Walkin' Away with the Eucharist . . .

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az_4_faith

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Well, it happened again this morning.

I was helping to distribute the Precious Blood, and again, out of the corner of my eye, I spied a woman walking back to her seat with the Sacred Host in her hand.

Without a second thought I followed her, tugged at her coat and and asked her why she wasn’t eating the Host. She gave me the oddest answer. Looking down at the host, she said, “What, this?” I told her to eat the Host IMMEDIATELY! She did.

I should have asked if she was Catholic and asked her to surrender the Host, but again, it happened so fast, that I only reacted as best I could.

This is definitely not the first time that I have had to stop someone from walking down the aisle with Jesus in their hands. The good news is Our Lord was saved from desecration. Who knows what she would have done with Him. Over the years, we have found Hosts tucked in pew cushions, in between pages of missalettes and on the floor. Not every weekend, thanks be to God, but often enough that it has convinced me that we should only be receiving on the tongue. Then this nonsense may go away.

Usually, those in our parish who are feeble have someone with them to make sure they receive the Eucharist properly. That was definitely not the case with this woman.

Oh how I wish we could bring back the patens and reception only on the tongue!
 
You know what? I think I agree with you that maybe we should go back to getting communion on the tongue. I have seen some scary things happen to the host over the past few months, and it really concerns me.

Now don’t any of you think I’m goin’ traddy on you, or anything like that! I still love my NO mass, with the guitar music, drums, tamborines, and hand-holding, jean-wearing mass.😃 I guess I am worried about the treatment of the holy eucharist, however.
 
First—thankyou az 4 faith—for being alert to what is happening to our Lord.

Now—all of us are responsible to seeing that no form of disrespect or profanation occurs to our Lord. We need to continuously let the Church know how often our Lord is being walked away with. That He is found on the floor , pews, etc. Lord knows how many times—He has been carried away by people who have not been caught.

The Church has stated that at the risk of profanation --Communion in the hand is not to be offered. Some where along the line —this directive is being dropped.

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html#Chapter%20III

[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.179]
 
This morning the female alter server almost flipped the host out of her hand. Sigh…
 
I walked outside of a church once after Mass and found a lone (consecrated?) host on the concrete parking lot. A religious brother once notified snatched it up and consumed it.

I’m totally for receiving on the tongue in the Latin churches.
 
I vote for intinction by priest or deacon, complete sign value of both Body and Blood, avoids profanation that is the natural result of reception in the hand, using communion vessels that are designed for that purpose (see most Eastern churches). If we are not going to restore communion rails, which place the communicant at the proper position for reception on the tongue (and the proper posture), keep it as is, because it is very difficult to communicate on the tongue standing unless by chance the minister and communicant are the proper height difference from each other.
 
az_4_faith said:
Well, it happened again this morning.

I was helping to distribute the Precious Blood, and again, out of the corner of my eye, I spied a woman walking back to her seat with the Sacred Host in her hand.

Without a second thought I followed her, tugged at her coat and and asked her why she wasn’t eating the Host. She gave me the oddest answer. Looking down at the host, she said, “What, this?” I told her to eat the Host IMMEDIATELY! She did.
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Would a Catholic call the Lord “THIS”?:eek:

You did a good thing by tracking her down. Why would anyone go to recieve Communion and then stuff the Host into the pew etc? How awful. I receive in the hand and this would almost make me rethink that.😦

:heart:Blyss
 
mommyof4 said:
Pardon my ignorance, but what does “intinction” mean?:confused:
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To offer Holy Communion by intinction—the priest takes the Host and dips part of the Host in the Precious Blood. Communion in this form is on the tongue only.
 
And the sad thing about it is . . . our parish is VERY reverant and knowledgable about the Holy Eucharist. By no means are most of our parishioners flippant when they receive. It only makes me wonder if we have this problem here . . . what must be happening in parishes who are very laxi-daisy about their belief in the Real Presence.

I used to receive in the hand, but no more for this very reason.

I don’t know why the Bishops aren’t alarmed since this seems to happen often.
 
Walking_Home said:
To offer Holy Communion by intinction—the priest takes the Host and dips part of the Host in the Precious Blood. Communion in this form is on the tongue only.
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And only the priest can offer Communion by Intinction. Those in parishes who allow the faithful to receive in the hand and then “dip” the Host into the Chalice are in error. This is not allowed at all.
 
Well today was my first day as a server and I accompanied the EMHC to watch her distribute the Holy Eucharist.

This must be pretty common because even though about 20 people received,(we were in the crying room), one lady took the Eucharist and walked away with it tucked in her palm.

I noticed this then followed her and then she looked over at me and then put it in her mouth as she was going down the aisle. That is when I turned around to go back to the EMHC.

Why do people do this sort of thing? It really disturbs me that I have to act like some sort of policeman watching people like this, why can’t people just receive reverently?

I don’t mind having to fight, defend and stand up for Jesus but it is depressing to see a flippant attitude in Church.

In Christ
Scylla
 
az_4_faith said:
Without a second thought I followed her, tugged at her coat and and asked her why she wasn’t eating the Host. She gave me the oddest answer. Looking down at the host, she said, “What, this?” I told her to eat the Host IMMEDIATELY! She did.
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You are my hero of the week! I wish everyone had such fortitude and took their jobs as soldiers for Christ seriously!
 
scylla said:
Well today was my first day as a server and I accompanied the EMHC to watch her distribute the Holy Eucharist.

This must be pretty common because even though about 20 people received,(we were in the crying room), one lady took the Eucharist and walked away with it tucked in her palm.

