BUCK SHOT QUESTIONS ON COMMUNION & PRAYER
QUESTION/COMMENT?
1. When not allowed to receive communion on the tongue, is it denying Christ to refuse to receive in the hand? Or would it be better to receive in the hand rather than not?
ANSWER!
Although the US Bishops allow this post Vatican II, the traditional way prior to Vat II was kneeling and on the tongue. The Bishops have the authority to legislate this practice but I believe they will stand before God in judgment for their legislation that breeds laxity and irreverence amongst the flock. I attend parishes where the Pastor allows you to receive in the traditional manner. Refusing to receive in the hand is NOT denying Christ, you are simply following your well formed conscience based on the teachings and practice of the saints, Popes and Doctors of the Church for well over a thousand years.
QUESTION/COMMENT?
2. Are prayers more efficacious when said out loud or is it OK to pray silently? Also, since angels and demons cannot know our thoughts, should prayers to our angels and deliverance prayers be said out loud?
ANSWER!
Actually silent pray (meditation & contemplation) is a more powerful form of prayer. From my book: LORD PREPARE MY HANDS FOR BATTLE p.3-5, https://jesseromero.com/store/lord-prepare-myhands-battle-book
Bishop Fulton Sheen describes the 3 different types of prayer:[i]
1. In vocal prayer we go to God on foot. “Vocal prayer involves praying with particular words, either mentally or out loud. We use our powers of speech to give voice to prayer, wishing to give thanks and praise to God and to ask for the graces necessary to grow in holiness. The Our Father which Jesus taught us to pray is the perfect form of vocal prayer.”[ii]
2. In Meditation we go to God on horseback. “Meditation comes from the Latin word meditation, which means ‘thinking over.’ A reflective form of prayer, it often begins with reading the Word of God and allowing it to resonate in our mind and heart. Meditation engages our powers of thought and imagination, as well as our emotions and desires. It marshals our interior powers to focus on the mysteries of our faith and on God’s will for our lives. The practice of daily meditation is a very important way to grow in holiness.”[iii]
St Isaiah the Hermit (488 AD) sums up for us the grace of meditation: “Meditation melts our evil thoughts and withers the passions of the soul; it enlightens our mind, makes the understanding radiant, and fills the heart with joy. Meditation wounds demons, and drives away thoughts of wickedness. Meditation is a mirror for the mind and light for the conscience; it tames lust, calms fury, dispels wrath, drives away bitterness, and puts irritability to flight. Meditation illuminates the mind and expels laziness. From it is born the tenderness that warms and melts the soul.”[iv]
There is a study by the name of “the monk study.” It showed that certain monks were able to pray and the positive area of the brain, the one that makes us optimistic, it gives us hope, it gives all the neurotransmitters, it improves our immune system, it improves our feeling of wellness, goodbeing and positiveness. It’s stimulated by meditation, and they found out that when Americans tried to meditate they weren’t able to open up this optimistic center at all, except their was a couple of Americans who could. When they asked what they were meditating they said they were saying the rosary. And so the rosary itself opens up what is called the inferior part of the frontal lobe, there is a thing called the positive optimistic center and the rosary impacted half of that and enhances those feelings of well being, enhances those positive neurotransmitters – dopamine & serotonine which makes us feel healthy, makes us feel active & also prevents Alzheimers disease.[v]
If families give our lady fifteen minutes a day by reciting the rosary, I assure them that their homes will become, by God’s grace, peaceful places – Fr Patrick Peyton C.S.C. We need CPR – Catholic Prayer Revival.
3. In Contemplation we go to God in a jet. “Contemplative prayer is a prayer beyond words, in which we simply gaze upon our Lord in silence and love. It might be likened to the loving silence of a happily married husband and wife who no longer need a lot of words to convey their oneness of mind and heart. Contemplative prayer is a gift of the Holy Spirit that leads us to trustfully surrender ourselves to the Lord and His will for us. The practice of contemplative prayer, as St Theresa of Avila teaches us, is an indication of our growing friendship with Christ.”[vi]
St Thomas Aquinas adds: “contemplation brings us into Gods sweetness, it decreases sadness; it gives us rest from the distraction of the senses, blessing us with the ability to perceive more keenly interior inspirations from God; and it increases, strengthens and directs our affections toward God.”[vii]