For ‘Eucharistic Revival’, We Need to Return to Tradition-Part 1

The Catholic Church nationwide is in the midst of a “National Eucharistic Revival,” culminating this July in a pilgrimage and a festival-like event which the U.S. bishops claim will “inspire, educate, and unite the faithful in a more intimate relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist.” Whereas a national revival of the importance people place on the Eucharist sounds like a good idea, all the time and money put toward the festivities will be for naught if the conduct in recent years by the Church’s clergy and by most Catholics, in general, is not rectified. Decades-old aberrations and deviations in how the Body of Christ has been treated is why we have reached a point where we need a revival. Sadly, not only will this Eucharistic Revival festival/gala/jamboree not fix these irregularities, but their agenda isn’t even going to acknowledge them.

One recent Eucharistic aberration occurred in the Covid-19 period in 2020-21 when the acquiescence to the government by most bishops revealed to Catholics that the Blessed Sacrament was “non-essential.” How can we trust that clerical leaders believe the “Eucharist is the source and summit or the Christian life” if most of them allowed the government to treat attending Mass and receiving Communion as a non-essential act. Receiving the Eucharist was deemed not as important as buying bourbon at the liquor store or marijuana at the local pot shop – two types of businesses that remained open during the pandemic while most bishops willingly padlocked our churches.

Before we spend time and money trying to rouse Catholics’ love and understanding of the Eucharist with the upcoming Eucharistic Revival, how about we first hear our shepherds express their belief that the Blessed Sacrament is indeed so essential that they publicly promise to never again deny it to us and never again lock church doors?  Not only did we witness too many clergy genuflecting to their government bureaucrats instead of to their God during the pandemic, but we have yet to see bishops (or the pope) apologize and admit they were wrong back then to halt the sacraments.

Even with the pipe dream that our clergy will declare, “Mea culpa!”, there would still be a concern that the upcoming Eucharistic Revival will be enfeebled and unproductive if other decades-old irregularities in how the Body of Christ has been treated aren’t fixed and/or abolished.

There are four most fundamental acts regarding the preparation for, reception of, and distribution of Communion that need addressing by the Church. In this article, I will explain two of them, and then my upcoming, follow-up article will tackle the next two. Today, I will be speaking to the first two aberrations of a lack of reverence shown to the Blessed Sacrament from the majority of Catholics by how they casually and impiously receive the sacred host in their hands and while standing.

The bread that has become the Body of Christ was never meant to be handed to impatient Catholics nonchalantly standing in a line with their hands out, acting like shoppers at Costco waiting next in line to be handed a food sample. We are to refer to the host as the “Bread of Heaven” and the “Food of Angels,” and thus, we do not show reverence if we consume it in the same way that we consume snacks. Yet, for the past few generations, the majority of Catholics have been consuming it in this irreverent way.

Receiving by way of holding out your hand instead of sticking out your tongue was advanced by Calvinists about 500 years ago when they broke away from the Catholic Church and wanted to signify their rejection of Catholicism’s perennial belief in transubstantiation. These Protestant reformers promoted reception of Communion in the hand so to stress their new (and schismatic) teaching that the Eucharist is just a symbol, a piece of bread used as part of a commemoration of the Last Supper. Conversely, Catholicism has always held that the Eucharist is no common food, but our very Lord and God, and thus should be received as reverently as possible, which includes kneeling (if physically able) as well as having it placed directly on the tongue by a priest’s hands.

In most Catholic churches, the lack of reverence toward the Body of Christ began about 50 years ago, spurred on by the liberal spirit that the Second Vatican Council (aka “Vatican II”) ushered in, and accelerated by a minority of bishops in some areas of the world who went rogue and promoted receiving Communion standing and in the hand even though Pope Paul VI at the time strongly opposed it. Eventually, the Pope conceded that this irregular reception would be allowed as an exception in some dioceses, but as the idiom “give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile” goes, this newfangled way to receive the Eucharist gained momentum worldwide, and by the 1980s most Catholic parishes were only distributing in this way that was supposed to be the exception to the rule, but became the norm.

Whereas there is some evidence that Communion in the hand was practiced in the early centuries of Catholicism, the reality is this practice only occurred for a short period of time, was never universally practiced, and the act was not like it is done today. In ancient times, receiving in the hand consisted the recipient literally bowing his head so to be able to take the host out of his palm directly by his mouth. If any particles remained on the palm, the recipient was to lick his palm clean. At no time would he use his left hand to grab the host with his fingers. In addition, his hand was washed both before and after to purify it, and in some instances, a white cloth was first placed on the palm.

