Posted on 11/13/2004 9:09:54 PM PST by Land of the Irish
And what do you do when you sit on the side of the church with an extraordinary minister giving out communion?
These are well-meaning people, good people, so this isn't personal. However, the name is EXTRAordinary which means giving Holy Communion in extenuating circumstances (absence of a priest, obviously). But they're there, even during the weekday masses, I've noticed. (when I've gone during the week)
I grew up during the seventies too, and thankfully, things have calmed down (at least here in the Deep South) My grandparents were really hurt with all of the changes (Yes! change just for the sake of change), most especially my Grandpa. (he was a cradle Catholic, my Grandma converted from Lutheranism in her late 20s, I believe) But, they stuck it out. Hopefully, they are in Heaven praying that Latin, the beautiful and ancient language that bound us around the world as Catholics will make a return to everyday Mass again. Did I also mention that my parish's last priest doesn't even know Latin? I thought all of the Church documents (coming from the Vatican) were written in Latin? However, this priest also brought back the 24 hour exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, had May crownings of the Blessed Mother, and other traditional practices.
On a brighter note, when I went to Mass this morning we have around 12-14 seminarians for our diocese! As my diocese has gone back to more traditional practices (pre-Mass Rosaries, Novenas, First Friday Observations and Expositions of the Blessed Sacrament) so has the # of vocations gone up. Great news indeed!
I'm not sure I can accept your blaming the Church for *your* withering of faith. Take some responsibility for your own salvation, legitimate grievances with the Church notwithstanding.
"Take and eat, all of you..."
Communion in the hand was the common method of receiving the Eucharist for four centuries, in the early Church.
ROFL.
My Father says that he's 'skeptical' about these extraordinary ministers.
I don't have to deal with it at my regular Mass, as it's the Tridentine Rite. I receive Communion on the tongue, on my knees, at the Altar rail with a dish held under my chin should the Host accidentally drop.
When I go to see my Parents though and I attend Mass there, there seems to be an extraordinary amount of extraordinary Ministers. I'm used to it by now, and I don't prefer it, but I don't care too too much, especially when the extraordinary Minister is an elderly Polish gentleman, who's a Holy Man in my estimation.
The Evangelicals seem to have great success making their religion cool -- skateboarding, rap, and none of the Mystery...but it draws the 25 and younger! I guess the post Vatican II RCC didn't go far enough...
You can't go half way in dismantling Tradition. Christianity was never about pleasing the latest trends so that young people can "enjoy" their faith (that's pretty un-biblical, don't you think?). The Lutherans didn't finish the job Luther started -- the Catholics did!
Then on the other hand, traditionalist Islam is gaining (the common denominator in all this growth seems to be fundementalism regardless of religion and not something luke-warm), so one can't say it's simply "Lutheran" or "Protestant." What is now Catholic? That's pretty sad. That's why we Orthodox Christians say Western Christianity is something unrecogniziable.
Today, the Catholic news announced two more parishes closing down by bankrupsy from legal battles over priestly sex-absue scandals. My deepst sympathies.
My own diocese,Phoenix hss been blessed with a new and very Catholic Bishop. This return to the Catholic Church seems to be occurring with increasing frequency throughout the country.
In the interest of good,valid information can you tell me what diocese you are in as well as the name of your B/bishop? Thanks.
Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee (Florida), Bishop J. Ricard
Communion in the hand was the common method of receiving the Eucharist for four centuries, in the early Church.
But, let us not forget that Our Lord has just instituted the priesthood, and therefore, was talking to a set of Bishops, not lay people.
The practice of Communion in the hand was the single issue that turned me off the Novus Ordo. It came at a stage in my life that I started to actually learn what the faith was all about, what the Real Presence actually meant, and what the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass really was. Up until then, the phrase The Body of Christ was just an empty one, without much impact at all. Why was this? Because the faith in the Real Presence wasn't backed up by the example given in the New Mass. It was treated like a symbol. It is a shocking statistic that the vast majority of Western Catholics that actually attend Mass do not believe in the Real Presence as the Church teach it.
To your point on the practice of the Early Church. Yes, Communion in the hand was widespread, but please consider the context in which this was happening. The Church was either practicising in the catacombs, or had just come out into the open. The faithful were just that - extremely faithful, were extremely close and most of them lived on a daily fear of martyrdom (was it 10 million Catholics killed by the Romans in the first 4 centuries?).
When the Church came out into the open, proper churches were built, and the general populace began to practice. Faith was not as fervent in places, and abuses started to creep in. Eventually, the church condemned the practice as an abuse:
Council of Rouen, which met in 650, says, “Do not put the Eucharist in the hands of any layman or laywomen but only in their mouths.” The Council of Constantinople which was known as in trullo (not one of the ecumenical councils held there) prohibited the faithful from giving Communion to themselves (which is of course what happens when the Sacred Particle is placed in the hand of the communicant). It decreed an excommunication of one week’s duration for those who would do so in the presence of a bishop, priest or deacon.taken from Some Considerations on Communion in the Hand by Rev. Fr. Paul J. McDonald.
Moreover, times have moved on. The Protestant "reformation" returned to Communion in the hand as a direct expression of their disbelief in the Real Presence. The Roman Catechism put it this way: Christ, whole and entire, is contained not only under either species, but also in each particle of either species, so people are leaving parts of the Real Presence behind on their hands without even knowing about it. Also, our knowledge of the Real Presence has deepened (see someone like St. Alphonsus' writings on the Blessed Sacrament, or St. Thomas Aquinas), so to reverse this is simply illogical - the tree does not revert to the seed). Symbolism has also changed - today, to have something in your hand is to "possess" it - a contradiction in terms of the Blessed Sacrament. We are not to take "possession" of the host, but to be fed by it by the priest, who stands in the place of Our Lord. The practice opens up the possibility of real abuse: taken away for satanic ritual (this does happen!) or even - as I have read recently - framed in a wedding photo album (this almost defies belief!). Finally, the practice was introduced through disobedience of the Dutch Bishops - is this really the sort of president we should follow.
I encourage everyone to shun this practice. It has taken on the baggage of the Protestant faith, has been previously condemned by the Church, Pope Paul VI's inquiry to the Bishops rejected it (but was introduced anyway), and - at the end of the day - is less reverent than receiving Our Lord directly on the tongue in the traditional way.
"And what do you do when you sit on the side of the church with an extraordinary minister giving out communion?"
That only happens if I'm traveling. I casually go stand at the back of the church near the line going to the priest and until I can find a place to jump in line. If, for some reason, I'm unable to do this I will take communion from an Extraordinary Minister. I don't want to make a huge deal of it. I just make an effort. :-)
Stick to your guns! I was the only child in my First Communion class back in the late 70's to receive the Blessed Sacrament on my tongue. My parents taught me well and I owe them my faith. So, despite all the wreckage you see around you, hang in there and stay close to the Mother of God. She's never far from her children. :)
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