Priest putting Host in pocket

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migurl

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Ok, this happened a while ago but it has started bothering me again lately.
Previously, my husband had been an usher at our parish, and one of his responsibilities was to watch for people abusing the conscecrated host (not swallowing, trying to leave with out consuming it etc.) One Sunday he rescued a Host and took it to our parish priest. My Hubby found our priest in a conversation in the church and he approached him with the Host. The priest took the Host from him and stuffed it in his pocket and continued his conversation. My hubby was deeply troubled by this as am I. I am not sure if anything can be done now, since so much time has passed. It really is sad that a priest would put our Lord Jesus Christ into his pocket with lint and change. In my opinion, he should have immediatly taken care of hte Host and then returned to his earthly conversation after OUr lord was safely handled. Am I wrong?
 
Is there any chance he didn’t understand it was consecrated? Otherwise I can’t think of any reason he would do this.
 
And was this host indeed consecrated? Or was your hubby presuming it was?
 
Oh My!!

At our parish all the ushers, sacristans and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, have been instructed by our pastor to assume a ‘stray’ host is consecrated and to pick the host up and either consume it or take it to the sacristy to be put in the ablution jar so that when it disolves it can go into the sacuarium.

I’m sorry your priest did this I will pray for him and you and your husband. This abuse can be pretty shocking and disturbing, I know, I found two Consecrated Hosts on the floor one day after Mass. I consumed them even though they were still moist from being in someone elses mouth, I didn’t care, that is my LORD that someone else disrespected and tossed out.

All I can suggest is that if it ever happens again is the ablution jar or consume, and prayers of reparation.
 
migurl said:
Ok, this happened a while ago but it has started bothering me again lately.
Previously, my husband had been an usher at our parish, and one of his responsibilities was to watch for people abusing the conscecrated host (not swallowing, trying to leave with out consuming it etc.) One Sunday he rescued a Host and took it to our parish priest. My Hubby found our priest in a conversation in the church and he approached him with the Host. The priest took the Host from him and stuffed it in his pocket and continued his conversation. My hubby was deeply troubled by this as am I. I am not sure if anything can be done now, since so much time has passed. It really is sad that a priest would put our Lord Jesus Christ into his pocket with lint and change. In my opinion, he should have immediatly taken care of hte Host and then returned to his earthly conversation after OUr lord was safely handled. Am I wrong?
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No, you are not wrong, but the priest probably doesn’t believe in the real presence to begin with. Otherwise, he would have excused himself and tended to the proper matter at hand.
 
peary1 said:
No, you are not wrong, but the priest probably doesn’t believe in the real presence to begin with. Otherwise, he would have excused himself and tended to the proper matter at hand.
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On this brief evidence it would be more charitable to assume that the priest thought the host wasn’t consecrated than to accuse him of not believing in the real presence.

The OP and her husband should find out where the ablution cup or jar is in their church and use that next time either of them find a host after Mass. In my parish there is a small cup on a side table near the sacristy. It is the correct place to put a dropped host when you cannot get into the sacristy. Their parish may have a similar arrangement.
 
God bless you for your concern for the Lord.

Perhaps to interrupt him in the middle of a conversation wasn’t the best option.
I don’t doubt that he intended to consume it later. Interrupting him while being a shepherd to another person gave him a dilemma. How could he just put the host in his mouth and just continue on talking?

He needed to allow time to respectfully and not just thoughtlessly consume the host. Priests talk to others after Mass as a ministry.

It would have been disrespectful to Jesus to have mindlessly swallowed the host, and then resumed his conversation as if nothing had happened

It would have been more respectful to wait until his conversation was over and then approach him.

There are always two sides to an issue and we always need to consider the other’s position. 🙂
 
Next time you find a host (pray God it never happens again) - the person who finds it should stand “guard” over where it has fallen and they are to send another person to get the Priest. This way, the host may be properly retrieved and there may be proper cleansing of the spot where the host fell.

Don’t pick it up and go walking about looking for father.
 
Mrs_Sally said:
On this brief evidence it would be more charitable to assume that the priest thought the host wasn’t consecrated than to accuse him of not believing in the real presence.

The OP and her husband should find out where the ablution cup or jar is in their church and use that next time either of them find a host after Mass. In my parish there is a small cup on a side table near the sacristy. It is the correct place to put a dropped host when you cannot get into the sacristy. Their parish may have a similar arrangement.
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I have had way too many discussions with many priests - most ordained in the 70s - who scoff at the notion that a consecrated Host by and of itself contains the body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord. I have been told time and time again by priests that He is present in the eucharist because we are present. If we are not there, He is not there. Amazing stuff, this new theology! The priest in question probably would have brought it to the sacristy and disposed of it in the sacrarium - hopefully.

A consecrated host on the floor is to be picked up with a non-soiled handkerchief, napkin or paper towel, and brought into the sacristy. Proper ministers should then take the Host and put it into the sacrarium and add water to dissolve it. Many churches have a special cup set aside on a nearby table where dropped hosts can be brought. Some even have water in them to begin the dissolution process.
 
On occassion I have witnesses the Priest taking a “stack” of hosts- 4 or 5- as they are placing them in the Tabernacle and consuming them at the close of the Eucharistic celebration- what significance does this have- he just had the Eucharist 10 minutes earlier and now consumes more.
 
rdscheirer said:
On occassion I have witnesses the Priest taking a “stack” of hosts- 4 or 5- as they are placing them in the Tabernacle and consuming them at the close of the Eucharistic celebration- what significance does this have- he just had the Eucharist 10 minutes earlier and now consumes more.
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Perhaps there is some reason he thinks that they should not be placed in the tabernacle to be consumed by others. For example, if they had been dropped on the floor or if they had been handled by someone who was ill, he might prefer to assume the medical risk of consuming the Hosts himself rather than exposing other parishioners.

I suppose the only real way to know is to ask him.
 
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