Wednesday 11 November 2009

On the tongue.



Father Ignatius considered himself a “traditionalist priest”, as he liked to call himself.

Sure enough, he accepted that changes happen in life generally as well as in the Catholic Church, and that he had to accept them; but it didn’t mean that he agreed with the changes that came his way from “earthly above” – a term he used to describe the church’s hierarchy, as opposed to “Heavenly above” when he referred to the Almighty.

One particular new development which the priest didn’t like was handing the Host during Communion to people in their hands. He preferred the traditional placing of the Host on the tongue, and for people to genuflect by the altar rail to receive Communion. But change he did, and he gave way to new procedures as an obedient priest must.

This Sunday, however, his concerns were put to the test.

As he gave out Communion to the queue of parishioners walking up the center aisle he noticed two youngsters, both aged about eighteen or so, coming towards him. He had not seen them in church before and assumed they were visitors to town. As they came to him in turn, they both held out their hands and he placed the Host in it.

A sixth sense perhaps prompted him to keep an eye on them as they moved away. And he noticed than neither placed the Host in their mouths but walked away slowly.

“Would you please stop” he said sternly, at which point they both hurried and then ran away. Unfortunately in doing so one of them dropped the Host on the floor.

The priest went to recover the fallen Host and shouted “Stop those two …” but unfortunately they escaped through a side door followed by two parishioners.

By the time they came out the parishioners found the car park totally empty … there was no one in sight.

“Which way did they go?” asked one.

“They were too quick … didn’t see them …” replied the other; and after a few moments’ conversation they went back into the church.

That would have been the end of it … but God had other plans.

At that very moment Father Donald was coming out of the parochial house and making his way to the church. He had seen the youngsters running and overheard the conversation of their pursuers. Rather than continue his way towards the church to find out what had happened he had the presence of mind to follow the youngsters at a distance.

They made their way into the park opposite the church and eventually sat down on one of the benches. Father Donald approached quietly and hid behind a tree.

“Have you got it then?” he heard one of them ask.

“Yeh … here it is” replied the second youth, “where’s yours?”

“I dropped it in church.”

“Idiot …”

“Sorry … let me see it … it looks like a piece of thin paper or card … why do they call it a Host?”

At this point Father Donald realized what had happened and knew he had to act quickly. He approached the bench from behind and grabbed both individuals simultaneously from the back of their shirts. He was really strong and knew how to take care of himself. A skill he had learnt in his native Glasgow where he fought many a street fight in his youth.

He asked them to turn round slowly and face him, kneeling on the bench whilst doing so.

Perhaps because of his broad Glaswegian accent, or perhaps because of his stature and the fact that they were taken by surprise, both youngsters obliged and turned round slowly. Neither made an attempt to escape or pull back. They knelt on the bench facing him whilst his strong hands held them tight by the back of the neck.

“Now then …” he said calmly, “which one of you has the Host?”

“I have Mister …” replied one of them.

“OK … I’ll let you on my right go. Please walk away slowly and stand by that tree.” said the priest releasing the youngster without the Host, who obediently walked way towards the tree.

“As for you young man, please place the Host in my hand,” continued Father Donald holding out his hand and retrieving the stolen Host.

After releasing the second teenager the priest stood there and asked them “Do you realize the seriousness of what you have done?”

They shook their heads “No …” said one of them.

It was certainly not the time for a discussion on Christianity or the reality that is the Eucharist. The priest had to say something to end this encounter.

“In the name of God whom you do not know I forgive you and so does He. I pray for you that you may yet get to know Him.”

He turned back towards the church and never saw the two of them again.

NOTE: Fr Ignatius and Fr Donald are characters from the book "Visions" by the same author. See details on the right of this Blog.

7 comments:

  1. Victor -

    Wonderful story! As an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist, I have witnessed many abuses. Most abuses could be rectified by the mandatory receiving of Jesus on the tongue.

    God bless you!

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  2. You tell a great story Victor! I'd love to hear more about what happened to those boys? Do they develop a desire to learn more about the Eucharist?

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  3. Hi Brian,

    Thanx for your comments. I agree, we should return to receiving Communion on the tongue.
    Thank you for your visit and comment. God bless.

    Hi Anne,

    Thanx for visiting and commenting. Of course, this is only a story to demonstrate problems with administering Communion.

    I've used two characters from my book "Visions" to develop this and other stories in the 'Fr Ignatius' series I've published in this Blog. I assure you though, that none of the Fr Ignatius stories published here are taken from the book "Visions".

    That book tells a different story involving Ignatius, Donald and and others of course.

    You can read a resume of the book on the right of this Blog.

    God bless you.

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  4. Abuses with the host are numerous even here!
    Your story has a good ending and, as Anne says, leaves one hoping that the boys develop a desire to learn more but in real life, unfortunately, most hosts stolen in that way are destined for black masses. :(

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  5. I agree with you Gabriella. The fact that the Host is desecrated in such a way brings up another important point:

    The responsibility of the priests in the matter.

    By allowing Communion to be given in the hand they have facilitated this abuse against the Body of Christ. And one day, they will be answerable to Him when He asks:

    "What have you done with the precious Gift I gave you?"

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  6. My vote is for Communion on the toungue, just like our Holy Father does it... I talked to an FSSP priest about this once in confession. I asked him if it was displeasing to Our Lord to receive Communion in the hand. He said he could not call that "displeasing". Then I asked him about the strangeness I feel when receiving on the toungue from a eucharistic lay minnister at a novus ordo Mass who doesn't know how to properly distribute. We agreed that this just seemed silly and he asked what was unreasonable about always receiving from a priest or deacon only? Ever since that point, I have been to many Masses in many different churches, and usually sit in the back and work my way over to the priest during Communion to receive on the toungue. Sometimes I have gotten some funny looks, and more than once I have really angered at least 2 ushers by refusing to follow their direction to move to the other line please... but oh well, this is just what I do. Our priests' hands are consecrated, and I believe, more worthy for this cause. (I am not meaning to sound like a Communion snob either, this is just my personal choice in this matter, but the mobs of eucharistic ministers in the liberal suburban churches are getting out of control and I prefer to boycott them altogether.)

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  7. I understand what you mean CatholicMom. I don't think you're doing anything wrong by wanting to have Communion from a priest.

    God bless.

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