Pastors bring back the shared cup to a cautious faithful

By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald

Bishop Larry Silva on Holy Thursday brought back reception of the precious blood by the sharing of the Communion cup to a cautious faithful for the first time since March 2020, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hesitancy is likely because some parishioners are still wary of the possibility of catcing the invisible COVID-19 virus by a communal cup.

Whether parishioners have the option to receive Christ’s blood in the form of wine is up to their pastors.

An informal survey of pastors last week by the Hawaii Catholic Herald shows that most, but not all, have brought back the practice even though it has not been embraced by all Mass-goers.

Father Stephen Macedo, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Good Shepherd and St. Anthony Churches on the Big Island’s Kamuela coast, had discussed the topic with parishioners at “teaching” Masses in January and February. “I instructed them that it was their choice to receive or not.”

However, he said, if they chose not to receive, they should bow to the cup and make eye contact with the minister holding the cup because it is the blood of Christ. “Don’t just walk by,” he said.

“I would say about half the people receive, but all bow,” he said.

Somascan Father John Molina, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, Pahoa, has also brought back the cup. “We initially had a hand survey when the bishop told us the practice will start on Holy Thursday. We received a considerable number willingly welcoming its return.”

“All is well and good,” he said. It also brings up the “thought of parish budgeting for the supply of wine.”

Father Alapaki Kim reports that his parish of St. Rita in Nanakuli brought back Communion under both species on Holy Thursday.

Augustinian Father Norlito Concepcion administrator of St. Pius X Parish in Manoa announced the cup’s return on Palm Sunday. “We started on Holy Thursday,” he said. “It was well received by the congregation.”

Concern remains

Father Paul Li, pastor of St. Philomena Parish, Salt Lake, also brought back the cup on Holy Thursday.

“I got few requests before March, asking when the blood of Christ would be brought back,” he said. After the bishop gave the go-ahead, he met with his pastoral council, stewardship ministry and the extraordinary ministers of holy Communion. “We all agreed to bring back both kinds of Communion, but slowly and carefully.”

The parish administered two cups instead of the normal four. “Most parishioners are still concerned about receiving from blood of Christ; however, it’s getting better,” he said. “A few more people did come to receive the blood of Christ compared with the previous Sunday according to one eucharistic minister,” he said.

St. Theresa Church in Kihei has renewed the practice. According to Alexandria Nicholl, director of music and liturgy, preparation included catechesis on the real presence of Christ in the eucharistic elements. The assembly was reminded that if they chose not to receive from the cup, they should bow their head to acknowledge Christ’s presence when they walk past.

The parish held special training for its extraordinary ministers of holy Communion that included “carefully measuring the wine beforehand until we had a sense of how it would be received. We did not want to have an overabundance of consecrated wine left over.” Several ministers are not comfortable with distributing the cup since they are required to consume what remains, she said.

“It is so wonderful to be able to partake in both the Body and Blood of our Lord again, and it was powerful to see how many people are partaking,” Nicholl said.

At Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Pearl City “it is going well,” said pastor Sacred Hearts Father Santhosh Thottankara. The return to the cup was announced at various parish leadership meetings, and the parish deacon conducted training of the eucharistic ministers as well.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Ewa Beach brought back the cup on Holy Thursday.

The parish informed its parishioners through pulpit announcements, the bulletin, the website and myParishApp, said pastor Father Edmundo Barut, who also asked for a show of hands at Mass to determine the interest.

The parish followed up with training of all the liturgical ministers.

“So far, those who have received the precious blood were thankful and also cautious,” Father Barut said. “We respect those who chose not to receive it yet.”

Father Arnold Ortiz, pastor of St. Elizabeth Parish in Aiea, brought back the precious blood “slowly” with only two cups and only about one-third cup of wine in each cup. “It’s working okay,” he said. “We will soon add two more cups.”

Father Anthony Rapozo, pastor of St. John Apostle and Evangelist in Mililani announced the return of the precious blood the week before it went into effect. The response has been “so-so,” he said.

“Our eucharistic ministers are very hesitant to minister the cup,” Father Rapozo said. “So, we can only offer two sacred cups at this time.”

Father Mario Raquepo, pastor of St. Stephen Parish, Nuuanu, said his parish has Communion in both forms. “We announced it in the bulletin and at every Mass. So far it’s going smoothly, but only something like 20 percent of communicants go to the cup,” he said.

St. Jude Parish in Kapolei brought back the Communion cup on Holy Thursday, according to the pastor Father Khanh Hoang. “We announced it at Masses and through the bulletins. We also had two training sessions for our eucharistic ministers.”

“We started with half the amount of wine we used prior to the pandemic but couldn’t even finish that,” he said. “So people are still hesitant to receive the blood of Christ.”

Still waiting

As of the second Sunday of Easter, the Newman Center had not yet restored the cup, said its pastor, Father Alfred Omar Guerrero.

St. Ann in Kaneohe plans to bring back communion from the chalice on the feast of Corpus Christi, June 11, “after we have prepared the congregation and the eucharistic ministers,” said pastor Sacred Hearts Father Richard McNally.

Sacred Hearts Father Clyde Guerreiro, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Kaimuki, said he will not be returning to the practice “for another year.”

“The chief reason is from a health/medical perspective,” Father Guerreiro said. He said he had checked with the Board of Health, which reported that in a recent week, 1,200 in Hawaii had contracted the virus and four died because of COVID.

“Our parish has not yet resumed the reception of the precious blood of Christ in Holy Communion,” said Father Edgar Brillantes, pastor of Our Lady of the Mount Parish in Kalihi Valley. “Many of our parishioners, especially the elderly folks and those with health issues, still wear their face coverings,” he said. They sanitize their seating area and their hands before receiving the Eucharist.

“We took it as a sign that we still have to continue taking necessary precautions,” he said. “We opted to give the benefit of the doubt and play it safe for everybody.”

In consultation with the pastoral council and liturgy committee, it was proposed that reception of the precious blood resume on Pentecost Sunday, May 28. “We’ll spend the weeks prior catechizing our people about the resumption of partaking the precious blood of the Lord,” he said.

Sacred Hearts Father Lane Akiona, pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Waikiki, is also proceeding with caution. “We were planning to start this past weekend (second Sunday of Easter) but decided to wait a bit longer,” he said. “Our numbers are higher with more visitors attending services. But also with the number of cases rising in Hawaii, we are still a bit cautious.”

Of Hawaii’s smallest congregation, the six to 10 who attend Mass at Kalaupapa’s St. Francis Church, pastor Sacred Hearts Father Patrick Killilea said, two received from the cup on Holy Thursday.

The “Restoring the Cup” memo from the diocese’s Office of Worship dated March 6 asked parishes to train extraordinary ministers of holy Communion and to establish protocols such as for a reduced amount of wine to be consecrated if fewer people are likely to take the cup.

The memo also reminded pastors that they can re-educate their parishioners on “concomitance,” the Catholic belief that “under each species alone, the whole Christ is sacramentally present and we receive all the fruit of eucharistic grace.”

Receiving just the consecrated host or just the precious blood are equally acceptable.

Unlike other Christian denominations, the Catholic Church does not allow for the distribution of communion in individual serving cups. This is in part because of requirements that the vessels holding the precious blood be of a similar precious nature.

There is also great symbolism in Jesus having shared one cup with his disciples at the Last Supper.

Intinction, the dipping of the host in the precious blood before consumption, is not permitted in the Diocese of Honolulu, except by concelebrating priests. Intinction by laity dipping the host is considered “self-communication,” which the church does not allow.

About 20 of the country’s 200 dioceses and archdioceses have brought back the Communion cup.