None of those severely solemn actions are nowadays practiced, even though experiments have been run to prove that particles of the host are lost when Communion is placed in people’s hands. Thus, because the majority of Catholics in recent decades have been handed the sacred hosts on their palms and then have picked them up with their fingers from the other hand, millions of small particles have fallen to the ground. These fallen fragments, that then get stomped upon by people’s shoes, are Jesus’s body! For this lone reason that receiving in the hand is more likely to cause disruption, receiving the host directly on the tongue is the most sensible and most lovable action a Catholic can take.

But it is not just the act of receiving the Blessed Sacrament on the tongue that needs to return as the most popular practice. Just as obvious a sign of adoration and reverence is to kneel when receiving.  We recall how the Magi, after arriving at the infant Jesus’s manger, did not stand around while in the company of the newborn King, but “they fell down and worshiped him.” So too, should we the faithful when in the company of our King and about to receive Him in Communion.

Why does your average Catholic do all this kneeling before Mass when in silent prayer, during the priest’s act of consecration, and both just before and just after receiving Communion, yet this same Catholic does not kneel at the exact moment of actual, physical union with Christ? Kneeling is the most solemn way for a Catholic to receive Jesus in the Eucharist because it expresses humility of oneself and deference to one’s Savior – just as being fed directly on the tongue expresses humility and submissiveness. Most importantly, kneeling embodies one’s profound encounter with the living Christ as the recipient believes, “Jesus is truly present, I am going to literally consume Him, and His life will now mix with mine!”

Forget about holding a nationwide pilgrimage and festival this summer which is expensive for the Church to sponsor and expensive for Catholics who choose to travel to it and buy tickets ($360 for entry to the festival; $$ for airfare to and hotel stay in Indianapolis). Plus, the only people who will possibly be impacted by this event are these specific attendees seated in the arena. The other 99.99% of Catholics in America will get nothing from a jamboree held in Indiana.

Want to truly make a difference for all church-going Catholics at no cost? Simply have all the priests in America speak from the pulpit this Sunday about why the Eucharist is our source and summit and what it means to receive it worthily. The faithful need to be reminded – or taught for the first time as many have never been properly catechized – that receiving worthily requires one truly believes in the Real Presence, one has fasted from food and drink for at least one hour prior, and one is in the state of grace, which means has gone to Confession and received Absolution before Communion if having committed a mortal sin.

In addition, our clergy nationwide need to spell out the proper instructions for how authentic Catholics should receive the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion. These instructions could go something like this, explained by each priest in his homily this weekend:

1. Approach the Eucharist with great reverence, by clasping your hands in prayer and focusing your eyes on the crucifix at the front of the church as you process forward, silently asking your Savior that this reception of Communion may increase your faith, hope, and charity.
2. When both approaching the Eucharist and when returning to your pews after receiving, do not look around to sneak glances at others or acknowledge friends you pass by. Your sole contemplation should be that Jesus will never be closer to you in this lifetime than at this exact moment of receiving Him in your body and soul.
3. Great reverence also includes the manner in which you take the bread. The preferred manner is to receive kneeling and on the tongue. If you choose to receive in the hand instead, you should still kneel. Moreover, in-the-hand reception must be done as carefully as possible which means literally moving your mouth down to the palm of your hand on which the priest/deacon placed the host, and eating directly from this hand, including licking any particles remaining on your palm. Do not pick up the host with your fingers.
4. Immediately upon returning to your pew, kneel and spend quiet time to thank Jesus for making your soul His dwelling place and for giving you a foretaste of the peace that a future eternal paradise will bring.

Nothing creates more intimacy with Jesus than literally receiving Him in the Eucharist, where He is truly present and living. When you receive Holy Communion and say “Amen,” you are making an act of faith, affirming that you believe what you are receiving is the Body of Christ hidden under the appearance of bread.

Let’s return to tradition by showing Jesus how much we believe in His Real Presence through our actions at Holy Communion. This will be the most fundamental way to revive us.

Next week: Check back to read part 2 which will discuss the other two fundamental practices that the Church must fix and/or abolish if we are to have a Eucharistic revival.