Lots. Especially if the one doing the blessing is a lay person. Fr. Z rants about it again this morning. I posted on this topic last year. With Easter approaching, and more people crowding into churches (and more EMHCs likely being pressed into duty), it’s worth revisiting this thorny issue.
Source: The Deacons Bench by Deacon Greg Kandra
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3 Responses to What’s wrong with giving out blessings during communion?
Graham April 27, 2013
Making the sign of the cross should be treated as sacramental. It is not the place of laity to do this as a form of blessing.
Paul Gutting February 26, 2013
Once again, I do not understand why this issue keeps cropping up. If we are to model ourselves after Jesus, and I believe Sacred Scripture commands that we should, we would do well to remember all of the times Jesus corrected hid Apostles for being too wooden or too regimented with the people of God, His children. Whether it is chiding the apostles for their efforts to keep him from being bothered by children or to Peter for refusing washing or to the Apostles concerned over the cost of perfume, Jesus remained radically open to the people who came to him for comfort, solace or healing. We should not forget the words of Jesus to Martha who suggested that Mary had chosen the better portion by listening to the master rather than busying herself with formalities of service.
Those who approach the Altar of the Lord seek to encounter Him not only in the breaking of the bread but also in the physical touch of the person standing in the place of our Lord, at that moment, be it priest, deacon, sister, brother or layperson. Are we all not called by our baptism to be priest, prophet and king? Engaging the faithful in this way, especially the children, forms them into a relationship with Christ at an early age.
As for the swine flu, touching the ill or any other behavior along those lines is, in my opinion not to be construed through the lens of an Epidemiologist but rather through the lens of a healer. None of the miracles I have read were done at a distance out of fear, rather they were done in the spirit of Love. If the potential for infection were truly the issue, the Holy Eucharist would come in blister packs and the faithful would be prohibited from receiving on the tongue.
Finally, while the rubrics are specific, yet, they do not govern the mass so tightly as to identify every movement, every inflection, every physical detail of the mass, church or person. They certainly do not regulate breathing which is a good idea at mass.
Rev. Simon Shaner February 25, 2013
First, An EMHC is a priest. An EEMHC or extraordinary eucharistic minister of Holy Communion is a lay person.
Second, I instruct al my EEMHC to give a blessing to those who can not reciebe Holy Communion at this time.
The reson for this is; lay people bless other people all the time;i.e; when someone snizzes what does the other person say….”GOD BLESS YOU”. Now grant it it is not the same type of blessing as a priest would give. The same priciple applies hear.
Thirdly, grant it, that such a gesture is not in the rubrics. But such an opportunity is in my opinion a moment of grace for that person who is recieving that blessing that it may open their heart and soul to recieving Holy Communion in the future; it is not me who is giving the blessing that counts but God.
Remember, God called us to himself while we were sinners not when we were in full communion with him!