Week of September 5, 2021

Week of September 5, 2021

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Dear Parishioners,

Last week, a man came to the Parish Office quite distraught. I was in a meeting at the time, but my secretary thought it was important enough to interrupt that meeting so that I could talk to him. I was very surprised to find out that he found a sacred host in the parking lot. To leave a host in the parking lot is sacrilege. The Eucharist is the most important and most holy thing we have in Our Church. As Catholics, we believe it really is Jesus Christ Himself: body, blood, soul and divinity. He extends Himself into space and time in order to raise us up into heaven. Therefore, to take a host and leave it somewhere else is an evil act and something we must work to prevent.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. I found in our Church, even a few months ago a host left in the pew. Other priests from other churches have found hosts in the bathroom. While these sacrileges are thankfully not very frequent, they are even more grave because Our Lord possesses infinite dignity since He is God Himself. Therefore, it is the duty of anyone who distributes Holy Communion to make sure that it is received in a proper manner. This means that the communicant consumes the host in front of the minister of Communion before they leave. People might think it’s strange that I wait for the person who just received a host to eat it before I move onto the next person, or even when I follow someone who starts to walk back to the pew with a host in order to make sure they consume the host. But this is exactly why I do it: because I do believe Our Lord is precious and the way He is treated has an effect on the person’s soul whether they realize it or not.

If you find a host, please let me know. Furthermore, if you see someone with a host who does not know they are supposed to consume it, please talk to that person and let them know how important it is that they either receive in a worthy manner or give it back. Lastly, we should all make sure that when we receive Holy Communion that we do so in a worthy manner and in a state of grace in order to model holy habits to those around us. We don’t do this because we are so great (since we are all sinners in need of the mercy of God) but because He deserves to be treated well.

God bless!

Fr. Carter