So why have Catholics downplayed the blood of Christ? It’s been awhile since I’ve been to a Catholic Mass & I’ve heard they’ve changed the practice where only the Priest partakes of the wine/blood, but I think the official teaching is that the Eucharist is “bloodless” perpetual sacrifice...
...it annoys me no end when I attend a Mass where that happens...the Blood of Christ should always be made available to the faithful...as for the Protestant communion, my only experience was as a kid in the Presbyterian church and we’d pass around trays every six weeks or so with bread cubes and shot glasses filled with grape juice, not even so much as getting out of our seats, which practice of course highlights the symbolic rather than the actual presence of Our Lord...not the most reverential of moments, but that is merely my opinion and is not intended to pass judgment on those whose belief it is....
it annoys me no end when I attend a Mass where that happens...the Blood of Christ should always be made available to the faithful...
...though I must reply to myself that I understand that in some parishes, the issues of finances and numbers play into Eucharistic practices...I really should learn to temper my more petulant moments...
I have never been to a Mass where the Blood was offered to the laity. Searching my memory, I don't think anyone knelt to receive the Eucharist at one of the parishes I went to occasionally, though it might be just a memory misfire. Saturday nights in jeans or shorts... nothing in those Mass' seemed in the least bit reverent to me & going seemed to be all about fulfilling the weekly obligation, nothing more.
as for the Protestant communion, my only experience was as a kid in the Presbyterian church and we’d pass around trays every six weeks or so with bread cubes and shot glasses filled with grape juice, not even so much as getting out of our seats, which practice of course highlights the symbolic rather than the actual presence of Our Lord...not the most reverential of moments, but that is merely my opinion and is not intended to pass judgment on those whose belief it is....
That would bother me, but it would seem the rarity of the offering would splain why I've never seen it, despite having attended several Presbyterian services. I really don't get the grape juice, cuz all of the Presbyterians that I know drink alcohol, at least occasionally & they're not secretive about it. Sure, my brother's bride tried to throw a party without any beer after their wedding, but when my father put a quick end to that plan, most of the bride's family drank beer with the rest of us. We figured the dry wedding had to do with the county it was in, not the denomination.
I believe in the Real Presence, so symbolic & lack of reverence isn't necessarily a Protestant thing.