Sinky, the solution is obvious to all: dump the EEM's and force your parishioners to spend an extra 10 minutes at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
That way, only you, the Pastor, and the Associate Pastors will be responsible for the disposition of the Eucharist, for good or ill.
No. We simply can't logistically handle 90 minute Masses.
While your intentions are sincere, the numbers cited by Sinkspur would constitute more than 10 extra minutes. While I do not favor EEMs, it is apparent that a shrinking priesthood requires the assistance of 'deacons'.
A personal note. Please DO NOT misconstrue this for anything other than the charitable comment in which it is being given. It is an 'observation', not a 'judgement'!
Over the 40 year span following VCII, I accepted the changes in the liturgy. Initially, it was very difficult to take communion from a woman whose hands were dripping with jewelry and doused with perfume. It flew in the face of all that I had been taught by the good nuns in catholic school and was imbued in me, prior to VCII. Alas, I was and am still not in the postion of judging the work of the Holy Spirit, and went along with all of this.
Now that I am in a church where communion is by intinction and on the tongue, I am in a unique position to reflect on the 'Real Presence' in the Eucharist. Receiving that intinctured host on my tongue each week from the hands of an ordained priest, is a humbling experience. We place our trust in this priest that the host and wine are validly consecrated, while giving ourselves entirely over to our Lord, through His servant.
Recently, a RC family attended our liturgy. One of their children was overheard reacting to this experience. She was most perturbed at not being able to "receive in the hand". Initially, that struck me strange. On closer reflection, however, it seemed to me that what she was exhibiting was a "loss". Please bear with me on this!
During our infancy, we rely on others to feed us. Once we have mastered that ability, we have gained a new skill - the ability to feed ourselves. As senior citizens approach their very golden years, one of their greatest fears is the loss of that skill. They don't want to be dependent on others to feed them.
Perhaps I have read more into this situation than is true. It does seem to me, even watching the Mass on EWTN, that many catholics now 'want' to feed themselves. Those who were born after VCII have never experienced any other form of receiving communion. For them, the notion of entrusting themselves to a priest to administer communion, is an alien concept.
My comments are not intended to persuade the discussion in one direction or the other. Rather, they are intended as a simple 'commentary', a 'reflection' on what I have witnessed and experienced.
Personally, I would rather spend 2 hours in line to receive the intinctured host from a priest, than to take communion in the hand from an EEM. That is a personal choice; one that I can now make. It is indeed tragic that a younger generation of catholics has been 'encouraged' to receive in the hand and not on the tongue.