18th September, 2014
By Jonathan Ekene Ifeanyi
In this piece, I want to briefly address the issues raised by Catholics who read my recent “Open Letter to Catholic Archbishop of Lagos.” The “Open Letter” was written in response to the scandalous decision of Nigerian Catholic Bishops to introduce the practice of taking Communion in the hand following the current outbreak of Ebola. Certainly, the majority of Catholics who read that “Open Letter” agreed that Communion in the hand is simply Satanic and must not be allowed in our churches, whether here in Nigeria or overseas. Here, I am not going to talk about these Catholics because they know their Faith and hence had no difficulty understanding the objections raised in the write-up. Rather, my concern here is to respond as I can to all those who made negative comments with regards to the Open Letter. I have selected four issues raised, first, that because of the current outbreak of Ebola the decision of Nigerian Bishops to introduce the practice of Communion in the hand is a good one; secondly, that Communion in the hand is perfectly okay because it is currently being practised in most of the Catholic Churches in the Western world; thirdly, that even if the practice of Communion in the hand is bad, we must now accept it because those in authority — namely the Bishops — have approved it; and fourthly, some bishops themselves — though not in Nigeria — have argued that Communion in the hand is the proper way for the faithful to respond to Our Lord’s invitation: “All of you, take and eat this.”
There were also a few others who simply condemned the entire write-up and the person that wrote it. Well, I have nothing to say to those in this group since they have raised no issue, except to caution them that fanaticism actually has no place in true Catholicism. A religious fanatic is a person who enthusiastically and extremely holds irrational religious beliefs; in other words, a person who refuses to listen to the voice of reason because of his religious beliefs. Such a person can never be convinced because he has already made up his mind on what to believe — in brief, he has closed his understanding! But those in this category, as I said, have no place in Catholicism known to history, because true Catholics are known by their constant eagerness to explain to people the reason why they firmly hold and profess their doctrines. And why this eagerness? It is precisely because every aspect of Catholic doctrine is actually true, rational and sound, for, as Thomas Aquinas puts it, the truths of faith are compatible with and supplement the truths of reason.
Now on the first issue raised, we first of all pose the question: What is Holy Eucharist?
Several years ago, a couple with several young children were visiting a church where a certain priest was a rector and seeking to become familiar with the Eucharist. In the Liturgy of that Sunday, when it was time for the congregation to come forward to the altar rail to receive the sacrament, their five-year-old son, sitting at the edge of the aisle, stage-whispered to his parents: “Hurry Mom and Dad, let’s go get some Christ!”
At its most basic, Holy Eucharist is the physical reenactment of Christ’s Last Supper with His apostles. But symbolically, it represents so much more: the sharing of the gifts of God with God, the continued presence of Christ in our midst, a sacred meal to which we are all invited, a source of grace. The Eucharistic celebration also reminds us of the last hours of Christ’s life on earth: There is a washing of hands reminiscent of Pilate’s ridding himself of responsibility in the death of Christ. The bread is lifted up as Christ’s Body was lifted onto the cross. The bread is broken as was His Body, and the wine poured out as was His Blood.
Just as our bodies require food and drink for physical nurture and growth, so for nurture and growth our souls need “soul” food. Sensing this deep need of the human soul, and aware of His approaching death on a cross, Jesus shared a farewell meal with His beloved companions. This meal, called the Last Supper, becomes the First Supper for the Christian Church. In this sacred meal, Jesus takes ordinary table bread and wine, gives thanks to God (Eucharist is a Greek word for thanksgiving), beseeches God to bless it, and distributes it with these astounding and eternal words: “This bread is my Body. This wine is my Blood. Every time you eat this bread and drink this wine in my name, I will be present with you.”
And, so it is for people of faith. Ordinary bread and the wine become, by the grace of God, the Body and Blood of the Christ. In this timeless, eternal food, Christ is present with us. It is His spiritual “Real Presence.” How does that happen, exactly? It is simply a Holy Mystery. For over 2000 years, since that First Supper, Christ has touched and fed and revealed Himself in the breaking of bread. By grace that is amazing, souls are fed and nurtured and changed by this sacrament of His Holy and Risen Presence. Now the Eucharist is also a physical food just as it is a spiritual food. It provides remedy to the soul, body and spirit, as we say in the Offertory Mystery: “That they (Holy Body and Precious Blood) may become to us all for participation and healing and salvation for our souls, bodies and our spirits.” Partaking of the Communion without worthiness causes weakness, sickness and death, for, as St Paul puts it: “Therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30).
