be deemed a valid eucharist which is under the leadership of the bishop or one to whom he has entrusted it.” – St. Clement, the personal disciple of St. Peter said.

Throughout the New Testament we see Christ giving authority to the Apostles. Certainly He did not give every human being the ability to confect the Eucharist! That would be totally illogical. Very specifically, He delegated this authority to the Apostles, who in turn have given it to the bishops and priests of the holy Catholic Church, which is God’s Church on Earth, and the Universal Sacrament of Salvation, in which all seven Sacraments and graces are distributed. The ministerial priesthood is an integral part of this.

Furthermore, it was the universal practice of Christianity up until the Protestant Revolt in the 1500’s.
 
=aball1035;5078731]O sorry ya you’re right. That’s what I meant 🤷 How do we know only priests can consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood?
Click to expand...
**Because jesus Himself said so:

Luke 22: 19-21 and 1 Cor, 11: 23-26

With the words “do this in Memory of Me” Christ instituted the Catholic Priesthood.**
 
There was once a man who lumbered long and hard every day at the mill. His wife, everyday would have dinner waiting for him. Well, on this particular day he asked for a dinner comprised solely of soup. The man sat down at the dinner table and shouted to his wife “Sola Soupa!” The wife ladelled some soup from the cauldron, walked over to her husband, and poored the soup all over the table, “Sola Soupa.” 😃
 
=diggerdomer;5084757]The Bible does not say only priests can give communion. Sorry.
Click to expand...
Actually it does, if you understand the Bible:thumbsup:

Luke.22 Verses 19 to 21: [19] And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” *[20] And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. [21] But behold the hand of him who betrays me is with me on the table.

Also Mk. 14:22-24, and 1 Cor. 11:23-29

If we understand that it was at the last Supper that Jesus Instituted the Sacrament of Holy Orders [the Catholic Priesthood"] with the MANDATE [you!] “Do this in memory of Me.” 🙂

Which is why ONLY Catholic Priest /Bishops can cooperate with the Holy Spirit in making Christ, Really, Truly and Sunstanually Present in His now GLORIFIED Body**😉
 
The Bible is vague on the matter but the notion that giving communion (confecting a proper Eucharist) is reserved to certain individuals (bishops and priests) can be found in the writings of very early Christians. For instance, St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr, writing about A.D. 107, said:
See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery (priests) as you would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid. (To the Smyraeans, chap. 8)
 
There is a difference between consecrating and distributing communion. The scriptures say that only the apostles consecrated. This is found in the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostles were bishops. But the Acts of the Apostles also refer to the deacons distributing communion. They refer to them as “wating on tables”. The deacon is one of the orders of the priesthood. That’s why we call the sacrament Holy Orders. It means that it has three orders or ranks: deacon, presbyter and bishop. the three can distribute communion. Only the presbyter and bishop can consecrate the bread and wine. This is found in the Acts of the Apostles and in the letters of Paul, as well as the early Fathers and the Desert Fathers and Mothers.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the sacrament of Eucharist. He gave the apostles the authority to do it in memory of Jesus. The apostles by extension of their authority have given it to the bishops and priests. And in my opinion the priest have the responsibility to distribute the Eucharist to the common people.
The bible has alot of evidence into this effect. One should read the New Testament in order to understand the deeper meaning of this sacrament that Jesus is giving to us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
 
The question needs clarification. Can only priests consecrate bread and wine? Yes.

Can anyone distribute the consecrated Bread and Wine?

No. Only those approved by the priest/bishop as Eucharistic ministers can give Holy Communion, with one exception: couples during their wedding Mass can give Holy Communion to each other.

Can only priests consecrate bread and wine?

Gen. 14:18 - this is the first time that the word “priest” is used in Old Testament. Melchizedek is both a priest and a king and he offers a bread and wine sacrifice to God.

Psalm 76:2 - Melchizedek is the king of Salem. Salem is the future Jeru-salem where Jesus, the eternal priest and king, established his new Kingdom and the Eucharistic sacrifice which He offered under the appearance of bread and wine.

Zech. 9:15-16 - this is a prophecy that the sons of Zion, which is the site of the establishment of the Eucharistic sacrifice, shall drink blood like wine and be saved. This prophecy is fulfilled only by the priests of the Catholic Church.

Matt. 26:29; Mark 14:25 - Jesus is celebrating the Passover seder meal with the apostles . His instructions were only to them and their successors.
Here, then, is the one important thing, or at least the principal thing that the man of today expects of the priest: to bring God into our lives and, in particular, to accomplish reconciliation between us and the all merciful God, to give us the Bread of Life and thus enable us to live in the Absolute.

These unique ministries of the priest make him the only person in society who can communicate to the man of today the life of God Himself, who can give to the starved man of today the very Body of Christ, Emmanuel, God-among-us.
But, there is no Eucharist without the priest. We can say more: the ministerial priesthood is substantially related precisely to the Eucharist, as Vatican Council II affirms:
“In the mystery of the Eucharistic sacrifice…the priests exercise their principal function…because the priests alone have received from Christ Himself the formidable power to render present, sacramentally, His Body and His Blood, to perpetuate through the centuries the sacrifice of the Cross.” (Decr. Presbyt. Ordinis, n. 13).
The Council of Trent teaches that Jesus instituted the sacrifice (eucharistic) and the priesthood (ministerial) of the new and eternal Covenant at the Last Supper:
“Our Blessed Lord, was about to offer Himself, once and for all, to the Father on the altar of the Cross where His death would accomplish the eternal redemption of men. But His priesthood was not to end with His death. Therefore, at the Last Supper, during the night of His betrayal, He willed to leave to His beloved Spouse, the Church, a visible sacrifice, necessary as such to our human nature….Therefore, in His quality of Eternal Priest according to the order of Melchisedech, He made the oblation of His Body and of His Blood, to God the Father under the species of bread and wine. Then, He gave that Body and that Blood to the Apostles who were constituted at that moment priests of the New Testament, and lastly, with the words: ‘Do this in memory of Me,’ He commanded the Apostles themselves and their successors in the priesthood to repeat that same oblation.” (Sess. 22, e.l.)
Jesus Himself wanted to prepare “His own” to understand this “tremendous Mystery of Faith” and He started immediately at the beginning of His preaching by making the Eucharist the center and the test of faith in all Christian life, but above all in the priestly life.
Click to expand...
therealpresence.org/eucharst/priesthd/prsteuch.htm
 
arcee said:
At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the sacrament of Eucharist. He gave the apostles the authority to do it in memory of Jesus. The apostles by extension of their authority have given it to the bishops and priests. And in my opinion the priest have the responsibility to distribute the Eucharist to the common people.
The bible has alot of evidence into this effect. One should read the New Testament in order to understand the deeper meaning of this sacrament that Jesus is giving to us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Click to expand...
Of course, in the New Testament, the Apostles are never referred to as priests.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top