To The Sentinel:
Archbishop Albert Ranjith Patabendige Don (Sentinel, Feb. 15) says that the Church should “reconsider the faithful receiving communion in the hand, that the practice coincides with a weakening of reverence toward the Blessed Sacrament.”
L’Osservatore Romano also published an article by Bishop Athanasius Schneider saying that “Just as a baby opens his mouth to receive nourishment from his mother, so should Catholics open their mouths to receive nourishment from Jesus.”
Jesus at the last Supper told his disciples, “Take and eat” and the disciples in turn for hundreds of years communicated the Body of Our Lord into the hands of the faithful. Jesus calls his followers as adults and wants us to make an adult commitment. Reaching out to “touch” Jesus with our outstretched hands confirms this.
As a priest for 45 years, I well remember when Catholics could only receive on the tongue. Stories of irreverence and black Masses were even more common then than today. Granted, our whole culture is much more informal than it was 50 years ago; people “dressed up” to go to church or even shopping. But to place the blame on Communion in the hand is a gross oversimplification of ritual ways. Some clerics seem to want to return to the days of keeping the laity as little children. One hopes, the Church, in her wisdom, will avoid such misguided steps.

Father Thomas DeMan
St. Benedict Retreat
McKenzie Bridge