Shared communion cup

Riverwalk, faith doesn't protect you from health and safety guidelines set by the diocese. The authorities didn't want to risk being responsible for the passing on of infection. It was a while before we could start having communion at all, let alone indoor services.

Not having wine at communion is perfectly valid - as I said above, communion in one kind (i.e. the bread only) is just as valid as having both.

Riverwalk The French Catholic priest very rarely gives the chalice to the congregation.

For Catholics it's not symbolic - they believe in transubstantiation and take it very seriously.

I attended a Catholic memorial service for a former patient along with some colleagues. As people were going up for communion I asked the colleague next to me why she wasn't going, she replied that she couldn't because hadn't been to confession recently, so all serious stuff. But it can set aside on account of government guidelines; I'm surprised people obeyed!

I haven't ever been to a Catholic or Methodist service, but am interested in how people do their faiths. I knew that Catholics believe in transubstantiation.....and I wouldn't have thought that covid would change anything. This is a faith who do not use contraception, after all- so they trust God for His will and for life to emerge- or not. I'm interested, I just don't understand a lot of things.

As a practising Roman Catholic in Scotland, I would like to clarify some of the misconceptions posted here.
The Catholic Church in Scotland have been and still are, committed to protecting the faithful by rigorously following Government legislation, regarding Covid. I would imagine the same protocols are in place for the rest of the UK.

Health protocol for distribution of Holy Communion – Bishop’s Conference Scotland.

Clergy distributing Holy Communion should:
sanitise their hands immediately prior to distributing Holy Communion
wear a face covering while distributing Holy Communion
direct congregants to receive Holy Communion in their hand by stretching out their arms with one hand on top of the other, then taking steps to the side to place the host on the tongue.
(The Eucharist is and has been only distributed under one kind since the beginning of the pandemic. No chalices are used.)

2.Catholics are only under obligation to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, ( Confession) once a year and about Easter time. You can still receive the Eucharist, even if you haven’t been to confession for weeks. However, some Catholics feel they must go to Confession, before receiving Communion. That is totally impractical, in my opinion.

3.Most Catholics (myself included) do not believe that God will prevent us from contracting Covid, if we receive from the chalice. That is why at present, we do not receive the precious blood of Jesus and it is still not allowed.
Dipping the host (wafer) is called Intiction and is not allowed in Scotland, nor in many countries.

4.We do not all follow religiously (pardon the pun) like sheep and as a fairly intelligent person, there are parts of the Catholic faith which I question. Many modern Catholics also question certain aspects of their faith, that is in my opinion a healthy approach.
Despite what some seem to think, we are not all indoctrinated.

Here ended the lesson for tonight, folks.
I hope that clears up a few things and half truths.

Pax Vobiscum. ?.

Faith doesn't protect you from catching Covid or any other illness.

Smileless2012

Faith doesn't protect you from catching Covid or any other illness.

I totally agree Smileless. Is that what is called blind faith?

I am catholic. Our churches are only giving the host, the chalice has not been used since before the first lock down.

Quite possibly Marydoll.

Et cum spiritu tuo, Marydoll. ?

Our parish is following all the Diocesan guidelines as outlined above. Our priest and visiting Archbishop still wear masks, and most parishioners still wear masks although the legal obligation ended today in Scotland. We still have socially distanced areas within the church so that people can have plenty of space.

I am still confused.

In fact I am more confused now than at the beginning.

If faith isn't "blind faith", then what even is it?

Thank you Grannmarie.

Same in our Diocese, all sanitising hands and most parishioners wearing masks, as does the PP.
We have to do our best to keep others and ourselves safe.

Of course we all should be singing from the same hymn sheet, as the Scottish Dioceses are doing.

(That is not meant to sound smug!)

OnwardandUpward

I am still confused.

In fact I am more confused now than at the beginning.

What is it, you are confused about? A genuine question, btw.

The blind faith comment was meant to be tongue in cheek.

According to Google....

