Question about the Eucharist

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George_C

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Last week at Mass, a mother allowed her son (age 10 or so) the bread, but gave him a sharp jerk away from the person holding the cup of wine. There were other kids who were definitely under 18 taking the wine.

Is this not a case of only doing things halfway? :confused:
 
First, a gentle correction on the proper terminology:
Since the bread and the wine have been consecrated, you should call them by their proper names: the Precious Body and the Precious Blood, or the consecrated bread and the consecrated wine.

Also, regarding “taking wine”, the Eucharist is a gift that we receive. We say that we receive Communion, not take Communion.

Now, to address your question:
The Real Presence is fully present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the consecrated bread. It is also fully present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the consecrated wine. So, a person may receive only the Precious Body, and they will have fully received Christ. It is not “doing things halfway.”

See this same question addressed in Ask an Apologist.

Regarding kids under 18 receiving the Precious Blood, kids generally make ther First Holy Communion around age 7, so you will definitely see children receiving the Precious Blood.
 
There are also practical considerations. The Most Precious Blood is still under the accidents of wine, and still tastes as such. I am terribly worried my 10-year-old who has hated the little tastes of wine we’ve given her at home, would do something awful because of what she perceives as the bad taste.

Also, the chalice is heavy and it is awkward for a child with little hands. I have seen adults have difficulty out of extreme care to make sure nothing spills, so the chance of children having an accident–like they frequently do with dinner glasses–is just too much to risk.

Glad
 
or it may be the mother thought it best the child not receive from the chalice, for reasons best known to herself, perhaps he had a cold or something.
 
jpjd said:
First, a gentle correction on the proper terminology:
Since the bread and the wine have been consecrated, you should call them by their proper names: the Precious Body and the Precious Blood, or the consecrated bread and the consecrated wine.

Also, regarding “taking wine”, the Eucharist is a gift that we receive. We say that we receive Communion, not take Communion.

Now, to address your question:
The Real Presence is fully present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the consecrated bread. It is also fully present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the consecrated wine. So, a person may receive only the Precious Body, and they will have fully received Christ. It is not “doing things halfway.”

See this same question addressed in Ask an Apologist.

Regarding kids under 18 receiving the Precious Blood, kids generally make ther First Holy Communion around age 7, so you will definitely see children receiving the Precious Blood.
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Okay, okay… I’m a newbie to the faith. Sorry. 😦
 
Setting aside the terminology, I think the mother in your story handled herself very badly.

A kid old enough to receive the Body should be taught to pause before the cup and make a gesture of reverence-- so should we all, if we don’t receive.

Some people are so hysterically afraid of alcohol that they overshelter their children, and those kids are the most likely to completely unravel when they reach the age of rebellion.

But I’ve seen some kids receive the Blood, then make horrible gagging faces and actually scrape their tongues with the hems of their t-shirts on their way back to the pew.

I think GladCatholic is wise to expose the kids to the taste of wine at home, and judge from that whether they are mature enough to receive the Precious Blood.

So many people walk by with as little reverence as if the Cup were a water cooler and they just aren’t thirsty-- makes me sad. A priest in our area stopped offering the Cup on a regular basis: he’d warned the parish several times that it was optional, and he would quit if more people didn’t act with reverence.

Alas, [edited] he’s transferred to a diocese back east. Meanwhile, we close/consolidate a parish or two a year for want of priests…
 
jpjd said:
No need to apologize! The only way to learn is to ask! 👍
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Thank you. I just hate sending out signals like:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
**NOOBIE ALERT! NOOBIE ALERT! NOOBIE ALERT! **

Which is how it feels at times. 😦
 
At the local Melkite Church, baptized infants are then confirmed and brought to Communion henceforth. They receive, as the rest do, by direct intinction. (I don’t know why or when the Melkites stopped using the spoon.)

So far, none have refused to receive. Sometimes with a very little baby, the Priest will dip his finger in the Precious Blood and place it in the infant’s mouth, who will do what all babies do. :o

And then there’s a child who skips up to Communion and skips back.

Heartwarming. 😉
 
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