Receiving communion in the hand was the common practice of the Church in both East and West for the first 800 years of Christianity, and it was certainly considered reverent by the Fathers.
For an even longer time in salvation history men could divorce their wives but you know just because we use to do it is not an argument for it being the right thing to do.
@123jussi...Seems to me that you are mixing apples and oranges. God allowed divorce for a while because of... "He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so". Matt 7-8. "hardness of your hearts" means that the husbands were murdering their wives to get rid of them. Communion in the hand was dictated by Jesus by "take and eat'. We are not allowed to disregard His command.
@chris griffin. Please try and pay attention, this is not a thread. This is a book to purchase and read. Buy one and educate yourself on why you should NOT receive communion in the hand.
@rhemes1582.... I wonder why you did not say it was a book? That is strange of you. Anyway, I read the promotional wording and it said all the things I have already rebutted many times. No thanks, I will obey God not men and so should you. You and your like are disobeying Jesus himself.
@chris griffin I thought it was obvious the post was about a book, but some folks struggle with the obvious. Of course you may continue to obey your own will in this matter instead of the Fathers of The Church. I will continue to reverence and adore God at the Altar rail.
It may have been reverent and accepted in the early church, but the usurpers brought it back not for historical significance as they pretend but to denigrate the priesthood. The same with bringing up "the gifts". Take away the sacred and mysterious and dumb it down. reduce the priest to presider and shift all focus to the idiots in the pews and away from God. We also had Ember days and Rogation days in the "early church". Why not bring those back?
@Percy Franklin...You have thrown a lot of extraneous issues into the pot. You can't stay focused because you are not grounded in the words of Jesus..."TAKE AND EAT". You cannot talk your way out of his direct command.
@Cath intruth... You forget about the road to Emmaus. "When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them". Luke 24:30. This describes Communion in the hand. Why don't y'all even care about what Jesus said and did!
Nothing extraneous here Chris. The purpose of the reintroduction of Communion in the hand and ever offensive "Eucharistic minister" is to diminish the roll of the priest ...put the power in the hands of the people and place souls in jeopardy.
@Percy Franklin....Hi Percy. Can you please address Jesus words "Take and Eat" and "When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them". Luke 24:30. You are the one avoiding Jesus.
There's a difference between receiving communion in the hand at a table, where you immediately consume it and remain sitting, so you can also immediately pray and reflect. Being given a host and then having to turn and run back to your pew makes any reverent response to what's just been given you hard at best, impossible for most.
@chrisgriffin, like I’ve mentioned, “Take and eat” was addressed to the Apostles who became Bishops; not to lay people. It wasn’t said to the disciples on the road to Emmaus either. What is your response to the Summa of St.Thomas Aquinas? (where he wrote: ….out of reverence for this Sacrament, nothing touches It but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest’s hands for touching this Sacrament. Hence, it is not lawful for anyone else to touch It, except from necessity, for instance, if It were to fall upon the ground or else in some other case of urgency.” (S.T., III, Q. 82, Art. 13)
@Cath intruth....Aquinas made some very bad mistakes, and this is one of them. The men at Emmaus were not consecrated, they were laymen, yet Jesus gave them the Host by his hand. Particles were dropped for 800 years during the first 800 years also. It is Catholic teaching that if the particles are not recognizable as the Host they are no longer the body of Christ. ......... Thanks
@chrisgriffin 1)You are making a very serious accusation against Aquinas in saying that he made very bad mistakes! What authority do you have? This saint is a Doctor of the Church and a Doctor of the Eucharist. Tradition says that our Lord Jesus spoke to Aquinas from the Crucifix, saying that Aquinas had written well of Him, and asking what reward he wanted for it. 2)As for the claim that the Eucharist was received in the hand for the first 800 years, it is not true. Read this for a succinct summary: Did the Church Fathers Practice Communion in the Hand? (Not Exactly) Did the Church Fathers Practice Communion in the … 3) It is certainly NOT Catholic teaching that if the particles are not recognizable as the Host they are no longer the body of Christ. That’s just a Modernist’s excuse. All particles of the Eucharist are truly the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why the priests keep their thumbs and index fingers together after Consecration until the purification; and why a Communion plate is held under communicants’ chins.
@Cath intruth......If you knew history and theology you would know that Aquinas 1. wrote that early gestation embryos were vegetables and then animals before they became human later in pregnancy (this is pure lunacy and betrayal of the Bible). 2. Aquinas also said also said that if a person believes in conscience that he must commit murder then he must commit that murder or else he would be in mortal sin.(this is a completely evil thing to say) Your contention that Jesus thanked Aquinas from the Cross is absurd. Pope Benedict, a historian of theology, said that Communion in the hand was the accepted practice for the first 800 years of the Church. End of story. Yes, it is Church teaching that hosts not recognizable as Hosts are no longer the body of Christ. To deny this is preposterous on your part because, according to you, the particles in the air conditioning filter are Jesus and the particles that are on the pew, then you are sitting on Jesus. You still refuse to address the Command of Jesus...Take and Eat.
@chrisgriffin There is no point in further discussion with you because you do not seem to read what I have already addressed, nor the links I have provided, and you do not give references for what you claim as settled truth. I pray that you will eventually see that Communion on the tongue is the only way to receive.