I noticed this then followed her and then she looked over at me and then put it in her mouth as she was going down the aisle. That is when I turned around to go back to the EMHC.

Why do people do this sort of thing? It really disturbs me that I have to act like some sort of policeman watching people like this, why can’t people just receive reverently?

I don’t mind having to fight, defend and stand up for Jesus but it is depressing to see a flippant attitude in Church.

In Christ
Scylla
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Because they are the Church, they are the people of God and they can do anything that feels good or that they want to do. No matter what that may be… Freedom, that is what it is all about, freedom to do what you want, how you want and when you want. Freedom from all authority all rules and all requirements. Freedom to have that personal relationship with God, where He is exactly what you want him to be and you are exactly what you want to be. Conform or not conform, it doesn’t matter to God because you are what matters and He loves you and will forgive anything, anytime and you don’t have to do anything at all.except what you choose to do.

Freedom baby, live the way you want to live:thumbsup: 👍 👍 👍 …

That is the reason people do what they do and act the way they act. Nothing more and nothing less…
 
scylla said:
Well today was my first day as a server and I accompanied the EMHC to watch her distribute the Holy Eucharist.

This must be pretty common because even though about 20 people received,(we were in the crying room), one lady took the Eucharist and walked away with it tucked in her palm.

I noticed this then followed her and then she looked over at me and then put it in her mouth as she was going down the aisle. That is when I turned around to go back to the EMHC.

Why do people do this sort of thing? It really disturbs me that I have to act like some sort of policeman watching people like this, why can’t people just receive reverently?

I don’t mind having to fight, defend and stand up for Jesus but it is depressing to see a flippant attitude in Church.

In Christ
Scylla
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How uncharitable of you:tsktsk: She probably merely wanted to take it home and share it with someone. They used to do that in the early Church you know, thats why they received in the hand. A tidbit that most don’t realize and even fewer accept, but it is the truth… But as for the attitude today, simple:

These people do what they want because they are the Church, they are the people of God and they can do anything that feels good or that they want to do. No matter what that may be… Freedom, that is what it is all about, freedom to do what you want, how you want and when you want. Freedom from all authority all rules and all requirements. Freedom to have that personal relationship with God, where He is exactly what you want him to be and you are exactly what you want to be. Conform or not conform, it doesn’t matter to God because you are what matters and He loves you and will forgive anything, anytime and you don’t have to do anything at all.except what you choose to do.

Freedom baby, live the way you want to live:thumbsup: 👍 👍 👍 …

That is the reason people do what they do and act the way they act. Nothing more and nothing less…
 
That’s right I am a jerk.🙂

They would probably get mad too if someone insisted that they recieve on the tongue as per the GIRM, if we had a risk of profanation.

That would be too obedient and would surely ruffle the feather of the “thinking Catholics*”.
(*those who like to think of new evil things to do in defiance of the Church)

God Bless
Scylla
 
palmas85 said:
How uncharitable of you:tsktsk: She probably merely wanted to take it home and share it with someone. They used to do that in the early Church you know, thats why they received in the hand. A tidbit that most don’t realize and even fewer accept, but it is the truth… But as for the attitude today, simple:
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We go to Mass to receive the Eucharist for ourselves in a celebration with the broader community of the faithful. This is not the proper way of ‘sharing’ the Eucharist with another person who may be at home. If they are home-bound, there are various ministers who will bring the sacrament to them. Yes, Masses were often celebrated at home in the early Church, but it is still not appropriate to take the Host outside of the Mass to someone who was not present there to ‘share’. We don’t take the Body of Christ ‘to go’. There is a certain amount of dignity and reverence which is due to the consecrated host which someone carrying it in their hand outside of the Church is not providing it.
These people do what they want because they are the Church, they are the people of God and they can do anything that feels good or that they want to do. No matter what that may be… Freedom, that is what it is all about, freedom to do what you want, how you want and when you want. Freedom from all authority all rules and all requirements. Freedom to have that personal relationship with God, where He is exactly what you want him to be and you are exactly what you want to be. Conform or not conform, it doesn’t matter to God because you are what matters and He loves you and will forgive anything, anytime and you don’t have to do anything at all.except what you choose to do.
Click to expand...
Freedom baby, live the way you want to live:thumbsup: 👍 👍 👍 …
Click to expand...
That is the reason people do what they do and act the way they act. Nothing more and nothing less…
Click to expand...
I suppose this is the message you gleaned from Vatican II? Yes, the Church is the People of God, there does exist a ‘priesthood of all the faithful’–but this doesn’t liberate us from the authority of the hierarchical priesthood. Reading Lumen Gentium might clear this distinction up for you.

As human beings we are most definitely free–free to choose what is right, not what we ‘feel’ to be best for us, regardless of what the teaching of the Church might say. We are obligated to choose what is good–and we do this by following God’s commands, because of course He wants what is best for us.

Your relativism frightens me. There is no point in any sort of belief if it’s all relative–you deciding what you want your God to be like and me deciding about mine. That’s not faith at all. That’s making yourself to be God, following your own will because it makes you feel warm and fuzzy.

True faith requires realizing that as fallen human beings we are sinners, and that our own desires will not lead us to holiness unless we conform them to God’s will. Conformity, in this case, isn’t a negative thing at all, but what we must do as Catholics.
 
palmas85 said:
How uncharitable of you:tsktsk: She probably merely wanted to take it home and share it with someone. They used to do that in the early Church you know, thats why they received in the hand.
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I hope you are being sarcastic here and not serious. People cannot just take home the Eucharist for somebody else. If one has a sick family member, he needs to call the parish. Arrangements will be made for a priest, deacon or EMHC to bring the Sacrament to the sick person.
 
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