Eucharistic Proposals to Consider

Crisis Magazine has an interesting article by Father John A. Perricone offering a "Radical Proposal for the USCCB's Eucharistic Revival."

The article outlines four proposals:

Tabernacles returned to the center of every church.
Abolish communion in the hand.
Eliminate Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Eucharist.
Reception of Holy Communion should always be kneeling.

The bishops' revival was prompted in part because of evidence - in particular a 2020 Pew Research Study - that showed a majority of Catholics no longer believing in the Real Presence. So they launched the revival which is supposed to culminate in a 2024 Eucharistic Congress.

As a veteran Catholic reporter, and someone who has been active in the Church of decades, their response strikes me as more of the same. I don't have high hopes for the effort.

Neither. apparently, does Father Perricone. Hence his proposals.

I have mixed feelings about his proposals.

Moving the Tabernacles to the center? Absolutely. I've seen too many churches where it was moved off to the side or even into a separate chapel. My own church, under a previous pastor, chose the off-to-the-side placement. Under our new pastor, it is being moved back to center of the sanctuary this very week. Alleluia!

Eliminate Extraordinary Ministers? Yes, unless there are unusual circumstances, such as a very large crowd and not enough priests and deacons available, or if the priest is physically limited in some way. In my own parish, we almost always have a priest and a deacon at every Sunday Mass, and they could handle the couple of hundred people attending. Yes, it might mean that Mass will be a few minutes longer, but so what? 

Abolish Communion in the hand? To be honest, I don't have a problem with Communion in the hand if it is done reverently. And there are times of flu outbreaks, for example, where it seems prudent. Yes, people should have the option to receive on the tongue, and to do so without facing some sort of disapproval. But I don't believe it should be the only way. I do believe we need more catechesis about Communion in the hand to make sure it is indeed done reverently.

Kneeling? Again, I have no problem with it as an option. But for many people kneeling is physically difficult. Having altar rails helped them, but, unfortunately, the altar rails were removed from many churches, and newer churches did not have them. There would be all sorts of practical and financial problems if we tried to reinstall them. In my own church, the sacristy was redesigned years ago to extend out, making it difficult to reinstall rails or to design ways to accommodate traffic flow.

Still, Father has made some  interesting proposals. And we do need to do more to restore belief in and reverence for the Eucharist.

More than a "revival" and a "congress." 

Pax et bonum