FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, FEBRUARY 1, 2026
At the Last Supper on the night before He died, Jesus established the Holy Eucharist as a perpetual memorial of His suffering and death and as the means to continue His abiding presence in the Church and in each individual believer until the end of time. The bread, once consecrated, becomes truly the body of Christ and the wine, once consecrated, becomes the blood of Christ. This is not a mere symbol or metaphor. The bread is the body and the wine is the blood of Christ.
However, the Church also understands that Jesus is wholly present in the consecrated bread OR wine. While the sign of eating and drinking is established by Jesus who commanded "eat this bread and drink this cup", Jesus is present--body, blood, soul and divinity-when a believer eats or drinks of the Holy Eucharist. It is not necessary to receive both to receive Jesus fully and completely.
From the first days of the Church's celebration of the Eucharist, Holy Communion consisted of the reception of both species in fulfillment of the Lord's command to 'take and eat... take and drink". The distribution of Holy Communion to the faithful under both kinds was thus the norm for more than a thousand years of Catholic liturgical practice. The practice of Holy Communion under both kinds at Mass continued until the late eleventh century, when the custom of distributing the Eucharist to the faithful under the form of bread alone began to grow. By the twelfth century theologians such as Peter Cantor spoke of Communion under one kind as a "custom" of the Church. This practice spread until the Council of Constance in 1415 decreed that Holy Communion under the form of bread alone would be distributed to the faithful. However, at least the priest was required to both eat and drink and to receive the Eucharist under the forms of both bread and wine.
The Second Vatican Council and the Church's decrees that followed allowed for the restoration of the practice of the Church's first millennium as an option. Bishops and pastors are permitted to allow it and each individual is permitted to choose to receive under one or both forms. Most parishes in the United States offered the Holy Eucharist under the form of bread and wine until 2020 when the Covid pandemic hit. While Covid spreads almost exclusively by breathing air from an infected person, out of an abundance of caution, only the Body of Christ was offered to the lay faithful.
As Covid restrictions have lifted, some parishes have resumed offering the Eucharist under both kinds. Since I have become pastor of Saint John's, I have heard from a number of people who would like to receive the Eucharist under both kinds. There are others who are concerned about hygiene and who find drinking from a common chalice repugnant. However, no one is ever required to receive both the host and the chalice. It is up to the individual.
Also, these days quite a few people have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance and cannot safely eat the consecrated host. The person can come to the sacristy and ask that a low gluten host be consecrated, but this requires a request each time which can be off putting to some. Moreover, there are people who cannot tolerate even the low gluten host. Almost always these people can safety receive Jesus by drinking from the chalice.
I believe that most of our Mass goers prefer to receive only the host, but there are people asking for the opportunity to also drink from the chalice. Again, I emphasize, no one is compelled to drink from the chalice. Beginning in March, after the cold and flu season abates, we will begin to offer the chalice but for now only at the 10:30 Mass. Eucharistic ministers will be trained to administer the chalice in a way that minimizes the risk of transmitting infection.
Most times and on most issues, I feel that I cannot satisfy everyone. In this case, everyone can be satisfied. Those who wish to drink from the chalice, have the opportunity to do so at one Mass. Those who prefer not to drink, can continue as before and receive the host only.
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