Catholic sacrament of the week.

Quote: FrGamble

It is indeed a very important practice of every parish to deliver Communion to the sick, whether at home or in the hospital. A priest, deacon, or any lay person can do this.

Speaking of the sick, is there a "limit" on how often a person may receive Anointing of the Sick? I was always taught you were not supposed to receive Communion more than once a day with the exception of a Priest saying more than one Mass. This would be rare but possible if say you went to a Funeral int he morning and a "Vigil" Mass for a Holy Day the next day. Came up for me once when as an Altar Boy we once had a triple-header of some kind of school thing followed by two funerals. The priests reminded us about the limit.

Just curious as this is probably the least seen Sacrament.

Quote: FrGamble

God who creates out of nothing and began the universe: all matter, space, and time. This same God can of course perform and allow miracles. The incarnation of the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who Himself shows His mastery over material things and is in a sense the living Eucharist, the Bread from Heaven. He looks as if ordinary man and truly is, but His essence or substance is Divine. Finally the Holy Spirit through whose power of Love such miracles are possible. Jesus who says I will be with you always is really and truly present; Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity through the Eucharist and is always intimately united with us.

It's like if you just keep saying all this
it must be true. Is it something you're
taught to do? All devoted Christians
do it, spout a litany (a tedious recital
or repetitive series) close to the above.

For the less smart ones, it's all they have.
Like a string of words is all they need to
convince people. In fact, it's a tool cults
use. They repeat the same mantra over
and over and over. Look at all the capitalized
words you use, why not just put them all
in caps so they can be equal in meaning.

Quote: AZDuffman

Speaking of the sick, is there a "limit" on how often a person may receive Anointing of the Sick? I was always taught you were not supposed to receive Communion more than once a day with the exception of a Priest saying more than one Mass. This would be rare but possible if say you went to a Funeral int he morning and a "Vigil" Mass for a Holy Day the next day. Came up for me once when as an Altar Boy we once had a triple-header of some kind of school thing followed by two funerals. The priests reminded us about the limit.

Just curious as this is probably the least seen Sacrament.

There is a limit on receiving Holy Communion more than twice in one day. If you for example go to daily Mass and then later have a Vigil Mass, a Funeral Mass, or a Wedding to go to you can receive at that Mass as well.

The Anointing of the Sick however you can receive an unlimited amount of times. If you are very sick and receive the sacrament make a rebound and then get sick again you can receive again. If you are sick receive the sacrament and get sicker later on then you can receive again. My rule is if there is a need - meaning someone is anxious, troubled, or hurting in body or soul - then the time to receive the anointing has arrived.

Just to bring us back to the Eucharist again, the last time you receive the Eucharist it has a special name, Vitacum. It means roughly, "food for the journey".

Quote: Evenbob

It's like if you just keep saying all this
it must be true.

You are right, I was unhappy with that answer when I wrote it and anticipated the responses I would get. I haven't got Nareed's yet but she is usually less mean than you.

Maybe we could let stand the powerful comment of Nareed's that every religion, belief, idea, or concept begins the same way - faith and experience. The belief in the Eucharist is then in good company. Even better company knowing that of all the religions, beliefs, ideas, or concepts out there a consistent belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist has lasted longer than any other and is still going strong today. That is extraordinary!

Quote: FrGamble

Y a consistent belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist has lasted longer than any other and is still going strong today. That is extraordinary!

Not really, when you consider the lengths
the Church went to trying to stomp out
any religion that wasn't there's. The sheer
magnitude involved in the Crusades, the Inquisitions,
and the hunting and killing of pagans for
being witches and heretics is staggering. The
Church went to great lengths to preserve
it's position at the top of the heap. It was
brought down by science, the invention of the
printing press. I'm sure if the Church had its
druthers, it would still be 1300 AD. It's
good to be the boss..

Quote: FrGamble

I haven't got Nareed's yet but she is usually less mean than you.

I'm finding it very hard this time.

Instead I'll ask a practical question: how do you handle communion with someone who has Celiac disease, or gluten sensitivity, or a wheat allergy?

Quote:

Maybe we could let stand the powerful comment of Nareed's that every religion, belief, idea, or concept begins the same way - faith and experience.

That sounds an awful lot like not me.

Quote: Nareed

I'm finding it very hard this time.

Instead I'll ask a practical question: how do you handle communion with someone who has Celiac disease, or gluten sensitivity, or a wheat allergy?

There are gluten free hosts. They can also receive from the chalice as Christ is fully present in either the bread or the wine. It is not as if only the host is His Body or only the wine is His blood. Rather both contain fully the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

Quote:

That sounds an awful lot like not me.

In response to my offer of faith and experience as proof for the Eucharist you said:

Quote: Nareed

You know one can "prove" any other religion, belief, ideology and fad this way?

Quote: Evenbob

Not really, when you consider the lengths
the Church went to trying to stomp out
any religion that wasn't there's. The sheer
magnitude involved in the Crusades, the Inquisitions,
and the hunting and killing of pagans for
being witches and heretics is staggering. The
Church went to great lengths to preserve
it's position at the top of the heap. It was
brought down by science, the invention of the
printing press. I'm sure if the Church had its
druthers, it would still be 1300 AD. It's
good to be the boss..

Does continuing to say these things over and over make you believe them more, like a poor atheist apologetic mantra? The Crusades and Inquisitions while awful, especially to our modern eyes, but were not staggering in the ancient world. In fact the Inquisitions run by the Church were meant to protect and stop the ignorant mobs from taking out street justice on those accused of being heretics. When the Church was running Inquisitions in Spain you would pray to be sent to one run by the Church and not by the State. In fact the Church condemned and pulled out of the Spanish Inquisition because of its abuses.
The myth of the Church hunting and killing witches is mostly untrue and what is staggering is the falsehoods that continue to be drug out about it.

You forget also that the Church encouraged science and despite the Galileo debacle was at the fore of scientific discoveries, especially in the era you are referencing. As you have heard me mention a few times in other threads, the greatest thing that ever happened to the Church was when we lost the Papal States and became solely a spiritual power and stopped pretending to be a worldly one, "or the boss" as you put it. I will gladly take today and the spiritual influence the Church holds with our great leader Pope Francis over any of the Popes who in desperately trying to hold onto worldly power forgot who they were really about and fell to the ways of the world.

Quote: FrGamble

There are gluten free hosts. They can also receive from the chalice as Christ is fully present in either the bread or the wine. It is not as if only the host is His Body or only the wine is His blood. Rather both contain fully the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

This makes an interesting question I wondered about from time to time. As both host and wine are "complete" is there a purpose for receiving both at Mass? When I grew up, the wine was only at certain masses, the 9:30 IIRC, and others for occasional times. Everybody took the host but maybe half passed on the wine. So, other than the re-enactment aspect of The Last Supper, is there a major purpose to receiving both?

Quote: FrGamble

There are gluten free hosts.

Do they conjure up a gluten free Jesus?
It would seem only right..