www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Infants receiving Communion

Melkiteman,

Without speaking too hastily, I would have to agree that if prior contact with a pastor has been made, that pastor is under and obligation to follow and respect our traditions. Ignorance is not an excuse.

When I take the kids to a Latin parish I put them in their Eastern parish t-shirts (and _try_ to get there early for a conversation with the celebrant). I also remind the kids not to find something to kiss on their way to receive - a difficult thing to get through to them.
There really needs to be some, dare I say it, declarative text on the matter from the USCCB. This is also a good moment to point out the importance of missions in general and the importance of using the start-a-parish (https://www.byzcath.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=482&Itemid=113) resource available to us in particular. If Austin can sustain a mission, why not seek a mission in San Antonio?

Canon Law allows Eastern Rite Catholics to receive communion in Latin Rite parishes. This includes their children.

If we had a Canon Lawyer online he could tell us where in the law it states that. I know if you search this forum this issue has to been addressed before.

I have NEVER had a problem with my children receiving communion. They way you do is see the priest BEFORE Mass. If he objects clearly state to him it is required of him and if doesn't accept that answer tell him to open one of his Canon Law books.

If you get denied communion call the local Bishop and the matter will be cleared up quickly.

Your children are 100% welcome to receive communion!

Is it also not as necessary for them to eat?

Or to feed on the Bread of Life Himself?

The Eucharist is necessary for all the members of the Body of Christ. This is akin to the teaching of a priest I know who thinks that after a certain age older people can stop going to confession because they "really don't need it."


How about when a priest is ill? Does the danger of his vomiting mean that no one ought to have the Liturgy served?


Not really. He is bound to accomodate those who come and are in Catholic communion but who have different, yet Catholic, customs. It's simply a matter of law.

In Christ,
BOB

I didn't say they shouldn't. I am not against the practice in the east.

How would you like a Latin to show up in an Eastern church and say it is time to say the rosary every one kneel now and we'll all say the rosary. You would think they were insane.

I think a little more calm and less fuming is more in order.

The council of Trent stated that Communion for children before the age of reason is not necessary.

Come on you are dealing with Latins. They don't know anything about the east. Half of them don't even know there is an east.
It wouldn't hurt if the Eastern bishops put a little pressure on the Western bishops to inform the pastors.

The approach was wrong showing up a few minutes before mass to insist on the Eucharist(which is going to be a complete surprise to them) and then fuming because you didn't get your way and storming out is wrong on many levels.
The pastor has a right and duty to check it out first. Whether we think they should know is irrelevant. They have to go by their information. Anybody can come in and say this is canon law and the pastor should believe you. Why?

Yes the east and west are different in their approach and to think that everything is the same is ridiculous. East is East...
Sorry you are not in charge of Latin parishes. The Latins are..
The pastor has to do what he thinks is right for the moment whether you like it or not.

My point was that fuming and sulking and walking out was not the way to go because you didn't get your way. It is a Latin parish. Latins don't get their way in a Latin parish either.

Certainly being in a fuming mode is not how to teach the children how to receive the Eucharist.

He has to do things based on what he knows not on what you know. Showing up just before mass is not respectful. He has a right and duty to check it out first. Anyone can pop in and say this is canon law.
How does he know ? Because you told him?
Even on this forum no one has been able to quote the canon law!

Your other comments are silly. Maybe the priest should chant in Greek to please you too!

The key is if prior contact has been made but the person in question just showed up before mass.

Yup...many are even in need of catechetical instruction as well on some of the basics of the Faith.

As to your other points, I think it definitely is far better to discuss it with the priest ahead of time, since it is out of the ordinary practice for Latins.

In ICXC,

Gordo

A priest and former president of the Canon Law Society (for the Roman Rite) raised the issue of infant communication for Eastern Catholics on their private discussion group. There was overwhelming support for the position that Eastern Rite Catholic infants should be welcome (and had a right) to receive communion in a Latin Church.

That information I have first hand from the former president who was asking the question to this illustrious group with respect to my own children.

And by the way, St. Augustine is a great proponent of infant communication. See his treatise, "On Merit and the Forgiveness of Sins, and the Baptism of Infants "

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/15011.htm

2 Points I'd like to make, but none of them can really help our friend here.

1. About the vomiting, I remember when there was a certain girl at my Catechism class who couldn't consume the "practice" Host, she would choke on it and vomit it right back up. It was said that if she actually threw up the Eucharist at her first Communion that it would have to be burned immediately. Happily, she learned to keep the subsequent practice Hosts down and she made her first Communion without incident. Unhappily her family joined the local Non-Denominationalist Denomination Church and she has been without the Holy Sacraments for about 20 years now.

