akk these are minor changes in ceremonies....how a feat is accomplished. None of these, however, changed one iota of church doctrine. I don't like a few of these but basically they changed what were no more nor less meaningful in the past. Eucharistic ministers have been overdue for years...in the past the presiding priest had to distribute the Eucharist to the entire group present (sometimes an associate could show up to assist). Recieving on the hand saved an enormous amount of time and let's face it, Christ really can't be too disturbed that the Eucharist isn't placed directly on the tongue...there is certainly no disrespect shown here.
...Receiving on the hand saved an enormous amount of time...
Not true -preparing the “lay ministers” to get lined up and ready to distribute takes an excruciating amount of time.
And it creates a symbolic socialistic layer -
Remember the sense of the sacred.
Since Christ is truly there, no breadlines OK?
First of all: It’s not a “ceremony”; it’s a Holy Sacrifice. Secondly, all the changes are major because they degrade the Sacrifice.
As I recall (I received First Communion in 1953), distributing Communion went a lot faster when we still knelt at the Communion rail and received on the tongue. The priest moved along the rail, almost like an assembly line. Standing to receive slowed things down enormously -- you have to wait for the person in front of you to move out of the way, then step up, then step away so the person behind you can step up.