CatholicSam:
Isn’t the body and blood of Jesus himself worth a ten-second announcement to help prevent someone from unknowingly receiving the Eucharist when they do not meet the requirements?
Yes, of course, the Eucharist is “worth” a ten-second announcement. The problem is that such an announcement, in order to account for all eventualities, would take much longer than ten seconds to offer. That is why the guidelines for Communion are printed on the inside front cover of parish missalettes. As you can see from reading them at the link below, such guidelines are not as simple as “Only Catholics may receive Communion.”
One solution might be not to try to give the guidelines, but to announce that the guidelines for reception of Communion are available in the front of the missalettes. Since most who attend daily and weekly Mass can be presumed to know that and a regular notice can be printed in the weekly bulletin for the same effect, it may make sense to only make such a verbal announcement when there is reason to believe that lapsed Catholics and non-Catholics are in attendance (e.g., baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals).
CatholicSam:
What can someone like me do to help keep the Eucharist from being desecrated?
If you are attending Mass with a lapsed Catholic or non-Catholic, you can show that person where in the missalette he or she can find the guidelines for reception of Communion. But once the person is informed of the guidelines, responsibility for whether or not he or she receives Communion is that person’s. Other than providing relevant information, ordinarily you cannot “prevent” sacrilegious receptions of Communion. Generally speaking, you can only offer up your own Communion in reparation for any such sacrilege that may be taking place. (Perhaps an exception would be if a notorious person insisted on receiving Communion, and in that case you should inform the pastor so that the pastor is aware of the situation in case of future attempts by that notorious person to receive.)
Recommended reading:
Guidelines for the Reception of Communion