In addition to the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the other sacraments bring the Lord’s healing. St. Thomas Aquinas attests to the healing power of the Eucharist in which we receive not just medicine or healing, but the Healer Himself, Jesus Christ. In fact, the original purpose of having a tabernacle to keep Holy Communion was to have Communion available for the sick or dying. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also often an occasion for healing. When we feel sick, we may be called to go to Dr. Jesus in Confession (Mk 2:5, 10) before we go to any other doctor (Sir 38:9-12). Also, the Sacrament of Matrimony brings healing. Husbands and wives have an exceptional power to heal each other by praying as a couple. Likewise, parents have a special anointing to heal their children and vice versa. We Catholics repeatedly proclaim that the Lord will heal us. Every time we receive Holy Communion we profess: “Only say the word and I shall be healed” (Mt 8:8, our translation). How then are our bishops giving the impression that Ebola Virus is more powerful than the Holy Eucharist? Have they forgotten what the Holy Eucharist actually stands for? Have they forgotten that — if received worthily and with unshakable faith — Holy Communion gives us the healing and immunity against all evil viruses of sin, as well as physical viruses like Ebola?
I think, what the bishops, as spiritual leaders, should have done was catechize the faithful about spiritual conditions necessary for receiving Holy Communion like having true faith, pure repentance, not appearing nude in the Church, reconciliation with others, not approaching the Communion without preparedness, and the importance of feeling contrite and unworthy at the time of Communion. They should have spent time teaching the faithful that Holy Communion should be approached with the same eagerness as a patient seeking medicine to be cured of all illnesses.
Whether we like it or not, the impressions which the bishops have created is first of all that they do not really believe in what the Holy Eucharist actually stands for, and secondly that they do not want to die. This second impression puts their identity as Christians into serious question. What, for instance, is their view about the lives of the early Saints, many of whom voluntarily chose horrible kinds of death all for the sake of Christ? In fact, we are going too far by citing the case of these early Saints. What do our bishops want to say about several European missionaries who suffered severely to bring Christianity to this part of the globe? These early missionaries suffered and died of terrible kinds of diseases and sicknesses which they contracted in our land, but the more they suffered and died, the more their brethren overseas wished to come and die as well. What do our bishops have to say about all those missionaries and the sacrifices they made?
The point here should be well understood: We are not saying that in order to be Catholic we should go and kill ourselves. No. If a priest is giving people Holy Communion on the tongue, and in the process discovers someone who is having the Ebola virus, he should then take every precautionary measure possible — excluding committing of sacrilege because of this — to avoid contracting the virus. But to just assume that Ebola can be contracted from any Catholic and therefore change our mode of worship is not only unchristian, but also abnormal and indeed, the highest degree of faithlessness. The truth is that, the bishops should not have entertained this notion at all, let alone voicing it out and implementing it. But of course their action is perfectly well understood: We live in an era of materialism and secularism when the clergy no longer see spiritual significance in almost every aspect of the Church’s doctrines.
Now on the second issue raised, namely that Communion in the hand is okay because it is so done in the Western countries, we need not spend much time on this. In the Western world today Catholics are divided between the modernists — those who promote Vatican II novelties such as Communion in the hand — and the Traditionalists — those who maintain Catholic tradition such as Communion on the tongue and oppose Communion in the hand. Charles St. George, for instance, whose case I presented in the Open Letter (though this was not featured by P.M.NEWS), is not a Nigerian. On the contrary, he is a Westerner who testifies against the evil he sees in Catholic Churches in the Western world. The write-up entitled “Letter to His Holiness, Pope John Paul II,” was written by Charles Andre St. George, an ex-Eucharistic Minister and was published in the Fatima Crusader, a US-based Catholic magazine in 2006 with the title ‘CONFESSION OF A EUCHARISTIC MINISTER.’ Father Nicholas Gruner sent the magazine to me some years back. In this Open Letter Charles St. George in his research on Communion in the hand proves that “When one receives Communion in the hand there are, on average, about four visible Particles detaching from that same Host.” And each of these particles, according to Church teaching, is actually Jesus Christ!
•Ifeanyi could be reached via [email protected]