When they started Communion in the hand, many people lost the belief in the Real Presence. I still can't think of a good reason for why they did that. I can think of some bad reasons.
Priest's hands are consecrated with oil at ordination so that they may handle the Blessed Sacrament. Up until the mid 70's in the US, a layperson handling the Eucharist was considered a sacrilege.
Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago is the one who really pushed for communion in the hand. In "Windswept House", he's the Cardinal of Century City.
Agreed. I think the problem goes beyond that, though, as many of us, even if we receive with external reverence, don't always bear the reverence of a purified, prepared heart. Both the internal and the external go together, and help confirm eachother, but it's all something to think about and at least be a little more careful on.
This is a very important topic indeed. I have struggled with scrupulosity for years now, and even then the temptation to think, "What will they think?" was present in my mind. Granted, I was not abstaining for a purpose rather than to placate my scruples, but it simply proves how strong that temptation is. I'm glad you wrote about this topic, because pride and vanity really can lead to receiving unworthily. We must cultivate a healthy "it doesn't matter what people think" attitude. What is ironic is that most of the culture at large has that attitude about almost everything, but will still shiver about people's opinions where truly important things are concerned.
The culture at large is following a conformity spiral of its own. While preaching openness there's a secret mimetic spiral into craziness that is quite constraining and conformist. This is why charity is ultimate freedom, as sin ultimately spirals off into people who are dead, conformative and wasting away with no inner life as they have given away their agency to the crowd,
The case of receiving Holy Communion is a weird one where the inverse of the normal rule amidst faithful Catholics that you should care (somewhat) what people think is reversed. Normally some good can come from conformity, although the downside is pride if you're doing it for the wrong reasons. Here, I guess the criterion, as always, is what would Christ think.
When I was a kid, I went up to recieve the Eucharist without understanding or particularly caring about its meaning and purpose. I wandered away from the Chirch as a teenager, and for decades never looked back.
Today, i am a man who refused the Blessed Sacrament at my father's own funeral mass, in the front row of a church where I had just delivered his eulogy to a crowd. I was not prepared.
There are degrees of readiness, however. Our caution varies with severity of our sins (or it should, I think). Decades spent in deep darkness have taught me to be very cautious indeed.
That said I understand your second point. It was said to me by an old, close friend and deacon, active in his church. But given my history and the nature of my greatest sin, I know in my heart that I have not properly repented yet.
Frankly, I am still looking for a confessor who might comprehend the sin , in this age where even priests seem to have gone fully postmodern.
Not to overly intervene, but I could direct you to a few whom I know personally who are a little more grounded in reality while having a broader sense of what reality is. (I’m guessing from your work on what you’re referring to.)
Fr. Donald Calloway, for one, or several Benedictine monks, or an African priest or two, are pretty prepared for the spiritual warfare around us, unlike many of the postmodern, more shallow-focused priests that abound elsewhere.
There's also the matter of my own comprehension. I've spent the past four years trying to understand precisely what it is I'd be confessing to (my writings here on Substack being the public part of that investigation). I pray that God will give me guidance, and I believe He has shown me some. But, in contrast with my professional life, I'm apparently a slow learner when it comes to these subjects.
When they started Communion in the hand, many people lost the belief in the Real Presence. I still can't think of a good reason for why they did that. I can think of some bad reasons.
Priest's hands are consecrated with oil at ordination so that they may handle the Blessed Sacrament. Up until the mid 70's in the US, a layperson handling the Eucharist was considered a sacrilege.
Cardinal Bernadine of Chicago is the one who really pushed for communion in the hand. In "Windswept House", he's the Cardinal of Century City.
Agreed. I think the problem goes beyond that, though, as many of us, even if we receive with external reverence, don't always bear the reverence of a purified, prepared heart. Both the internal and the external go together, and help confirm eachother, but it's all something to think about and at least be a little more careful on.
This is a very important topic indeed. I have struggled with scrupulosity for years now, and even then the temptation to think, "What will they think?" was present in my mind. Granted, I was not abstaining for a purpose rather than to placate my scruples, but it simply proves how strong that temptation is. I'm glad you wrote about this topic, because pride and vanity really can lead to receiving unworthily. We must cultivate a healthy "it doesn't matter what people think" attitude. What is ironic is that most of the culture at large has that attitude about almost everything, but will still shiver about people's opinions where truly important things are concerned.
The culture at large is following a conformity spiral of its own. While preaching openness there's a secret mimetic spiral into craziness that is quite constraining and conformist. This is why charity is ultimate freedom, as sin ultimately spirals off into people who are dead, conformative and wasting away with no inner life as they have given away their agency to the crowd,
The case of receiving Holy Communion is a weird one where the inverse of the normal rule amidst faithful Catholics that you should care (somewhat) what people think is reversed. Normally some good can come from conformity, although the downside is pride if you're doing it for the wrong reasons. Here, I guess the criterion, as always, is what would Christ think.
When I was a kid, I went up to recieve the Eucharist without understanding or particularly caring about its meaning and purpose. I wandered away from the Chirch as a teenager, and for decades never looked back.
Today, i am a man who refused the Blessed Sacrament at my father's own funeral mass, in the front row of a church where I had just delivered his eulogy to a crowd. I was not prepared.
None of us "truly" are...
I point this out mostly because this has been a problem for me as well and something I've only just begun to realize.
There are degrees of readiness, however. Our caution varies with severity of our sins (or it should, I think). Decades spent in deep darkness have taught me to be very cautious indeed.
That said I understand your second point. It was said to me by an old, close friend and deacon, active in his church. But given my history and the nature of my greatest sin, I know in my heart that I have not properly repented yet.
Frankly, I am still looking for a confessor who might comprehend the sin , in this age where even priests seem to have gone fully postmodern.
Not to overly intervene, but I could direct you to a few whom I know personally who are a little more grounded in reality while having a broader sense of what reality is. (I’m guessing from your work on what you’re referring to.)
Fr. Donald Calloway, for one, or several Benedictine monks, or an African priest or two, are pretty prepared for the spiritual warfare around us, unlike many of the postmodern, more shallow-focused priests that abound elsewhere.
Thank you for your advice.
There's also the matter of my own comprehension. I've spent the past four years trying to understand precisely what it is I'd be confessing to (my writings here on Substack being the public part of that investigation). I pray that God will give me guidance, and I believe He has shown me some. But, in contrast with my professional life, I'm apparently a slow learner when it comes to these subjects.