What is the true meaning of communion?
Definition of communion

1 : an act or instance of sharing. 2a capitalized : a Christian sacrament in which consecrated bread and wine are consumed as memorials of Christ's death or as symbols for the realization of a spiritual union between Christ and communicant or as the body and blood of Christ.

I didn't see anything when I googled that explained how only taking the bread is correct. I am assuming that the biblically correct choice is to abstain completely or to fully partake of the bread and wine- whether that's a shared cup, separate cups or dipping?

I don't know of another way to take communion in a biblical way unless it's the bread and the wine, that is my meaning.

It is not compulsory to receive Communion under both species in the Roman Catholic Church.
In fact, when I was a child, we only ever received the host, That is my experience.

I Googled too.

In the 20th century, Catholic liturgical reformers began to press for a return to Communion under both kinds, citing the practice of the church before the thirteenth century. There were spirited debates over the issue at the Second Vatican Council, resulting in a compromise. The following text was finally issued by the bishops; "communion under both kinds may be granted when the bishops think fit, not only to clerics and religious, but also to the laity, in cases to be determined by the Apostolic See, as for instance, to the newly ordained in the Mass of their sacred ordination, to the newly professed in the Mass of their religious profession, and to the newly baptized in the Mass which follows their baptism".[5] Regular use of Communion under both kinds requires the permission of the bishop, but bishops in many countries have given blanket authorisation to administer Holy Communion in this way. In the United States, the Notre Dame Study of Catholic Parish Life showed that by 1989, slightly less than half of the parishes in its survey offered the chalice to their congregations.

During the consecration (the bit of the ritual where the bread and wine are made holy), fragments of the bread are mixed with the wine. This makes a kind of union between the bread and wine, so any part of the stuff, bread or wine, represents the whole thing. That’s why receiving only bread is theologically the same as receiving bread and wine.

As a Catholic in Northern Ireland I have never had wine as part of Communion , I was totally confused to be expected to sip from the Chalice at Mass in Edinburgh , and declined , much to the dismay of the person offering it
I would not expect it these days of Covid

"The host" is a new term to me, as I'm not Catholic and am still learning about it, out of curiosity. I'm not sure how it relates to scripture to only take the bread?

I have to be honest and say it doesn't compute for me, (at this time in my understanding) I find it hard to understand how communion without the wine, is biblical as I cannot find biblical evidence for this. Surely I am not the only one confused by this.

I've never been to a Catholic church and I am interested, but as yet unconvinced.

OnwardandUpward, I hope you have learned something you didn't already know tonight.

To confuse matters even more, some priests decide to have Communion under both kinds at all masses, some at only certain Sunday masses and some not at all. There are a number of reasons for this.

We never use the term, Communion wafer, we say host. Could it be an Anglican term?
I don't really know much about the Anglican faith. In fact my friends and I once attended a Sunday service in Newcastle, thinking we were in a Catholic church. It wasn't until near the end we realised our error. It was a very uplifting service and the congregation were so welcoming. It was difficult to tell the difference.

Aggie, you just walk past the Extr-ordinary minister, holding the chalice. That too is not compulsory.
On holiday in Rome, a priest insisted I receive the Eucharistic in my mouth, when I held out my hands to receive. It depends, who the priest is.
It is rare to see people receiving in their mouth in our parish.

I have so many Catholic friends who are really nice and so lovely. I want to understand better, but am too afraid of offending them so don't ask. When I saw this thread it seemed like the perfect place to mention the things I'm puzzled about. Catholicism and Anglicism or Protestentism all seem so different in many ways, but there must also be many things in common.

I wouldn't be offended if someone asked me. My non Catholic DIL is always asking me about my faith or to explain things she doesn't understand.
I suspect she is thinking, about becoming a Catholic, but risks offending her parents. I would never try to influence her, it must be her own choice.

I like to believe, it is now a more welcoming Church than the one of my childhood.
When I think back to some of the things were were taught, I get angry. Thankfully that is not how children are taught nowadays. They are taught to respect and understand other faiths, as well as their own.