E.m.h.c. Fail !

[Ed Normile]

I was at mass Easter sunday and this young woman and her boyfriend was approaching the exceptional minister lady for communion. I noticed he looked really awkward, seemed as if he was out of place. His grilfriend, I assume she was his girlfriend as they were a bi-racial couple and she was coaching him on the way up, showed him how to hold his hands out. she received the Eucharist first, he was next and stood there for about fifteen seconds with the girlfriend watching when the exceptional minister tried to stick the host in his mouth, he pulled back as if he was being hit, and the girlfriend said, I could hear this three pews back, "in your hand" and she put her hand out as if to show him how to do it. Then I just knew the exceptional minister was either going to bless him, which i have seen them do, or just refuse to give it too him, but, he held out one hand and she gave him the host and he started to put it in his shirt pocket, I almost jumped up at him and the girlfriend said "no, in your mouth, silly" then she turned and looked at the exceptional minister lady and held out both her hands and turned her head sideways and smiled as if to mime, oops. Then he followed his girlfriend right out the door and left. I was going to approach Father after mass and tell him about this, then I thought what would it accomplish to do this on Easter, maybe get the E.M.H.C. woman in trouble, or upset the priest on easter. I was still hashing over what to do as I left and the priest was already gone, probably due to the extremely large crowd there.

ed

[Resurrexi]

Having EMHCs at normal Sunday Masses is a fail in and of itself.

[Slappo]

[quote name='Resurrexi' date='07 April 2010 - 11:01 PM' timestamp='1270706460' post='2089090']
Having EMHCs at normal Sunday Masses is a fail in and of itself.
[/quote]

However Easter is not a normal Sunday mass.


Having EMHC's at any mass is a fail in and of itself


That's what more seminaries are needed for.

[Ed Normile]

[quote name='Resurrexi' date='08 April 2010 - 01:01 AM' timestamp='1270706460' post='2089090']
Having EMHCs at normal Sunday Masses is a fail in and of itself.
[/quote]

Ressurexi, I would normally agree with you as that is exactly how I feel. This Easter mass was extremely packed, they did have four priest concelebrating the mass as well as at least eight EMHC's, it still took about fifteen minutes to distribute communion.

ed

[Nihil Obstat]

At the parish I was at in BC, a woman took the Eucharist, then went over to the EMHC holding the chalice and intincted it. I twitched and got angry.

Didn't help that almost every single young person in there was acting like jerks. Not a great time. Not at all.

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' date='08 April 2010 - 01:06 AM' timestamp='1270706815' post='2089097']
At the parish I was at in BC, a woman took the Eucharist, then went over to the EMHC holding the chalice and intincted it. I twitched and got angry.

Didn't help that almost every single young person in there was acting like jerks. Not a great time. Not at all.
[/quote]

Such problems would not exist if the Holy See revoked the indult for Communion in the hand.

[Ed Normile]

[quote name='Slappo' date='08 April 2010 - 01:02 AM' timestamp='1270706568' post='2089092']
However Easter is not a normal Sunday mass.


Having EMHC's at any mass is a fail in and of itself [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/mellow.gif[/img]


[b]That's what more seminaries are needed for.[/b] [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/upsidedown.gif[/img]
[/quote]


Plus 1, and more seminarians.

ed

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='Slappo' date='08 April 2010 - 01:02 AM' timestamp='1270706568' post='2089092']
However Easter is not a normal Sunday mass.


Having EMHC's at any mass is a fail in and of itself


That's what more seminaries are needed for.
[/quote]

A longer fast and a greater emphasis on the necessity of being free from mortal sin when receiving holy Communion might help, too.

[KnightofChrist]

It's hard to say but I would defend the E.M.H.C, hard because their use should be rare and it isn't, and the Priest's hands alone should touch the Host.

I would defend her because this gentlemen should have been instructed first, not only how to receive but why receive. Then he should have chosen to accept Jesus Christ and His Holy Church. The confusion was on part of the gentlemen not the E.M.H.C. T'was not her failure.

[Aloysius]

its her responsibility to only give it to people who present themselves as Catholic. doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize he wasn't. she should've kindly motioned for him to move along.

[Bennn]

This is a classic example of reducing the Holy Mass to merely a social gathering. I am a Cradle Catholic and it took me 17 years to learn that I was receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus. That is outrageous. I would seriously suggest getting rid of Communion in the hand, as the west is obviously not capable of handling this practise in an orthodox way. When there are little booklets in church to follow the prayers, I would also like to see some instructions on the page of the Communion of the faithful, something along the lines of this: "Those who are practising Roman Catholics, who live in friendship with God and are thus not aware of any mortal sin, are now welcome to approach the altar to receive the Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord with reverence."

It's not so hard to realise this and I believe it would help lots.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

Wait...did he leave with the Eucharist in his pocket?

More bishops need to install acolytes.

[CatherineM]

I saw a priest once take back the Eucharist from a child. The child was visiting with a relative and told them she had made her first communion, but when she took the Eucharist and kind of stared at it for a moment, the priest snatched it back, and said, "I think I'll wait until it is confirmed that she has received her first communion." We've gotten it into our head that it is a right instead of a privilege.

[dominicansoul]

I have had to get up from my place after Communion because I saw a teenager take the Host and place it in her hands and keep It. I walked across the aisles to get to her, and I ordered her to consume Him or I was going to take Him from her. The parents looked at me like I was a crazy woman, but finally the kid placed the Host on her tongue and I watched as she swallowed. I made sure she did not keep Him on her tongue. Afterwards, I spoke to the priest and He walked over to them after the Mass and I heard him scolding the parents for not watching what their child was doing. Who knows, that kid probably never even received her first Holy Communion in her life? The priest didn't see this happen, because this kid received from a person who I don't dare call "minister." The way the Church in America adopted a liberal use of "extraordinary" "ministers" of the Eucharist is abominable, and I wonder how much sacrilege Our Lord has had to endure!

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='CatherineM' date='08 April 2010 - 10:25 AM' timestamp='1270736755' post='2089178']
I saw a priest once take back the Eucharist from a child. The child was visiting with a relative and told them she had made her first communion, but when she took the Eucharist and kind of stared at it for a moment, the priest snatched it back, and said, "I think I'll wait until it is confirmed that she has received her first communion." We've gotten it into our head that it is a right instead of a privilege.
[/quote]
Yes, that is a problem. There is a story that St. Padre Pio once celebrated Mass and afterward went on a walk with some of the seminarians who had been there. On the walk, he began to weep and they asked him what happened. He replied, "one of you has stabbed me in the heart. He has received the Eucharist unworthily." Immediately one of the seminarians fell to his knees and repented of a mortal sin. The saint sent the others away and heard the young man's confession.

People are so embarrassed sometimes not to go up for Communion because they feel they'll be judged, but Christians ought to assume the best of intentions in others. I might have realized halfway through Mass that I broke the fast without meaning to or I may feel ill-prepared because I was intentionally distracted during the Mass.