Liturgical abuse and sacrilege for everyone!

We attended a first communion today at a parish in the diocese of Covington and I have to say, I have never seen(and I have seen much) so many abuses, disrespect and offense shown to our Lord in all my life. During the homily, the priest actually had a huge cardboard heart cut out that he popped out and the packed house broke out in laughter. Multiple times people applauded for ignorant things that were meaningless. It was standing room only and we spent the Mass in the vestibule, unfortunately. There were windows so we could see the entire side show from where we stood. The Mass started with the boy first communicants lined up next to us and a little boy with down syndrome was being made fun of and eventually had enough, and a fight broke out. The boy at the end of the line was making fart armpit noises and dumping hand sanitizer all over the floor and sliding on it. Yeah, it was very reverent. I suppose it can go straight to the top as the priest had a huge performance in the sanctuary for the entire Mass. I would say 70% of the Mass was ad-libbed. My mother was inside the body of the church and I know it had to be harder for her, she could see and hear everything. She said that was by far the worse Mass ever and she has been present with dancing nuns(so that says a lot).
I apologize for this post. One thing to come out of this...I love my church, the gift of the traditional Mass and am so incredibly thankful to have such a reverent liturgy. No one that has this available should take it for granted, period. I am also convinced that every last parish in Covington has fallen into this muck we experienced today(to varying degrees but it has become the norm). When the new missal arrives, I hope the bishop takes this as an opportunity to whip this diocese back into shape. I was appalled. I was shocked and sad that the diocese I grew up in and that gave me my first sacraments has fallen into a malaise of disrespect and hatred toward our Lord. Did I say it was awful?
My kids did their best to stay quiet and solemn but it was the loudest and most raucous thing I have ever been through(okay, maybe the AC/DC concert of my youth was a bit louder). My dad, who was a strict baptist growing up said they had more reverence in his tiny baptist church than was found in that parish today. That is saying something.
If you have a reverent, respectful church with proper music and a sound liturgy, treasure it and thank God for such a blessing. You don't realize how awesome and blessed you are to have this available. May the day come, in our lifetime, that the Lord is revered, adored and loved with the utmost care on every altar. Until then, pray that we have the courage and fortitude to change the abuses and sacrilege that occurs against our dearest Lord everyday throughout the world. I love you dear Jesus and I am so sorry.

Reverence for the Eucharist is never dispensable, even in a child, even in danger of death.
A sense of the sacred, a sense of reverence, is due not only to the Eucharist, but to other persons too, and to places and things. I am always struck by a renewed sense of the sacred during the rite of dedicating a new church by which it becomes sacred, a sacred place, set aside exclusively and perpetually for the worship of God. It makes me conscious again of "the reverence due to the house of God" (CCL 562) and the reverential silence we keep in church in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.

(From A PASTORAL LETTER ON REVERENCE FOR THE EUCHARIST
Bishop John R. Keating, 1988)

The Eucharist

"Christ held Himself in His hands when He gave His Body to His disciples saying: 'This is My Body.' No one partakes of this Flesh before he has adored it."
- St. Augustine

"I throw myself at the foot of the Tabernacle like a dog at the foot of his Master."
- St. John Vianney

"All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man."
- St. John Vianney, Cure d'Ars

"We adore Thee most holy Lord Jesus Christ, here in all Thy Churches, which are in the whole world, because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world,"
- St. Francis of Assisi

"When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now,"
- Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"When we speak to Jesus with simplicity and with all our heart, He does like a mother who holds her child's head with her hands and covers it with kisses and caresses."
- St. John Vianney, on adoring Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament

"The mark of the Christian is the willingness to look for the Divine in the flesh of a babe in a crib, the continuing Christ under the appearance of bread on an altar, and a meditation and a prayer on a string of beads,"
- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

The reason we are Catholic...

Today, while you go about your work day, play with your children, drive your car and eat your meals try to think of Jesus present in the host. Think of how you felt when you made your First Communion or when you came back to the Church after being away for some time and how you felt knowing Christ had come to you in this most special way. Try and remember the moment when you just "knew" Jesus was truly present.

I thought about this last night before bed and when I woke up this morning and it has been following me. What of the people who have never and will never experience this feeling, this joy and comfort? This is a gift. By our Catholic faith, we have been given this gift and sometimes when we want to label each other or fight or blame, we lose sight of this tiny host and what it means. God is feeding us throughout our lives because He loves us and knows what is best for us. So this is what I will think of today in my crazy life, working, trying to get things accomplished with 3 kids and their needs. We have the Eucharist. Now THAT is awesome and what it means to be Catholic.

On the Eucharist...

"I throw myself at the foot of the Tabernacle like a dog at the foot of his Master."
- St. John Vianney

"When we speak to Jesus with simplicity and with all our heart, He does like a mother who holds her child's head with her hands and covers it with kisses and caresses."
- St. John Vianney, on adoring Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament

"He remains among us until the end of the world. He dwells on so many altars, though so often offended and profaned."
- St. Maximilian Kolbe

"If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion."
- St. Maximilian Kolbe

"The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us - that is all He asks."
- St. Therese of Lisieux

"Neither theological knowledge nor social action alone is enough to keep us in love with Christ unless both are proceeded by a personal encounter with Him. Theological insights are gained not only from between two covers of a book, but from two bent knees before an altar. The Holy Hour becomes like an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the foul and fetid atmosphere of the world,"
- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Rethinking Communion in the Hand

Rethinking Communion in the Hand

I found this article from last year when I was researching. We recently had issues at my children's school and I prefer them to receive on the tongue. My boys are both autistic and I don't want to worry about what they would do with the Holy Eucharist so this just works best for us. The whole idea of "particles" also bothers me. The priest takes such care(or should) to clean the vessels that it got me thinking about the particles on the hands from those that receive in that manner. Just some valid points and a bit of history in that article.

Poll on receiving Communion

Fr. Z has a great poll you can take on how you receive Communion. The results were a bit surprising but I found the poll and comments informative.