Taking Holy Communion***

I have finished reading Rev. Joseph L. Chiavarino's The Greatest Treasure - Considerations on the Daily Mass, a pamphlet from St. Paul Publications which gushes about the "tremendous value of Holy Mass," and for good reason.*

Presented therein are ancient anecdotes about how Catholics were able to fend off temporal punishments, misfortunes, etc. due to the weight of their sins, etc., etc., all thanks to the Holy Mass. Needless to say, this material gives the believer a renewed respect for the sacrament and the desire to run to the nearest church to hear Mass and receive holy communion.*

Speaking of the Eucharist, who hasn't heard about the Eucharistic miracles in ancient Italy (Lanciano, Cascia, etc.) and in recent times, the one in Naju, South Korea involving the 'visionary' Julia Kim - all of which had been documented one way or another?*

Personally, the miracles on the Eucharist and those attributed to the Holy Mass are enough proofs to the dogma of transubstantiation. ("To those who believe, no proof is necessary; to those who don't, no proof is enough.") What's more, these miracles have brought me into taking communion seriously, not taking the sacrament as merely a symbolic gesture, but of something at once literal yet mystical. Before receiving the blessed host, I am now more wont to ask, "Am I guilty of mortal sin? Should I take communion by the mouth?"*

I notice that whenever I take communion, there's always the possibility that tiny specks of the sacred species are left on my palm, leaving me always wondering whether I was left literally with the body (and blood) of Christ in my hands. It's so awkward to be caught in public licking one's hand so I do so in a most discreet manner when I notice an iota of white clinging. To avoid this difficulty in the future I now make it a point to receive communion by the mouth.*

In any case, a greater awareness of Jesus' bodily presence has made me paranoid about spitting lest I spat out something sacred especially right after the Mass. My greatest fear is if I happened to spit by mistake. Would my faith be tested to the extent that I would be forced to ingest a small piece of soiled host? God forbid!*

I remember Fr. Gerry Orbos recounting on TV a horrendous experience of his right after consecration: The chalice of consecrated wine in a Mass he was celebrating in Naju, South Korea, he said, contained two large flies - not your typical flies but bangaw, as though he were being tested for his faith right after the much-publicized miracle with Julia Kim. What he did, he said, was pray and keep his eyes shut tight as he gulped the wine together with the ingredient of dismay.*

(Lord, do not bring me to that test lest I fail miserably and be embarrassed for it for eternity.)*

This brings me to the thought of Glenn, my college roommate eons ago who had been a sacristan in Sorsogon. "How do priests wash all the materials used in consecration?" I once wondered aloud at him. "Surely small pieces of blessed host spilled one way or another in the process of consecration and communion?" *

Glenn answered that these objects are washed in such a way as to collect the water used into a receptacle in the ground; it would be like interring the dead in its grave, he said. (Makes sense, right?)*

Then there's the matter of kneeling in front of the tabernacle in every adoration chapel where the host is exposed. If you believe that it's the body (and blood) of Christ looking at you face to face, then you would make an effort to be physically and spiritually pleasing to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who deigned to come down to us in flesh and blood, O felix culpa. You would make an effort not to snooze or be a total slob or snob, you put your best foot forward. You talk to Jesus as though He were there physically. You imitate how the nuns prostrate themselves, kissing the floor with their foreheads. You don't present yourself as a discourteous visitor always keeping an eye on your watch.*

These seemingly small matters about the host have shown me that it's not easy being a serious Catholic.*

5.31.2001