EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS OF THE EUCHARIST AND HOSTS "TO GO" 
 

 

Q. Is it lawful for an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to come up to Communion with his pyx in hand and, after receiving Communion himself, ask for a number of Hosts “to go”? In many cases, the priests giving them the “takeout orders” don't even know the identity of these folks. I am not aware of any Church document that would cover this specific situation, but Catholic common sense must come into play at some time. Some of these EMs seem clueless as they go to breakfast or wherever with the Hosts in their pockets or purses before proceeding to their destination for distribution. I have also heard of pastors telling them to keep the “leftover Hosts” at home for future use. Something is wrong someplace. -- R.R., Arizona

 

A. Something is indeed wrong if this is the kind of reverence shown to the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord. First of all, it is not appropriate to ask for Hosts for the sick while one is receiving Communion himself. There is a time at the end of Mass when extraordinary ministers can obtain Hosts to bring to shut-ins. It has been our experience that the priest giving the Hosts to the EM knows him or her. But if the priest is not familiar with the person asking for the Holy Eucharist, he should immediately find out if the person is duly deputed for the task.

 

In Immensae Caritatis, the 1973 Vatican document that allowed extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, it said that a person appointed to this service “should distinguish himself by his Christian life, faith, and morals. Let him strive to be worthy of this great office; let him cultivate devotion to the Holy Eucharist and show himself as an example to the other faithful by his piety and reverence for this most holy Sacrament of the altar.”

 

You are right that Catholic common sense should tell us that an EM should go directly to the person or persons waiting for the Holy Eucharist and never stop off for breakfast while carrying the Blessed Sacrament, should never keep Hosts at home for future use, and should immediately return any unused Hosts to the tabernacle in the church or chapel of the local parish. But because common sense is so lacking these days, the Church has spelled out the correct procedures in the 2004 Vatican document Redemptionis Sacramentum.

 

For example, paragraphs 131 and 132 of that document say that “it is forbidden to reserve the Blessed Sacrament in a place that is not subject in a secure way to the authority of the diocesan bishop or where there is danger of profanation .... No one may carry the Most Holy Eucharist to his or her home or to any other place contrary to the norm of law.”

 

Paragraph 133 says that an extraordinary minister to the sick “should go insofar as possible directly from the place where the Sacrament is reserved to the sick person's home, leaving aside any profane business so that any danger of profanation may be avoided and the greatest reverence for the Body of Christ may be ensured.”