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.