John 6 - #3

 

Receiving worthily –

Receiving holy Communion is a statement of faith, of belonging to this covenant community which we call the Catholic Church.  Receiving holy Communion is not a matter of hospitality.  It is also not a sign that those receiving this holy gift “have it all together”.  It is a sign of commitment and belonging, which includes receiving in faith all that the Church teaches or proposes for belief. 

So, beyond the issue of having been baptized in the Church, it also means we really do “belong” – body, heart, mind, and soul!  Because of this it must never be “ok” to approach the Church and Her teaching like a buffet (from which we get the term “cafeteria Catholic”).  I admit, this can be difficult because it calls us to a real examination of conscience before receiving Communion.  Am I in communion with the Church, or am I not?  If I am not, then integrity would demand not receiving Communion until I have resolved that conflict of heart and mind.  To do otherwise would be to lie to God, to those present, and to myself.

Who ever imagined receiving Communion was such a big deal?  I have to believe in what I am receiving; I have to believe what the Church teaches not only about the Eucharist, but everything else as well; and I have to definitively stake my claim as a child of God within His household – the Church.  That’s a lot!  Indeed, it is.  And that is why the Church takes the reception of holy Communion so seriously.

This is why the Church does not, cannot, invite those outside of formal communion with the Church to receive holy Communion.  To do so is to, in fact, do them a disservice – not only from a social perspective (they don’t really belong to this covenant community: either fully, or in part), but also from a spiritual perspective.  St. Paul warns in his first letter to the Corinthians (11:27-30) about the unworthy reception of the Lord’s Body & Blood and observes that to do so leads to illness (spiritual or physical) and even eternal damnation.

There is so much more to be said on the worthy reception of Holy Communion – more than can be covered in this space.  So, if you have any questions about this, or are simply struggling to understand and accept this, please feel free to address these with me.  I am always very happy to help in your understanding and acceptance of this admittedly “hard” teaching.

John 6 - #2

As we continue making our way through the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, I’d like to take the opportunity to address some issues related to our reception of Holy Communion which follow on from our belief about what, or rather WHO it is we receive.  Before I address why only Catholics can receive Communion (next week) I’d like to address what it means to receive holy Communion.

When we receive holy Communion, we are making a public statement of faith.  When we are presented with the Eucharistic species, the minister of Communion says, “The Body of Christ”, and we respond with, “Amen”.  Our “Amen” signals that we do indeed believe that what we are receiving is truly the living Body, Blood, Soul, & Divinity of Jesus Christ, Who suffered and died for our salvation, rose again on the third day, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in glory.  The Eucharist is not a “symbol”; it is not a presence alongside the substance of bread and wine; and it is certainly no mere remembrance of a meal taken 2,000 years ago.  It is what (and Who) our Lord, and His Body, the Church, says it is.

Over the years, however, we’ve emphasized the reality of the Eucharist so much that we’ve kind of forgotten about the other aspect of what we are giving witness to when we receive holy Communion – that is, the covenant community into which we have been received and to which we adhere in that reception of the fruits of this sacrifice.

To understand this idea of covenant, we have to recognize what our Lord and his disciples took for granted.  One is adhered more fully to the community through participation in the covenant making sacrifice, which is accomplished by eating of the sacrificial offering – the lamb.  The Jews did this once a year at Passover.  They didn’t just “remember” the sacrifice and subsequent meal eaten by Moses and the children of Israel on the night of Passover; they participated in it, and thus staked their claim as members of God’s covenant with the children of Israel – a covenant community.

In the Mass, our Lord, the Lamb of God, makes us present to His eternal sacrifice, made once for all on Calvary, at the altar.  Being made present to the sacrifice of the Lamb, we then eat the flesh and drink the blood resulting from that sacrifice in holy Communion; and in this eating of the Lamb, we are adhered more fully to the covenant community – the Church, the Body of Christ; but only if we receive worthily.  As the Apostle, Paul, tells us in his second letter to the Corinthians (11:29-30) – beware receiving unworthily, for to do so is to “eat and drink condemnation on ourselves”.  This is why our next topic in this series will be the worthy reception of holy Communion.

John 6

I thought I might start out by backing up.  Since we are in the middle of our journey through John 6, which we undertake every three years, I though I'd post the first articles over the next couple days.  Enjoy!

Today’s Gospel passage shows the Jews grumbling because Jesus said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven”.  They immediately start saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?”  In the same way, so many look at the holy Eucharist and find themselves unable to get beyond what they think they know, they can’t get beyond the appearance.  Indeed, in both cases, they and we begin raising objections which keep us from receiving and accepting the truth of the matter, and the Truth Himself.

While the Jews in today’s Gospel point to Jesus’ assumed parentage and then ask, “how can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven’”, we look at the Blessed Sacrament and pile on all kinds of objections: “It looks like bread, it tastes like bread, it must be bread”, or, “What, are we cannibals now???”; and we even try to accommodate what Jesus has said with our preconceptions, saying: “Well, it is bread, but Jesus somehow inhabits the bread so that He and the bread exist side by side”.  Finally, some just completely dismiss the idea and claim that Jesus must be speaking allegorically: (we will discuss in a couple of weeks why this doesn’t hold water) In which case, Communion must simply be a mere remembrance of the Last Supper.

All of these ways of dealing with what our Lord says has very serious implications for how we see the Eucharist, how we approach the reception of holy Communion, and what we believe about our Eucharistic discipline – that is, who is able to receive Communion in our Church, and why we are unable to receive Communion in Churches and Ecclesial Communities outside of the Catholic Church (in the former instance because of their discipline, and in the latter instance because of ours).

But for today, it is enough for us to recognize that we need to take Jesus at His word.  We may not understand (yet!) how this can be; we may have difficulty accepting what He is saying; but, if we but trust Him and patiently wait for that Truth to fully reveal itself, we will be richly rewarded.

So, be patient.  Dawn will rise and we will see and rejoice in the Truth of our Lord’s presence among us in the most holy Eucharist; and we will then desire this gift like no other, because it is the gift of His very self.

Here We Go Again...

It's been 18 months since my last posting.  My duties guiding three parishes and principal of our parish school with a new healing & deliverance ministry left no time or inclination for blogging.  However, as of December 1, 2023, I have been transferred to the parish of Sacred Heart - St. Patrick in Eau Claire, WI; and as of July 1, 2024, I have been relieved of my responsibilities as principal at Sacred Heart - Cashton.  So, one parish, no direct responsibility for a school, I'm going to have at it again.

While there are plenty of things, hopes & dreams, competing for my attention in my new assignment, I think blogging could again be a positive addition to my priestly ministry.  It could also give me an outlet for sharing thoughts on the world and our interaction within it - remembering always that we, as Christians, live in the world, but are not of the world.

If I write something that pushes a button with you, remember always that this blog is, in part, an outlet for wrestling with the questions and issues that are on my mind and on the minds of many.  I am happy to engage all comers in a spirit of charity.  However, time is precious and I won't be drawn down a rabbit hole.

So, with those ground rules laid down, here we go!