Using the guidelines published by the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Bismarck, St. Bernard’s Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion hold a communion service at St Luke’s Home in Dickinson every Sunday at 10:30 AM. As a result, as many as 47 Catholics can now receive Holy Communion on the Lord’s Day. Prior to the start of this ministry, Eucharist was only available to the residents on Fridays and Mondays. While receiving Eucharist is always desirable and beneficial, the Church asks that a special effort be made to distribute Holy Communion to the homebound and the infirm on Sunday. The Rite for the Pastoral Care of the Sick reads,

“The links between the community’s Eucharistic celebration, especially on the Lord’s Day, and the communion of the sick are intimate and manifold. Besides remembering the sick in the general intercessions at Mass, those present should be reminded occasionally of the significance of communion in the lives of those who are ill: union with Christ in His struggle with evil, His prayer for the world, and His love for the Father, and union with the community from which they are separated.

The obligation to visit and comfort those who cannot take part in the Eucharistic assembly may be clearly demonstrated by taking communion to them from the community’s Eucharistic celebration. This symbol of unity between the community and its sick members has the deepest significance on the Lord’s Day, the special day of the Eucharistic assembly.”

The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. It has been recognized as such from the earliest days of the Church. The Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion states, “While the heart of the celebration of the Eucharist is the Eucharistic Prayer, the consummation of the Mass is found in Holy Communion, whereby the people purchased for the Father by His beloved Son eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ. They are thereby joined together as members of Christ’s mystical Body, sharing the one life of the Spirit. In the great sacrament of the altar, they are joined to Christ Jesus and to one another.”

It is Christ’s will that this sacrament be received as the soul’s spiritual food by the members of His Church. It is for this reason that the St. Bernard’s Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion have begun distributing Holy Communion to the Catholic residents of St Luke’s Home in Dickinson.

If you are interested in helping with this important ministry, please contact Deacon Loren Kordonowy at 575-8901