Some time ago a lay person from another Parish noticed someone walking away with the Sacred Host in his hands. She told the Priest at the earliest opportunity but his reply was, "I wouldn't worry too much about it, Jesus can take care of himself. " I am sure we would all have many thoughts and reactions to a comment like this; However I eventually found myself thinking of Mary and Joseph looking after the child Jesus. Could you ever imagine them deciding that there was no need for them to look after Jesus very carefully because after all he was the eternal Son of God and could take care of Himself ! Just as Mary and Joseph were charged by God the Father with the responsibility of taking care of His Son in His human nature, so too the Church is charged with responsibility for the safe custody and care that is due to the Eucharistic Jesus. Moreover just as Mary and Joseph fulfilled their role with such attentive love, devotion and respect, so too the Church is called to do the same.
It is worthwhile reminding ourselves at this point of the teaching of the Church as expressed by Pope Paul VI in his 'Credo of the people of God' (No.25) - "the reality itself, independently of our mind, the bread and wine cease to exist after the consecration, so that it is the adorable Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus that from then on are really before us". From this point it is only the outward appearance to the senses of the bread and wine that remain.
Yes, very many catholics do have this faith and many of them receive communion in the hand with devotion and care, however at this point in the history of the Church many do not, and others present themselves for communion in the hand with little or no faith or knowledge of who it is they are receiving. Is it not then best to restore communion on the tongue as the normative practice so as to eliminate as far as possible the profanation of the 'adorable' Body and Blood of the Lord ? Is it good enough to say we can tolerate Jesus being mistreated and abused in His Eucharistic Body sometimes ( and it is happening more and more) in order to keep our preference for communion in the hand? When you love someone devotedly you don't ever want to see them treated with any disrespect and we are speaking here of Jesus Christ who loves us and gave Himself for us on the cross; He who is the second person of the most Holy Trinity who became Man to save us from eternal death. Great is the Mystery of our faith !
The holy father decided that in the Vatican communion can only be received on the tongue so as to safeguard the sacredness of the Blessed Sacrament. We could perhaps ask the holy father to at least allow other Pastors to to make this same decision if they too believe it necessary in fulfilling their duty of care towards the Blessed Sacrament.
It's allowed in the GIRM to disallow Communion in the Hand at the risk of profanation. This is what a parish priest back in my home state did when there were too many sacrileges at his parish. But we need Bishops to support priests when they take a stand for the protection of Christ Jesus :).
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