It seems to me that in an effort to bring parishioners closer to Jesus, our bishops are actually making Him less awesome and more matter of fact. Yes, Jesus is our Brother, God is our Father, etc. but shouldn't there be an element of great respect and piety involved with our dealings? We are talking about Divine Beings, Perfect Beings . . . which, we humans, definitely are not. Should be we bringing Them down to our level or should we be striving to come up to their goodness?
Our diocese greatly encourages ALL it's parishes to offer the Blessed Sacrament under both Species even at daily Mass. To me, offering the Blessed Sacrament as the Precious Blood is more likely to lead to disrespect and being common place.
Every morning, I cringe when we come to Communion as there is a flutter among the congregation and the presiding priest as they try to ascertain if there are enough Extraordinary Ministers to distribute the Precious Blood. The grace of the moment is lost as hand signals are exchanged, an EM waves her arms from the altar to get another one's attention, etc.
The EM's often giggle and smile as they offer the chalice calling the known recipient's by name. I actually heard one EM tell the next one in line, "Sorry, I don't have any more. The last person was a pig and drank it all." Did the EM realize that it wasn't just wine at this point? Where was the grace of the moment?
Then, we have the EM's who do not want to finish the chalice after Communion. One of them tends to wander and signal people around the church trying to find someone to complete her 'job'. Another one finishes off the chalice as she strolls back to the sacristy. Often, you can hear laughter as they put away the chalices.
EVERYONE tends to line up for the chalice. Young children are prone to wiping off their mouth across their sleeve. One Mass, an entire chalice of the Precious Blood was spilled all over the EM and the floor. The other EM just said, "Just wipe it up and don't worry." That seems proof to me that she just doesn't know what she is dealing with and has a definite lack in her Catholic education.
I was actually told by a parishioner that I wasn't receiving a 'full Communion' since I abstained from the chalice. Uh, does that mean there were no 'full Communions' for hundreds of years until our bishops decided to go the 'full route'?
It seems to me that there would be a lot more respect if distribution of the Precious Blood was reserved for special occasions. The first and last time I received under both Species was my wedding.
