Have you ever heard of the Communion Police?

I'm sorry, Mam, I am going to ask you to pull over from the trail. Could I see your certificate of First Communion or RCIA, please? You do know that you're supposed to say "Amen" after receiving the host and that you should consume it immediately, right? I'm going to give you a warning this time, next time it will be a ticket!

I keed, I keed.

Most of the time, some kind of enforcement for potential offenders comes from the ex-officio church leaders, laity or ordained, and trained Eucharistic Ministers, but maybe not so much from your average church-goers. As for the gravelier thing like the lack of awareness of mortal sins, everybody knows that they all are being investigated by the elite squads called Special Victim Unit, namely your own conscience and The Holy Spirit.

Anyway, my friend G spotted a potential Holy Communion offense on the 11 AM Mass this past Sunday. FYI, G never really recovers from sitting on the very front pew on the Gospel side, a habit started back when she brought her two younglings to Sunday Masses many years ago. Undeniably, she's bound to see everything that ever happened on that part of the chuch.

The alleged offense was committed by an Eucharistic Minister of the Holy Communion (a young lady) and a young man on the Communion trail. Instead of moving toward the Deacon (see diagram) on his turn, the young man proceeded to walking to the young lady. G then became a witness to him receiving more than one Hosts but only consuming the last one received. Their facial expressions and body languages led her to believe that the two conspired foul-playing.


As soon as the Mass ended, my friend went to the back room to personally ask the young lady her name and to inquire other people about the young man's. She was all set to bring the matter to higher authority. I don't know what drove her like that. I guess, part of such loyalty was instilled from the recent departure, well-planned yet unexpected, of a long time parish priest.

Long story short, it turned out that the priest recognized the man as one of the members of the Ministry to the Sick, and that he might need to distribute the hosts that Sunday. He will check with the man anyway and thanked G to bring the matter to his attention.

Now, it's my turn to ponder about whether or not foul-play was committed. From the Handbook for Ministry of Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist of the St. Patrick Parish, Stoneham MA:

The Blessed Sacrament is conveyed in a small closed container called a pyx. When bringing Eucharist to a homebound parishioner, put the pyx, open on the apron of the Tabernacle before Mass. (If you need more than one host, put a small piece of paper with the pyx indicating the # of hosts desired). After Communion, the deacon or one of the Eucharistic Ministers will place a host or hosts in the pyx, close it and leave it on the apron for you to pick up at the conclusion of Mass.

It might be slightly varied from parish to parish, but the use of pyx seems to be mandatory. Since the man didn't place the hosts on such vessel and didn't check in with the priest anytime before the Mass, G's suspicion might be true after all.