Posted by Phil on June 25, 1999 at 09:17:32:
In Reply to: Communion in Hand posted by Anne Ward on June 23, 1999 at 17:09:57:
Hi Anne,
I don't know how absolutely binding the documents you site are, but it is clear that Communion in the hand is legally permissible in current Church teaching, or else bishops would not be allowing it to happen in parishes.
Personally, I never did understand the prohibition against it. As a Eucharistic minister, I find distributing Communion in the hand much more preferable than placing the wafer on the tongue. It's impossible to do this without eventually getting someone's saliva on your finger, then passing that to the next wafer.
Then there is the issue of "the body is the body." Why is placing the wafer on the tongue more sacred than in the hand?
Jesus wants to communicate his risen life to us through Eucharist. He wants to come to us, to touch us, and it would seem he wants us to touch him as well.
Hope this helps.
Phil