Dear Parishioners,

I was recently visiting another parish and I found something quite disturbing there. Someone had dropped part of the Eucharist in one of the pews. When I asked some of the servers there, I found out that sometimes the mothers of that parish would break a host in half for their child because they think the host is too big for the child to swallow. I find acts like this one, no matter how well intentioned, to be complete and total disrespect to the Blessed Sacrament. As Catholics we all have the duty to respect the Blessed Sacrament and to treat it with love and reverence because it is the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stories like this disturb me on a personal level and I hope that if anyone sees any purposeful abuse to the Blessed Sacrament, they will try to correct that person. If we cannot treat the Blessed Sacrament with the respect due to God, what does that say about our own spiritual lives?

I hope you can understand why I am very strict when it comes to distributing communion. In general, I try to always make sure the person in front of me receives communion before they walk away. Sometimes, I even walk after people who walk away with Holy Communion before they receive it. This is gravely improper and is exactly what leads to the profination of the Blessed Sacrament as I previously described. Often I even have to correct people on how they hold their hands when receiving communion. Sometimes people want to receive one handed or trying to snatch Our Lord with their pincher fingers or sometimes they may hold out their hands as if they’re trying to catch a ball. I find this odd since it’s so easy to hold up one’s hands flat, one on top of the other, with their palms up. If one is unable to do that, then they may even receive on the tongue, which is actually the normal way of receiving Holy Communion throughout the world.

While I am on the topic of receiving communion properly, I should also mention that there is spiritual and interior preparation that goes along with receiving Holy Communion. Just because you are at Mass does not mean you must receive Holy Communion. In fact if someone finds that they are in a state of mortal sin, one should not receive Holy Communion. Mortal sin is knowingly and with intention breaking one of the 10 commandments (which is grave matter). If you find yourself in this state, you must go to confession before you receive communion. I am not saying this to exclude anyone but in hope that one realizes their sins and repents.

Overall, we cannot treat the Eucharist like an object. God does not make Himself present for our pleasure. It is not up to Him to live up to our standards. By coming to us in the Blessed Sacrament, He shows His great love and mercy and it is up to us to live up to His ways that lead us to heaven. When we come to Mass, we need to shake off our casualness and worldly ways and remember that we are entering into something holy that extends beyond ourselves and the present moment. If we allow Him to, God will lead us to heaven through it.

God bless!

Father Carter