St. Paul warns..................

[Denise]

St. Paul warns "For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'This is My Body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord. ...

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and drinks judgment upon himself." (1 Corinthians 11:23-27, 29)

Receiving our Lord in the Eucharist

It was recently reported that at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., two men were appointed to every priest distributing Communion to be sure that those receiving Communion actually do consume the host and to stop anyone walking away with the host. This has become a serious problem in our churches today. People who receive in the hand do not seem to understand that this exception to the rule of receiving Communion means that everyone who chooses to receive Communion in the hand - Jesus must be received with great reverence right at the altar - not a foot away - not five feet away - not down the aisle. This kind of irreverence and even sacrilege has become very common and even here in our own church I have had to send the Altar Boys after the communicant to be sure that the host is consumed and not discarded. We seem to forget that this is Jesus Christ that we are receiving and not some souvenir.

Church law requires that the host be consumed immediately at the altar. I have instructed the Altar Boys to stop anyone who leaves the altar area with the host in their hand and I now instruct everyone - if they should see anyone walking away from the altar with the host that they are to stop them and demand that the host be returned. We must protect our Lord Jesus from this sacrilege which is becoming, unfortunately, very common. This is the living Body and Blood of Jesus and anyone who doesn't understand what they are doing should not receive the Eucharist lest they be held responsible in eternity for the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.