WHAT REALLY MAKES US UNCLEAN

Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Mt 15:1-2.10-14

One day a lady approached me, complaining about communion by the hand. She said it was not right to receive the Holy Eucharist in the hand because the hand is so dirty. She even went to the extent of judging those who receive communion by the hand as guilty of a grave sin against the Lord. For her, communion by the mouth is the only proper way to receive the Holy Eucharist.

I simply smiled and asked her, “Why is the mouth really cleaner than the hand?”

It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a man unclean. And they are not only germs, viruses, and bacteria. They are lies we tell, the foul language we use, and the gossips we spread. They all come out of our mouths and make us unclean.

Is our mouth, therefore, in any better position than our hands to receive the Lord?

Receiving communion by the hand is an older practice than receiving communion in the mouth. Remember the Last Supper, the first Mass, the first Holy Communion? Jesus and His disciples were having dinner. They were not even on their knees during that first Mass. They were reclining! And when it was time to receive their first Holy Communion, the disciples were not given the Eucharist in their mouths. Scriptures say, Jesus took bread, blest it, and gave it to the disciples. The first Holy Communion was received by the hand, not in the mouth.

It was when abuses against the Holy Eucharist became rampant that communion by the hand was prohibited. Grave disrespect for the Lord in the Holy Eucharist forced Church authorities to allow only communion in the mouth. But today, where proper respect and devotion to the Holy Eucharist can be ensured, the bishops permit communion by the hand.

Next time we judge something to be unclean, let us pause for a long while and think many times over before we make any conclusion. When we reflect on what really makes us unclean, we should not haste in making any judgment on anyone even if they seem to be breaking the traditions we hold. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus because He alone is clean and, therefore, only He may tell us what is not clean.

Jesus tells us, “Listen and understand. What goes into the mouth does not make a man unclean; it is what comes out of the mouth that makes him unclean.” If that lady who came to me complained to the Lord about those she judged to be committing a grave sin for receiving communion by the hand, the Lord would simply ask her: “Tell me, dear, what comes out of your mouth now even as you speak?” Will she confess self-righteousness? Well, her hands may be cleaner than she thought they are.