John 6: 47-51
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Act of Reparation to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
With that profound humility which the
Faith itself inspires in me,
O my God and Savior Jesus Christ,
true God and true man,
I love Thee with all my heart,
and I adore Thee who art hidden here,
in reparation for all the irreverences,
profanations and sacrileges
which Thou receivest in the most adorable
Sacrament of the Altar.
I adore Thee, O my God,
if not so much as Thou art worthy to be
adored nor so much as I am bound to do,
yet as much as I am able;
would that I could adore Thee
with that perfect worship which the Angels
in heaven are enabled to offer Thee.
Mayest Thou, O my Jesus, be known, adored,
loved and thanked by all men at every moment
in this most holy and Divine Sacrament.
Amen.
30 January 2011
A Letter From: The Cathedral Rector
By Very Rev. Fr. John Lankeit
Sts. Simon and Jude Cathedral
Dear Parishioners,
I want to thank all of you who have recently started receiving Holy Communion on the tongue, not to mention those of you who already had been. This subject has generated a lot of buzz over the past few weeks, the vast majority of which has been overwhelmingly positive.
While my main objective in encouraging reception on the tongue is to deepen appreciation for the Eucharist, I also have a pastoral responsibility to eliminate abuses common to receiving in the hand. Such abuses are no doubt unintentional. Nevertheless, what I witness troubles me. And I’m not alone.
In 2004,responding to the problem of Eucharistic profanation, the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament released an official instruction entitled REDEMPTIONIS SACRAMENTUS: On certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist. Regarding Holy Communion the document states:
“[S]pecial 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.” (Paragraph 92)
Here are 7 common Holy Communion profanations that I see all too frequently:
• Blessing oneself with the host before consuming it. (The act of blessing with the Eucharist is called “Benediction” and is reserved to clergy).
• Receiving the host in the palm of the hand, contorting that same hand until the host is controlled by the fingers, then consuming it (resembling a one-handed “watch-the-coin-disappear” magic trick).
• Popping the host into the mouth like a piece of popcorn.
• Attempting to receive with other items in the hands, like a dirty Kleenex or a Rosary.
• Receiving the host with dirty hands.
• Receiving the host, closing the hand around it, then letting the hand fall to the side (as if carrying a suitcase) while walking away and/or blessing oneself with the other hand.
• Walking away without consuming the host.
• Giving the host to someone else after receiving (including animals)…yes, it happens!
We would never treat a piece of GOLD with the same casualness –especially in this economy! Yet many treat the Eucharist “piece” of GOD with casualness at best, indifference and irreverence at worst. Of course, much abuse is due to ignorance, owing to poor catechesis, which is precisely why I have written about this issue for four consecutive weeks.
Yet we have another great incentive…
When Holy Communion is received on the tongue…every single one of these abuses is instantly eliminated!
The way we treat another person says more about our relationship with that person than any words we might say. This is especially true of our relationship with the Divine Person, Jesus Christ. So let us continually seek to increase our reverence for our Eucharistic Savior, and to eliminate anything that degrades the respect He deserves.
God’s Blessings…
my prayers…
Rev. Fr. John Lankeit,
Rector, Ss. Simon & Jude Cathedral
Phoenix, AZ
