Apr 13 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Re-thinking Communion in the Hand
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Homily #080413 (
13min) Play - Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, "Wherever I go in the whole world, the thing that makes me the saddest is watching people receive Communion in the hand." What is the Church saying today about Communion in the hand?Ave Maria! Mass readings
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Ave Maria!
Thanks for the interesting and good sermon. Hand Communion is definitively a practice that should be disallowed. Being a Norwegian Catholic, I’m especially interested to learn more about it being introduced in a Nordic country.
Thank you Fr. Ignatius– this practice is a HUGE problem in today’s world. At our church the cleaners have found SEVERAL consecrated hosts in the pews, that obviously were received, taken back to the pews and not consumed. Think of how many make it out of the church. I have seen people walk half way back to their seats before placing our Lord into their mouths. We need desperately to go back to a time when Our Lord was much more respected and cherished and perhaps that will lead us to respect each other more as well. Keep up your great ministry!!!
Dear Viking,
It actually began in Holland, not Norway. You can read more about it at:
http://www.catholic-pages.com/mass/inhand.asp
Ave Maria!
Dear Fr. Ignatius,
This was a wonderful homily … thank you. An article came out in our parish newsletter a few years ago saying how receiving in the hand was the PROPER way to receive and encouraging people to stop receiving on the tongue. I tried to *hint* that I wasn’t so sure on the accuracy of this since a number of countries did not follow this, but quite honestly, I had no real data to defend this at the time. I don’t think they’re trying to be disobedient. I truly believe that they are misled. But, I will never forget the first time we came to the Friary for Mass. When I realized that everyone was kneeling at the Altar rail to receive Our Lord on their tongues, I whispered, “QUICK LESSON” and proceeded to tell my kids what they were to do since they’d never seen that before. My then 3rd grade son (who just went to your Come & See, 🙂 ) said that he felt like receiving Our Lord on his tongue felt *holier* and could we go back to the friary again another time. I nearly fell over … out of the mouths of babes.
Thank you (thank all of you FI priests) for your bold homilies. They are never *ANGRY* homilies … they are compassionate but you’re never afraid to call a spade a spade. It’s refreshing, quite honestly.
-Jen
Yes, receiving Holy Communion on the tongue is a much more reverent practice than receiving in the hand. As a teacher in a Catholic school, I’m often asked to be an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist for school Masses. Too many times I have found myself putting our Lord into the obviously unwashed hands of the students and I have seen particles come loose from the edge of the Host as well. We must pay more attention to what we are doing and why.