For
many years now, there has been a point of contention among Catholics
as to whether Holy Communion should be received on the tongue, or in
the hand.
There
have been many disagreements, with some insisting communion should
only be received on the tongue. They feel it is both irreverent and
disrespectful to Our Lord for our hands to touch His body.
Others
have said that this is nonsense and that these people are just hold overs
from the "old days". They say that as long as we make a
"throne" with our hands to receive the Body of the Lord, we
are showing proper respect.
Then
the "tongue only" folks point out that it would be too easy
for someone to sneak off with the host for it to be used in some
profane ritual.
I
have to say, that I totally and completely agree with those who say
that communion should only be received on the tongue. I think that the
reception of Holy Communion in the hand should not just be
discouraged, but banned outright in all Catholic Dioceses.
No,
I am not calling anyone heretics...Vatican II modernists...or
anything else.
After
seeing how upset we all became with a Harvard University Club
sponsoring a Satanic Black Mass, and the planned use of a host in
that sacrilegious act , it became apparent to me, that only
allowing reception on the tongue is the only way that
should be allowed for any Catholic to receive the Body of Our Lord.
[Granted,
in the case of the Harvard University Club, there were several
conflicting statements as to whether or not the Satanists were
actually in possession of a consecrated host. First they said they
had a consecrated host....then they had a host, but it was not
consecrated...then they didn't have a host at all, but planned to use
bread. I think it best to assume that they did in fact have a
consecrated host, and even knowing it was consecrated, they (the
Satanists) would proclaim it as not being consecrated anyway, since
they deny that transubstantiation takes place, and
therefore deny the Body of Christ.]
If
a priest, or EMHC (Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion) places a
consecrated host in the hand of any communicant, it is
far too easy for that communicant to pretend to have
consumed the host, and then transport it elsewhere for their
own nefarious purposes. We have all read about or heard of
priests stopping communicants from leaving a parish with a host that
had been placed in a pocket or purse instead of being consummed.
In
any case, the fact remains that it would be much more difficult for
anyone to remove a host from their mouth, when that host had been
placed on the tongue by the priest or EMHC. It seems to me, that the
action of the communicants owns saliva upon the host, would render it
unsuitable for transporting, even if that was what the recipient had
in mind.
Let
me say here, by my own decision, beginning with my own first
communion, I have always received on the tongue and not in the hand.
No one told me to receive that way. No one forced me to receive that
way. It was my decision, and mine only. I felt, and still do feel, it
is the only proper way to receive the Body of Our Lord.
I
do hope, that after this blatant disregard for the Catholic faith by
some students at Harvard University, that bishops in the United
States, and around the world, will put an end to receiving Holy
Communion in the hand.
©
Gary Stephen Smith and Faith of the Fathers, 2014.
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