Things to Run Away From (3)

Imagine, if you can, a lawyer who is not concerned with legal precedent. Imagine, if you can, a doctor who does not want to take time to ask your symptoms before he writes a prescription. Imagine, if you can, a cook who is not concerned with washing his hands after using the restroom. All of these examples illustrate a person who is lax about an essential part of his profession; each in a different way is showing that he does not understand his calling.

Now, if you can, imagine a Priest who tells a husband not to love his wife, or a wife to ignore her husband's leadership in the home (neither of which have I ever heard of a Priest actually doing). That would be comparable to a Priest who refuses to serve communion on the tongue to someone who is kneeling (which means that he does not think it right for the faithful to have reverent devotion to our Lord). It would be one thing if the practice of communion on the tongue while kneeling was a new idea that had been invented in Germany a few decades ago (of course, we all know that would never happen [said with dripping sarcasm]). It is not new though; this is the practice of the Church for 98% of her history!

How the devil convinced any Catholic that the traditional manner for reception of communion was now a bad thing, and do so in the span of just a half century is remarkable. Few widespread rejections of the Catholic faith have ever occurred that quickly. We must give the Church credit for what she did say correctly: communion on the hand was only allowed if it were to be done reverently with "no possibility of profanation", while communion on the tongue always is acknowledged as the preference. Somehow, the minds of many clergy were deceived about this and led to accept a lie.

If a Priest has given in to this radical turn in Catholic theology and practice, I do not know the reason why (because I do not know every heart). It clearly means, however, that he is unaware of how far off the mark he is. He is somehow blinded to the very essence of reverence. There are Priests who believe that communion on the hand is good because it is a more comfortable and relaxed way to receive. That is their belief, but that is not a justification for them to reject reception in a reverent manner. Reverence to God is never wrong.

If we cannot be reverent when we receive the sum and summit of our faith, the chief of the sacraments, the miraculously transformed physical body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, then we are not going to be able to be truly reverent in anything. We can make motions that appear to be reverent, but that is not the same as practicing true reverence.

There are many Priests who willingly serve communion in the hand, and are also willing to serve on the tongue for those who ask; they at least acknowledge that communion on the tongue is not wrong. It is, however, those Priests who deny communion to someone who wishes to receive on the tongue that I am concerned about. Their thinking has been so distorted as to call evil good, and good evil. If they are wrong on this vital area, there is no telling what other errors they will make. If you know of a Priest who does this, then you need to Run Away quickly. If he does not love God enough to allow you to reverence Him when receiving Him in the Sacrament, then to what does he give reverence?