Rev José Mario O Mandía
jmom.honlam.org
Saint Augustine once taught: “Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: ‘This is My Body.’ No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it. We would sin if we were not to adore it” (cf Sacramentum Caritatis 66).
Adoration. That’s the key word to a worthy reception of the Eucharist.
Since man is both body and soul, his adoration has to be done by both body and soul, it has to be both exterior and interior, both visible and invisible. Let us talk about the exterior and visible elements.
Worship of the Lord requires us to take care of our external bearing. We must show that He is Lord and we are his servants in the way we behave and the way we dress (cf CCCC 291). The Holy Mass is not a tennis game, or a beach party. It is not a club meeting or a lunch gathering. It is a time for worship.
The Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum (On certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist, Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 25 March 2004), gives us specific guidelines.
STANDING OR KNEELING? Redemptionis Sacramentum (RS) says that either posture is possible. It adds, “However, if they receive Communion standing, it is recommended that they give due reverence before the reception of the Sacrament, as set forth in the same norms” [cf Missale Romanum, Institutio Generalis, n 160]. (RS 90)
CAN THE MINISTER REFUSE TO GIVE COMMUNION TO ANYONE? RS (no 91) quotes Canon Law which says that “‘sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who seek them in a reasonable manner, are rightly disposed, and are not prohibited by law from receiving them’ (Code of Canon Law, can. 843 sect. 1; cf can. 915).’ Hence any baptized Catholic who is not prevented by law must be admitted to Holy Communion.
“Therefore, it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ’s faithful solely on the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing.”
IN THE HAND OR ON THE TONGUE? RS 92 is worth quoting here in full: “Although each of the faithful always has the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue, at his choice, if any communicant should wish to receive the Sacrament in the hand, in areas where the Bishops’ Conference with the recognitio of the Apostolic See has given permission, the sacred host is to be administered to him or her.
“However, special care should be taken to ensure that the host is consumed by the communicant in the presence of the minister, so that no one goes away carrying the Eucharistic species in his hand. If there is a risk of profanation, then Holy Communion should not be given in the hand to the faithful.”
USE COMMUNION PLATE. CCCC 284 reminds us of our firm belief that Jesus Christ “is present whole and entire in each of the eucharistic species and in each of their parts.” This is why RS 93 says, “The Communion-plate for the Communion of the faithful should be retained, so as to avoid the danger of the sacred host or some fragment of it falling.”
NO SELF-SERVICE. When Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes, he did not ask the crowd to come and take for themselves. He tasked the apostles with the distribution (cf Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-14).
Thus, RS 94 admonishes: “It is not licit for the faithful ‘to take … by themselves…and, still less, to hand…from one to another’ the sacred host or the sacred chalice. Moreover, in this regard, the abuse is to be set aside whereby spouses administer Holy Communion to each other at a Nuptial Mass.”
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