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4.5
Worship yourself or Worship God. Our choice every time we go to Mass and receive Communion. This is an extremely important book. Eucharistic Storms provides stunning historical insight into a significant, and perhaps the most significant, problem in the Catholic Church today. Communion in the hand which has become an effective rejection of the Sacred Divinity of Christ in the Eucharist. Think not! Just observe the high fiving and glad handing as people process to receive the Real Presence. Or maybe just look at the sacrilegious actions as Eucharistic ministers parade to the Altar hugging, kissing and giving the sign of peace all while the" Lamb of God" is prayed. Or Eucharistic ministers walking around the Altar while the Priest proclaims "Behold the Lamb of God..." Or maybe while people are returning to their seats after receiving Communion greeting others as they walk up the aisle. You can't miss it. At minimum it is disrespectful of the Real Presence. All with the acquiescence of Priests because their silence is acquiescence. Without realizing it, many place themselves as the important part of the Mass. Something is fundamentally wrong and Eucharistic Storms exposes the problem.But there will be excuses and justification. Among the excuses given to justify the Communion in the hand is Christ gave the first Eucharist, the Real Presence, His Body & Blood, to the Apostles and therefore I am entitled to receive it that way too. However, the author points out that nobody knows, with certainty, whether the Apostles received the Eucharist in the hand or Christ placed it in their mouths (a custom in those days). Plus, the Apostles were consecrated by Christ, they were Bishops. Those of us going to the Altar to receive the Body & Blood of Christ are not Catholic Priests or Bishops or Deacons. We are layman and what layman can claim equality to the Apostles?So you can chose to ignore this book. And while Communion in the hand continues to be the normalized exception its impact has been nothing less than devastating. Worship God or worship yourself. Your choice every time you go to Mass. Please read the book, the Memoriale Domini (included in the back of the book) and understand the issues.
