Ministers help us receive Holy Communion often

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

Diocesan Eucharistic Ministers The Diocese of Green Bay, in its highlights from the Revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal, lists these points regarding lay people who assist in distributing Holy Communion: • Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion may continue to assist in the distribution of Holy Communion and their number is to be proportionate to what is required for the orderly and reverent distribution. • These ministers are to receive sufficient spiritual, theological and practical preparation to fulfill their role with knowledge and reverence. • Their names are submitted to the bishop in a letter for approval. • They are to begin their parish ministry at a parish commissioning ceremony. • Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are to be Catholics in good standing who have celebrated the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. They are also to be recognized as people who care for others and love the Eucharist.

Imagine going to Mass, but not being able to go to Communion.

Or imagine being able to go to Communion, but standing in one long line with several hundred people, waiting to receive communion from one priest.

Finally, imagine being sick, in the hospital, or homebound, and wanting to receive communion, but there's no one to bring it to you.

Not going to Communion at all during Mass was a reality not long ago in the history of our church. In fact, the Code of Canon Law, put into effect in 1983, had to make clear that people must go to Communion: "Once admitted to the blessed Eucharist, each of the faithful is obliged to receive holy communion at least once a year" (Can. 920;1). (Receiving communion during Easter season is a precept of the church. See Oct. 17 Compass.)

In the early church, it was different. The common meal was crucial to early Christians and what we would now call the Eucharistic celebration developed quickly. The Lord's Day (Sunday) was a central feast day for early Christians (the central feast was Easter), and receiving Communion on Sunday was very important to them. We can see this in Acts 20:7 and in Paul's first letter to Corinth (16:2), as well as in the Didache (Chap. 14), a first century compilation of the practices of the early church.

The Catholic Encyclopedia also notes that early Christians felt so attached to receiving Eucharist that they often took the Bread home to give to the sick. Special containers - something like our modern pyx - developed early in order to take the consecrated bread to those not present. Even to the time of Augustine (d. 430), reception of the Eucharist on Sunday was the norm for practicing Christians.

However, not long after and into the Middle Ages (5th to 16th centuries), increasing concern over personal sinfulness and devotional practices centered around the Host itself combined to make many feel unworthy of the Body of Christ. Communion became increasingly rare. So rare, in fact, that the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) had to order people to receive Communion once a year, under pain of excommunication.

The Council of Trent (1545-63) also decreed frequent Communion so "it may truly be to (lay people) the life of the soul and the perpetual health of their mind; that being invigorated by its strength" (13:8).

However, reception of Communion remained infrequent even into the 20th century. Pope Pius X (d. 1914) made frequent Communion a hallmark of his papacy. He advocated frequent, even daily, reception of the Eucharist and decreed that children should receive First Communion as soon as possible near the age of seven (the age of reason).

Still, it was not until after Vatican II and the liturgical reforms that followed in the 1960s and 70s, that regular Communion again became common.

Then, just as people began to receive Communion frequently, the number of priests - the "ordinary ministers of the Eucharist" - began to decline. This led to longer lines at Communion and fewer Masses, presenting the real possibility of people not being able to receive this central sacrament - what Vatican II called "the source and summit of the Christian life" - on a regular basis.

Recognizing this, the Vatican, at the direction of Pope Paul VI, voiced concern in 1973: "The new conditions of the present seem to demand that .... access to communion be made easier, so that, by sharing more fully in the effects of the sacrifice of the Mass, the faithful may more willingly and intensely give themselves to God and to the good of the Church and of all humanity" (Immensae Caritatis).

Since there was a shortage of people able to distribute Communion to the sick and homebound, as well as during Mass, the same pronouncement decreed that local bishops could "authorize special ministers who will be empowered to give communion to (each other) and others of the faithful."

As with many of the reforms following Vatican II, this action directed the church back to its ancient roots. Since the faithful of the early church had been able to carry the Body of Christ to others, the church of the 20th century now reiterated that lay people could be deputed as "extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion," what we sometimes incorrectly call Eucharistic ministers or Communion distributors.

This special ministry has flourished over the ensuing 30 years and the new General Instructions for the Roman Missal, which go into effect in our diocese on the First Sunday of Advent, clarify the purpose of and reason for extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist:

"In the celebration of Mass, the faithful form a holy people, a people whom God has made his own, a royal priesthood, so that they may give thanks to God and offer the spotless Victim not only through the hands of the priest but also together with him, and so that they may learn to offer themselves (95) .... they may also be deputed to distribute Holy Communion as extraordinary ministers" (100).

Extraordinary ministers receive special training, approved by the diocese and supervised by their parish priest whom they assist. (Local diocesan guidelines are listed in the information box on this page.)

Ultimately, arranging for enough ministers of Holy Communion at Mass happens for one reason, as explained by our diocesan worship office: "God sent Jesus to live with us, not only for 33 years, but for all time in the sharing of the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation ... Communion is our source of strength to go out and transform a world in need."