By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
In these early days of spring, when so many promising portents of new life begin to make their beguiling appearance around us, many are, in an ironic tragedy, in danger of death or have died as a result of the Coronavirus contagion.
The return of new life in spring is for us a reminder of the eternal life bestowed by the Resurrection of the Lord, for which we prepare in these days of Lent by means of prayer and self-denial. We mourn and pray for the repose of their souls and the consolation of their families by means of the true faith.
I received a most unusual phone call last week. A woman called asking if I was still giving Communion on the tongue. At the suggestion of a diocese a priest had taken the draconian measure of denying Communion on the tongue to what surely must be the modest number of those seeking it in that locale. Another woman made a spiritual Communion rather than receive in the hand, once aware that she would be denied her preferred way of showing reverence for our Lord.
Many priests have chosen this course and I am sure they mean well. I have already written about the means of giving Communion on the tongue which is as safe and often even safer than Communion in the hand. Pastoral practice should always be flexible and allow for those sacred customs handed down that remain sacred for us too.
Communion on the tongue is one of these customs blessed by our tradition. The practice has grown in popularity in recent years along with the rebirth of the Traditional Latin Mass. Some of those repressing it cooperate in a modernist rollback of traditional practices, whether they intend to or not.
Any pushback on the tradition, where it is reappearing in minor ways like Communion on the tongue in many parishes, will send more people to the Traditional Latin Mass, available as it is more and more all over the Catholic world.
There is much talk that the manner of receiving Communion is not important. The Church, however, does not say so. She speaks through her tradition, as she always has, by customs such as how we handle the Lord’s Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. Arbitrary primitivism that cherry-picks among some ancient variations in practice and then imposes those over the received tradition is working against the Church’s own organic means of opening to the guidance of the Holy Ghost, always a cooperation with grace.
Under the guise of protecting the faithful and the general public, the Church, especially in places like Italy, is taking measures which arguably serve only to protect herself — for example, the decree in many places including United States that stipulates Communion be given only in the hand. No doubt there is no lack of good will but there is, at the same time, a grievous lack of foresight.
First of all, this official guidance issued by many dioceses is not morally binding, because the faithful always have a right to receive Communion on the tongue. But also it serves only to protect the priest.
Communion in the hand administered by a fearful or germ phobic priest can quickly morph into Communion dropped into the hand to avoid contact. No matter the motivation, this is an irreverence and leaves the Eucharist open to profanation if it falls to the floor. Not so Communion on the tongue.
A priest on Twitter testified that in his experience Communion on the tongue leads to zero cases of contact with the communicant while Communion in the hand always does.
The Church’s traditional practices as one sees in every Traditional Latin Mass are to give Communion only by means of the sacred Host, by the priest only, and with the laity kneeling at the altar rail and receiving reverently on the tongue.
The knee-jerk reaction in many places was to immediately stipulate that parishes all revert to Communion in the hand. The organic development of tradition incorporates the wisdom of the ages without sacrificing reverence in our sacramental practices. To jettison this treasure is a form of institutional suicide.
St. Charles Borromeo, although closing some churches, himself went out and ministered to the sick, leading by example as is only right and good for a bishop whose priests deserve to look to him in the first place for a priestly example. St. Charles had Masses said on temporary altars built in the streets for those quarantined in their homes. He said, “Be ready to abandon this mortal life rather than the people committed to your care. Go forward among the plague-stricken as to life, as to a reward, even if there is only one soul to be won to Christ.”
The Church should not retreat in times of plague like the coronavirus but, rather, courageously advance upon the field of battle, knowing with the confidence of faith that she exists above all for moments like these, for the sake of the salvation of souls, especially those most under attack by disease as well as suffering privation of grace through unforgiven sins or the lack of repentance.
Sometimes those most in need of spiritual succor are those who wander into our open churches and find their way into the pew for Mass, as well as those who call the priest to their bedside in the hospital or the home.
Our parish this month will hold a procession against pestilence after Sunday Mass, another of the customs handed down through our sacred tradition. Arbitrarily cutting out some of the traditions in a prejudiced bias against the past impoverishes the devotional life of our people. In our parish we are open to all the traditions handed down in an enriching life of the fullness of Catholic faith made possible by the work of the Holy Ghost in every age. Prayer is already hard for many. We should not make it harder.
Fear of the past or fear of disease which results in protecting oneself in preference to serving the faith of others is the worst disease because it can bring eternal death of the soul.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Love of God and others is accessed in this life by means of faith, so faith casts out all fear of death or disease.
We are saved by grace through faith, thus lack of worldly fear is a sign of the presence of faith. The only fear which saves is “timor Domini,” the fear of the Lord, which, through reverential love, saves. The Church in every age has sung of the courage of her saints who served others in plague and war despite the dangers to themselves, canonizing them. St. Charles Borromeo, St. Frances of Rome, and St. Gregory the Great who ordered processions to defeat the plague, are among this great host of Catholic heroes.
The glory of the Church shines most brightly through history because of her courage when others fell in the thick of battle and the fog of war. Excelsior! Onward and upward!
(Please tweet or otherwise share this column. Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.)
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress