Ping!
Whenever people put down the church, citing Vatican II, I am sure they live by rum ours and have not read the documents
If people would read “Get Us Out of Here” by Maria Simma, they would no longer be extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion OR receive the Blessed Eucharist in their hand.
There are several things worth noting here. The first is that sweeping judgments about the disbelief and pride of those who receive in the hand and touch the Host are woefully ignorant of the long and varied history of Eucharist piety in the Catholic Church. Such judgments spit on the grave of St. Tarcisius, a young acolyte who was martyred carrying the Eucharist to Christians in prison. It also overlooks all sorts of witnesses from the early centuries of the Church to the practice of receiving or carrying communion to others in the hand (see, for instance, the testimonies from ancient witnesses at this link). And, most of all, it overlooks the fact that Holy Church has--and has exercised--its authority to say that believers may, if they choose, receive communion in the hand reverently. Roma locuta est. Causa finita est. Rome has spoken. The matter is at an end.
Is it possible to receive in the hand irreverently? Of course. It's also possible to receive on the tongue irreverently. If a person is determined to be irreverent, there is no limit to human inventiveness when it comes to sin and sacrilege and no sure fire way to guarantee that it will not happen by restricting communion to being received on the tongue. After all, some activist bent on making some blasphemous statement can just as easily spit the Eucharist out as mishandle it. But it would be foolish to declare that all those who receive on the tongue are therefore pridefully aiding and abetting such sacrilege. Same with my reader: she obviously receives reverently and does not deserve the judgement being meted out Catholics who regard themselves as more qualified than the Magisterium to decide who is and is not a faithful Catholic.
While it's certainly true that Vatican II didn't authorize communion in the hand, it is a practice that is permitted in certain countries, the U.S. included. See here.
Do I receive on the hand? No I do not when it's reasonably possible to do so. However, it's simply a law of physics that if a 5'8" tall man receives from a 5'2" tall "extraordinary minister" it's much more problematic to "guide" the Host in the mouth than receiving in the hand. This is after making an attempt to get in line for a priest distributing, however this is not always possible as he seems to "switch sides" so to speak from Mass to Mass so to pick to sit on the same side as he will distribute is a guess.
I have looked for other parishes with taller ECM's (and even taller priests that make an effort to place on the tongue effectively without bungling the Sacrament nearly dropping to the floor,another problem I've faced). Not exhaustively I will admit, but, given the facts above, that it is entirely permissible to receive in the hand, I'm not going to be shamed into a physically awkward position simply because there is a concern for abuse of the Blessed Sacrament.
Ultimately, as Mark Shea implies above, abuse of the Sacrament is a symptom of a greater problem in our Church, namely the casual attitude most have towards God and their salvation. I know that when I receive Him, I am doing so in the proper disposition, and have made every reasonable effort to receive on the tongue, so I will thank others for not judging me as otherwise when I am forced to receive in the hand.