Is there any point in receiving on the tongue from a lay extraordinary eucharistic minister?
Yes indeed (and kneeling if possible). It would be better to receive from an ordained minister, but small progress is better than no progress at all. I realize no person of genuine piety wishes to make a scene when he receives, but every decision to receive kneeling and on the tongue is a small act of witness of reverence to the Blessed Sacrament, and a reminder to the faithful of the Church's universal norms.
I'll disclose that just this past weekend while serving Mass for our new Archbishop, I knelt in the sanctuary to receive from his hands. Some in the congregation may have thought that silly man was just showing off and pretending to be more holy than everyone else. OTOH, others may have thought "I didn't know you could still do that. Maybe I should too."
One other comment to you, my newbie friend: despite very common use of the term, there’s no such thing as a lay eucharistic minister. Lay people who assist in distribution of Holy Communion are called “extraordinary [or lay] ministers of Holy Communion.” The critical difference is that a true minister of the Eucharist exercises his ministry in all aspects of the Eucharist — iow, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass — not just in the distribution of Holy Communion. Priests offer the Sacrifice, sometimes assisted by deacons. So they are the ordinary ministers of the Eucharist. In the absence of a priest or deacon, no lay person can/may perform these offices — ergo, no such thing as an “extraordinary” minister of the Eucharist.
Thanks for hearing out this somewhat tedious explanation. Welcome aboard Peter’s boat.
Is there any point in receiving on the tongue from a lay extraordinary eucharistic minister?
You're definitely asking the wrong person :-) We don't have EMHCs in the Maronite Catholic Church and communion is distributed by intinction and only on the tongue. I'll let the other freepers respond. However, you may want to call in or email your question to jouneyhome@ewtn.com. The program airs tonight at 8pm.
September 14
Open- Line
Dr. Francis Beckwith
Former Evangelical Protestant
Yes - for several reasons.
1. To demonstrate reverence to the Blessed Sacrament.
2. If you receive on the tongue from a priest but in the hand from a EEM, you will forget and hold up your hands to the priest. Guaranteed. (That's when I decided I was not going to make distinctions and just receive on the tongue.)
3. Maybe you'll gross out the EEM and he (more likely she) will quit. < j/k >
I always receive the host on my tongue. I won’t take Christ into my hands.
This was NOT really changed.......it’s just that a lot of libs thought that Vatican II changed it. At least that’s my understanding.
I believe that we will even see Communion rails come back. Also — my priest had said that in a few years we will all be receiving on the tongue.
A few people at Daily Mass saw me going up for a blessing even from the priest when they would not give us Communion on the Tongue. They also see me receiving on the tongue all the time.
I would say that about six to eight of them have changed and now receive the Holy Eucharist on their tongue!
BTW, Welcome Home!