2. At both the UGCC that I used to attend in St. Louis and at the BCCA that I now attend in Indy both the priests made it clear that they want(ed) to give my kids the Holy Eucharist, but technically we're still Latin. Both priests have offered to Chrysmate them and give them Communion. So it looks like the Eastern practice is more liberal than the Latin.

melkiteman:

May I remind you that this is an Eastern Christian forum. That having been said, some of your recent comments on this thread seem to exhibit an antipathy for the customs and sensitivities of the Eastern Christan members of this forum. As a moderator, I would ask that you temper your comments with more sensitivity in the future.

As for your last comment to me, I am a Latin Catholic who would not need Greek chant to please me in any way in the Liturgy. My own focus and ministry within the Church and within my own parish is to seek out and reconcile people, not drive them away or make them feel unwelcome. Than having been said, there are no comments made on this Board that are "silly" in any way. We are all here to learn from each other in an atmosphere of Christian charity. If you cannot operate in that mode, may I suggest you find another place on the internet where different attitudes toward other members are the norm.

In Christ,

BOB

Yes I am well aware of that! And what does my moniker indicate?
I love the Eastern churches and especially the Melkite church. As you said they only seem to exhibit. But if you read them carefully without prejudice you will note that I said I am not against the practice of communion for infants in the East. I was writing about the seeming arrogance of people going into a Latin church and insisting minutes before the liturgy that they be attended to. Even Latin parishioners aren't afforded that luxury. A large number of Latin pastors don't follow the canons and so there is rampant liturgical abuse. I tried to make it clear that I was of mixed opinions and feelings myself because I do appreciate the Eastern practice of communion of children but the manner it was requested or insisted upon was not Christian. Little notice was given. The person in question who was fuming which sets a poor example for the children. They left the church which again sets a poor example for the children. Where is the sensitivity on their part? Why aren't you going after them for their lack of charity and lack of sensitivity for the Latins?? Can we only be sensitive to Easterners on this forum?
I apologize if you were offended. It was not my intention. It was actually to be taken with a sense of humor. It was meant to counterbalance the insistence on the Eucharist for children which is not the Latin custom nor tradition. We can argue that it should be but it isn't and all the complaining isn't go to make it so. I am happy that the canon law allows for the practice but it takes time for notices to get around. I was trying to see the other side which apparently you aren't willing to hear. Well from your comment to me If you cannot operate in that mode, may I suggest you find another place on the internet where different attitudes toward other members are the norm. In Christ,BOB It sure doesn't sound like it.It sure sounds like you are trying to drive me away. I write silly comments all the time. Now if you mean that opinions should be respected I can easily agree with that. Glad to hear that. So read what I said carefully and read it with Christian charity as it was written.
Even Paul spoke face to face with Peter and told him he was wrong! The person who insisted minutes before the liturgy and then left the church fuming was wrong!
If you think that because this is an eastern forum one has to agree with every action that a person (obviously me excepted) does is just wonderful then you need to examine yourself more carefully!
I in no way challenged the Eastern Eucharistic practice itself.
I challenged the arrogant insensitive unChristian insistence on the immediate application of the practice in a Latin parish.

Actually, I said we arrived 30 minutes before mass started to talk with the priest; I neglected to say that we had called him earlier the week, at which time he told us to talk to him FIFTEEN minutes before mass. That led us to believe that he simply needed to know which service we would be attending.

Also, my original post said The priest said he was well familiar with the eastern rites and understood that our son was a communicant. The priest KNEW about the Eastern church, he KNEW that Eastern Catholics give communion to infants, he KNEW that our 2-year-old could receive in his church according to canon law. He chose not to follow the law for fear of distressing some members of his congregation. Therein lay our frustration. We were not arrogantly demanding something new and foreign to this individual.

We would have participated fully in the liturgy, singing and adopting the proper stance for prayer according to the customs of the church.

But surely you do not put the customs of a church -- the music, the posture for prayer, or even the type of prayer (the rosary is a devotional, nonliturgical prayer) -- on equal footing with participation in the Holy Mysteries? Faith transcends customs, but we are told that we receive the Body and Blood of Our Lord and Savior for the salvation of our souls. NOTHING transcends that; NOTHING makes up for its absence.