Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on Pentecost Sunday.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are fourteen (14) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist. The following is a reflection on article 1415.
The reception of Holy Communion has certain pre-requisites: we are to be Catholics in full communion with the Church, believing all that She believes; we are to abstain from any ordinary food for an hour before Holy Mass; we are to be well disposed and approach with supernatural motives (not just habit or out of human respect).
To receive Holy Communion well we are to be in a “state of grace” which is to say we are free from mortal sin. We are able to be in a state of grace thanks to God’s grace at work in us. After we have received Holy Baptism we are in a state of grace. After a good confession we are in a state of grace. If we sadly find ourselves in a state of mortal sin, the absolution of mortal sins in the Sacrament of Penance is necessary in order to return to the state of grace so as to worthily receive Holy Communion.
In Sacred Scripture we read: “Whosoever shall eat the Bread, or drink the Chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and the Blood of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:27). Saint Paul wrote these inspired words in the first century, and the teaching remains unchanged. Recall that the Catechism was published by Blessed John Paul II in 1992. Benedict XVI used the phrase “eucharistic consistency” in Sacramentum Caritatis, (22 February, 2007), 83, to make the same point. Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina and chairman of the editorial committee of the Latin American Bishops Conference (CELAM) (the future Pope Francis) preferred the phrase “eucharistic coherence” in the Aparecida Document (29 May, 2007), 436.
For Benedict, eucharistic consistency includes the understanding that our faith and prayer life “can nver be a purely private matter” and “it demands a public witness to our faith…. this is true for all the baptized” and especially “those who, by virtue of their social or political position” “make decisions regarding fundamental values” such as “respect for human life, its defense from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one’s children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms. These values are not negotiable.”… For Benedict “There is an objective connection here with the Eucharist (cf. 1 Cor 11:27–29).”
For the future Pope Francis eucharistic coherence includes being committed to the truth that “people cannot receive Holy Communion and at the same time act or speak against the commandments, in particular when abortion, euthanasia, and other serious crimes against life and family are facilitated. This responsibility applies particularly to legislators, governors, and health professionals.”
May we always be faithful to the Eucharistic Christ.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr