The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the
Lord was established in the thirteenth century to promote respect and reverence
for the Eucharist. Today’s solemnity has retained this purpose. We need to stop
today and consider our reception of Holy Communion. We need to ask God to
rekindle in us and in all our people the awe, the respect, and the reverence
that is fundamental to understanding the reality of the Most Holy Sacrament of
the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes we say: “I believe in God and that
is all that matters." But the problem with this argument is that there is
no place for God’s greatest gift, the Eucharist, in our lives. Because the
respect, the reverence for the Eucharist is –very often- is missing from our
lives.
But I do not have to look to others. There are
times that the reverence for the Eucharist is not all it should be in my life,
as perhaps also in yours. Too often I prepare for Mass focusing on the homily
while not remembering that far more important than the homily is the reception
of the Word Made Flesh in Communion. Perhaps, too often you join the line to
receive Holy Communion without taking the time to consider what you are doing
or Whom you are receiving. Too often people receive Communion and they don’t
even know that instead of saying “Thank you” they have to say Amen. Too often
people receive Communion and they then head for the doors to beat the parking
lot traffic. It's too bad, but that is the reality we very often see here.
The lack of reverence for the Eucharist is
rooted -most probably- in our lack of reverence for our daily bread. How many
times we can see the bread, or the food in general thrown out into the garbage,
despised, disrespected … How often we don’t respect what we have, but instead
we starve for more money, for more luxurious things? Maybe the lack of
reverence for the Eucharist is rooted also in our lack of reverence and respect
for others. Maybe we don’t respect the Eucharist because we do not respect our brothers
and sisters, our neighbors?
Or there is maybe another, more direct cause
of the lack of reverence for the Eucharist? It is maybe the fact that actually
we don’t believe that this white piece of bread is truly the Body of Christ. In
such a situation it will be perhaps better to read the continuation of today’s
second reading from the 1 letter to the Corinthians, where St. Paul writes very
clearly: “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine
yourself, and only then eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without
discerning the body and blood, eats and drinks judgment against himself.”
"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will
raise them up on the last day: for my flesh is true food and my blood is true
drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink
my blood abide in me, and I in them."
"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not
a sharing in the blood of Christ? The
bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many
are one body, for we all partake (share in) one bread."
"As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you
proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine
yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For all
who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgement against
themselves" (1 Cor 11:26-29)
Eucharist
the center of our life - Teaching of the Church about receiving Communion
Eucharistic Communion is both an expression
and an intensifier of communion with the Church. As a result, there are limits
to who can receive Communion. In Ecclesia de Eucharistia, John Paul II points
out that communion with the Church is both visible and invisible, and both are
needed to receive the Eucharist.
Visible communion with the Church “entails
communion in the teaching of the apostles, in the sacraments, and in the
Church’s hierarchical order” (35)—in other words, accepting Catholic doctrine,
receiving the Church’s sacraments, and being subject to its governance. In
short, being a faithful Catholic.
Invisible communion with the Church, “in
Christ and through the working of the Holy Spirit, unites us to the Father and
among ourselves.” Union with God is achieved through the state of grace, which
is thus indispensable to receiving Eucharistic Communion. Though some have
tried to deny this or to water down the fact that every mortal sin destroys the
state of grace, it remains true.
Thus the pontiff states that “along these same
lines, the Catechism of the Catholic Church rightly stipulates that ‘anyone
conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of reconciliation before
coming to communion. ’ I therefore desire to reaffirm that in the Church there
remains in force, now and in the future, the rule by which the Council of Trent
. . . affirmed that, in order to receive the Eucharist in a worthy manner, ‘one
must first confess one’s sins, when one is aware of mortal sin’” (36; cf. CCC
1385).
This means that some Catholics are not allowed
to receive Communion. This is a particularly sensitive issue when it comes to
those who live in objectively immoral situations, such as invalid marriages.
These can arise when a Catholic marries outside the Church without a
dispensation or remarries after divorce without an annulment.
In regard to such cases, the Pope stresses:
“The judgment of one’s state of grace obviously belongs only to the person
involved, since it is a question of examining one’s conscience. However, in
cases of outward conduct that is seriously, clearly, and steadfastly contrary
to the moral norm, the Church, in her pastoral concern for the good order of
the community and out of respect for the sacrament, cannot fail to feel
directly involved. The Code of Canon Law refers to this situation of a manifest
lack of proper moral disposition when it states that those who ‘obstinately
persist in manifest grave sin’ are not to be admitted to Eucharistic communion”
(EDE 37; cf. CIC 915).
Incoherence,
inconsistency of our life
While we cannot judge another person's soul,
still we recognize that those involved in certain actions should not come
forward for Communion.
You may have heard about bishops admonishing certain
politicians not to receive Communion. In this instance the politicians had
taken public stands promoting abortion. Since one is Democrat and the other
Republican, clearly the bishops are not acting in a partisan manner. Still, the
bishops' action surprised some people. What business, they ask, do the bishops
have telling someone they should not receive Communion?
The popular perception sees caring liberal
bishops welcoming Catholic politicians regardless of their abortion orientation
to receive Communion while heartless conservative bishops use confrontation at
the altar rail as an opportunity to embarrass and harass political leaders who
cross them on their hobbyhorse of opposing a woman's 'right to choose'.
From the earliest days of the Church, receiving
Holy Communion unworthily has been forbidden; forbidden out of concern for
those who would make such unworthy communions.
St. Paul in the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians wrote: "Therefore
whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily,
shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove
himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he
that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning
the body of the Lord." (1 Cor. 11:27-29)
From this perspective, Bishops who treat
Catholic politicians who support abortion as if they were in full communion
with the Church are neglecting their pastoral concern and charity for their
wayward spiritual children.
………
Actually, the bishops were acting out of a
long tradition. St. Paul told the Corinthians to examine themselves carefully
before receiving Communion. Otherwise instead of receiving a blessing they
might bring condemnation upon themselves. And St. Paul identified at least one
person who should not be part of the Church's communion. St. Paul was not
acting on his own. Jesus practiced a similar tough love.
Part of our problem - at least in the United
States - is that we have lost the sense of coherence between Communion and the
rest of one's life. I would like to mention this Sunday that other acts also
exclude a person from Communion. For example, a couple living together without
sacramental marriage should not come forward for Communion. If someone has
missed Sunday Mass without a sufficient reason, they should not receive
Communion until they have gone to confession. At their annual meeting, the
American bishops published a document titled "'Happy Are Those Who Are
Called to His Supper': On Preparing to Receive Christ Worthily in the
Eucharist." It gives specific guidance on who may receive Communion and
when a person should refrain.
The bishops were careful to stress that you
and I should not set ourselves as judges of those who come forward for
Communion. For example, a couple may not be in a sacramental marriage, but they
may have made a special pledge to live as brother and sister. That would
between them and their pastor. If one does have a concern about whether someone
else should refrain from Communion, the first thing to do is to pray. Maybe you
are not the right one to approach that other person. Maybe God will sense
someone else on account of your prayer. And maybe he will open a door for you
to gently guide the other person. It would be a great act of love.
In today's Sequence, St. Thomas mentions that
some receive Communion for salvation, others to their damnation. The greatest
thing you can do for another person is to be an instrument setting them on the
path to salvation. That is what the bishops were doing when they admonished
Catholic politicians who are promoting abortion. We are not here to make people
into Democrats or Republicans. We are here to help people become saints.
Someday the Republicans and Democrats will be as long forgotten as the Whigs
and the Know Nothings. But the saints will shine like unquenchable stars.
This Sunday we celebrate the great gift of
Communion. Let's humbly ask the Lord that we may receive him in a way that will
lead us to salvation.
The
Church is the Body of Christ - For the Child:
Thanksgiving
after Receiving Holy Communion
Dear Jesus, I believe that You are present
within my heart.
You said, "This is My Body and My
Blood."
And I know You love me and want to be with me.
From my heart, I thank You for all You have
given to me: my life, my parents, my health, Baptism, protection, and all that
I have.
Make me more grateful still.
Generous Lord, I ask for still more: Protect
my soul and body.
Be good to those I love. Grant me this special
favor. (mention it here)
Watch over me and make me good and happy.
Jesus, I promise to receive You often in Holy
Communion.
Remain with me, dear Jesus, today and always.
Never leave me in life and be with me in the
hour of my death.
Amen.
