Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on Most Holy Trinity 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 1416.
One who receives Holy Communion is called a “communicant.” “Daily communicants” are those who come to Holy Mass each day, not just on Sundays and other Holy Days of Obligation, participating devoutly, including not only reception of the Word of God in Sacred Scripture but also the Word made flesh, Christ in the Eucharist. Five (5) specific graces are recognized by Mother Church as being especially linked to our worthy reception of Holy Communion.
The first specific grace resulting from a worthy reception of Holy Communion is union with the Lord Jesus whom we receive sacramentally, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. What we long to experience in Heaven, eternal union, is anticipated here below through the Sacrament of the Altar. How much closer could we get to God or God to us? When we eat ordinary food it becomes a part of us, we assimilate it. When we receive the Eucharist well, however, we are the ones who are assimilated, taken up into Christ and His Mystical body the Church.
A second specific grace flowing from the worthy reception of Holy Communion is the reinforced ties of charity with Christ. God who is love (charity) becomes our food in Holy Communion (cf. John 6:51–56; 1 John 4:8). Even before the French gastronomist Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote in 1826 words to the effect that “you are what you eat” faithful followers of the Lord Jesus had known this for centuries as witnessed by Patristic and Scholastic Theology (Saint Justin Martyr, Apology, 66; Saint Cyprian, On the Sacrament of the Cup of the Lord, 13; Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III, Q. 74, 6–8).
A third specific grace which is a consequence of receiving Holy Communion well is the remission of venial sins. Forgiveness of mortal sins requires sacramental Confession with absolution. The reception of Holy Communion is one of several sanctioned means of receiving God’s mercy for venial sins (others include the devout use Holy Water making the Sign of the Cross, devout reading from Sacred Scripture for more than thirty (30) minutes, praying the Holy Rosary aloud with others in Church; cf. CCC §§ 1471–1479; Manual of Indulgences [2012]).
A fourth specific grace available to us through our worthy reception of Holy Communion is preservation from grave sins. This is so because of the powerful graces given in the Eucharist as well as a motivation for not sinning mortally, which would hinder any further reception of Holy Communion until making a good Confession.
Finally, a fifth specific grace resulting from Holy Communion well received is our reinforced unity with the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. The Church is made up of many members, some already in Heaven others still on Earth and yet others undergoing final purification (cf. Romans 12:4).
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr