Communion in the Hand
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Many thanks to our signatories ...
On 19th March, the solemnity of the St Joseph, husband of Mary, we will be taking the petition down, removing double entries and sending the petition to the Holy Father. We thank those who signed the petition and we each will offer Mass for your intentions.
If you are able to make a final effort to increase our numbers by sending the petition address to your friends on your email list it would be nice to reach 5,000.
Peace to you all!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Taking care of Our Lord.
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 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.
Monday, February 6, 2012
For the sake of the weak ...
A friend of mine has been in a small parish group for many years. I asked her why she kept going and she replied that it was for others. She said that her preference would be to spend her time some other way but that the lonely people who attended the group needed someone to be there to welcome them.
St Paul did not eat meat sacrificed to idols for the same reason and encouraged other Christians to do the same - for others.
There is no 'in principle' reason for not having Communion on the hand. It is for the sake of the weak, for the sake of those who are not as well catechised, not as attentive, not as strong in their belief in the real presence; for the sake of the children, that we propose it should be given only on the tongue!
Dominus Est
Dominus Est ~ It is the Lord!
By Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider, ORC
Based on his experience of Eucharistic devotion under Communist persecution, Bishop Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of Karaganda, Kazakhstan and member of the Order of the Holy Cross, bears witness to the loss of reverence for the Real Presence in the Western world and makes concrete suggestions for the renewal of Eucharistic faith and devotion in our times.
"I have read the whole book with delight. It is excellent." ~ Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship
"Now more than ever, it is necessary to help the faithful renew a living faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species in order to strengthen the life of the Church herself." ~ from the preface by Most Rev. Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship
By Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider, ORC
Based on his experience of Eucharistic devotion under Communist persecution, Bishop Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of Karaganda, Kazakhstan and member of the Order of the Holy Cross, bears witness to the loss of reverence for the Real Presence in the Western world and makes concrete suggestions for the renewal of Eucharistic faith and devotion in our times.
"I have read the whole book with delight. It is excellent." ~ Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship
"Now more than ever, it is necessary to help the faithful renew a living faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic species in order to strengthen the life of the Church herself." ~ from the preface by Most Rev. Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship
AVAILABLE HERE
Saturday, February 4, 2012
A Worldwide Response !
It amazes me the number of countries all over the world that are represented in our petition to the Holy Father. Catholics from so many diverse nations have responded. However it must be said that the numbers signing to this point have been below expectations. Please encourage others who have a deep love and devotion to the real and substantial presence of the Lord Jesus in the Holy Eucharist to consider signing this petition and to advertise it on their blogs. Of course Catholics from non English speaking countries may wish to begin their own petition which would be a particularly welcome outcome of our own initiative here.
In certain circles online this petition has caused controversy. This is understandable if you have as your starting point a theology of the Eucharist that centres more on celebrating Jesus' presence in our community, rather than Jesus' initiative in giving Himself completely to us in His Eucharistic presence and sacrifice. The heart of the Holy Eucharist is forever new, for it is the utter self giving of Jesus in Love beyond all telling for our Salvation and He is risen ! It is this Communion with Jesus at Mass that forges Communion among us as the the Body of Christ the Church . This Communion is the source and fountainhead from whence all Christian community and service flow.
We are therefore completely dependent on Jesus as the source of our salvation and for our Communion with Him and each other in Christian love and community, moreover we know He is both truly God as well as truly man. On better understanding these truths it will seem more than natural to want to receive Jesus in holy Communion humbly on the tongue to express these realities of faith. Furthermore as this faith will tend to lead us to this practice, the practice if made normative would help to reinforce and build this faith. We could also add something here about kneeling but we will leave that discussion for another time.
In certain circles online this petition has caused controversy. This is understandable if you have as your starting point a theology of the Eucharist that centres more on celebrating Jesus' presence in our community, rather than Jesus' initiative in giving Himself completely to us in His Eucharistic presence and sacrifice. The heart of the Holy Eucharist is forever new, for it is the utter self giving of Jesus in Love beyond all telling for our Salvation and He is risen ! It is this Communion with Jesus at Mass that forges Communion among us as the the Body of Christ the Church . This Communion is the source and fountainhead from whence all Christian community and service flow.
We are therefore completely dependent on Jesus as the source of our salvation and for our Communion with Him and each other in Christian love and community, moreover we know He is both truly God as well as truly man. On better understanding these truths it will seem more than natural to want to receive Jesus in holy Communion humbly on the tongue to express these realities of faith. Furthermore as this faith will tend to lead us to this practice, the practice if made normative would help to reinforce and build this faith. We could also add something here about kneeling but we will leave that discussion for another time.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Thanks
One Thousand Signatures tonight! Well done, and thank you all!
We will be leaving the blog up for a while yet .. to give as many as possible a chance to sign.
Peace.
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