Why are a priest's hands anointed?

[Kaito14122]

I’m a curious 20 years old Catholic followers that is currently struggling due to a couple of questions that caused my faith to be unstable. Please guide my path; all opinions will be valued.

1. Catholic priests went through many hardship in order to be Ordinate with the Holy Anointing Oil. This, I believe, was the sole reasons why they can perform Mass and handle the Holy Eucharist by hand. My questions then is why does the general followers also have the rights to touch the Holy Eucharist with their hands? I know this is a popular discussion, nevertheless, this time, I want to explore an answer from an experienced point of view.
2. Most Catholic Church have their own set of envelope uniquely printed for each of its member’s household. Why is such thing necessary? Would not this only lead to prejudice?

I appreciated your time, may God blesses you.

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

1. A priest’s hands are not anointed so that he may touch the Eucharist. During the anointing of the hands, the 1962 Roman Missal had the Bishops pray:

That whatever they bless may be blessed, and whatever they consecrate may be consecrated in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The current ordination rite has the Bishop pray during the anointing:

The Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit, guard and preserve you, that you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifices to God.

The priest’s hands are anointed because it is through his hands that he will bless and confect the sacraments, most especially the Eucharist. His hands are anointed so that he will consecrate the Eucharist, not hold it. A deacon is an ordinary minister of communion yet his hands are not anointed.

For further reading I recommend the Archdiocese of Toronto’s breakdown of the ordination rite.

1. The envelope system for donations is simply a matter of convenience for both parish and parishioner. In the USA donations to churches are used as tax deductions, by having someone’s donations attached to an envelope number the parish can easily give them a donation report that they can use for their taxes. It also helps a parish to know who is attending Mass. Some parishes are rather large and its difficult to know every person who attends Mass each week. If someone wants to be a baptismal or confirmation sponsor the pastor can simply look up their envelope number to see if they are attending Mass.