Theology Thursday: Catholics and Communion

For the Catholic Christian, there is absolutely nothing more important than Holy Communion, or as the sacrament is more properly called, Holy Eucharist. It is so important, that the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that:

The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." The other sacraments and indeed, all other ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the church, namely Christ himself, our Pesach. (CCC 1324, quoted phrase is from the encyclical Lumen Gentium, paragraph 11)

It is so important that the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is offered every day of the week, 365 days a year! Because the Catholic Church is represented in nearly every country on the globe in some way or another, it is often said that Holy Mass (and thus the Holy Eucharist) is being celebrated at every moment of every day. I mention Holy Mass, because that is, primarily, where you will find the Holy Eucharist being offered to the Catholic faithful.

For Catholics, the whole point of going to Mass is not about the scripture readings or the preaching or the songs that are sung -- although those are an important part of the liturgy too -- but about receiving Holy Communion. The very simple reason for this is that we believe that the Eucharist is Jesus's actual Body and Blood. It's not symbolic. It is Him, truly present under the guise of bread and wine. When we receive Holy Communion, we are receiving Jesus Himself into our bodies, not merely bread and wine that we are partaking in to remember Him. It is an intimate moment of worship unlike any other in that although we, like the centurion in Matthew 8, say, "Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof" that the Lord of All Creation, Jesus Christ Our Redeemer, deigns to do just that and comes to us under the appearance of the consecrated bread and wine so that we might receive Him under our our roof and so be nourished body and soul by His Body and Blood.

The Biblical basis for this belief that Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist comes from what is known as The Bread of Life discourse in John 6. The entire chapter is a really good one to meditate on and pray on, but the specific passage is John 6:22-71. Of course, there are other scriptures which also form the basis for this belief, but this passage is the main one. The basic thrust of the passage is that Jesus is telling his followers that He is the bread that came down from heaven and He will give them His flesh and blood to eat and drink. He also says that they must eat and drink of his flesh and blood or they will have no life in them. They take Him literally and are both shocked and confused. Many of his followers leave him to go back to their old lives. Had He been speaking symbolically or metaphorically and they turned to leave, He would have certainly have stopped them and explained Himself further as He did on a number of other occasions when those following Him misunderstood His meaning.

As you can see, it is a very, very serious thing and as such, Catholics are admonished not to receive Holy Communion if they are not in a state of grace because by receiving when they are in a state of mortal sin, they may, as St. Paul said, eat and drink judgment upon themselves (1 Corinthians 11:23-30). Catholics who are born into the faith (aka "cradle Catholics") generally have their First Holy Communion around the ages of 7-9 years old, although it may vary from diocese to diocese. Our eldest, M2, is preparing for hers this coming spring and we are very excited! :) It is a momentous occasion not only because it is a rite of passage, but more importantly, because it is the first of what, I hope and pray, will be many thousands of times in her life that she will approach the Table of the Lord and receive Him and the graces of this sacrament.

As Catholics, we believe that receiving the Holy Eucharist gives us graces from God to help us live holy lives, to resist temptation to sin, to follow God's will for our lives more closely, to love our neighbours with more charity, and ultimately, to reach our heavenly reward. We also believe that it brings spiritual and even sometimes physical healing to receive it and as such, it is often a part of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and is always a part of the Last Rites (which is comprised of three of the seven sacraments in one).

Holy Communion is a vital part of a healthy Catholic faith life and those who receive it regularly often report feeling weaker and less able to deal with the slings and arrows that life throws when they must, for some reason, go for a period of time without receiving it. I know this is certainly true for me. Our family attends Mass at least once a week and I always receive. If, for some reason, I must miss Mass (which is usually due to my own sickness or family sickness), I feel rather empty for having missed and sort of spiritually anemic. It really does help strengthen me and gives me food for the journey of life. 

There is so much more I could say (there are volumes upon volumes written about this sacrament!), but I need to wind this up so it's not too too long. To end, here's a little recap and a YouTube video which, I think, gives a lot of interesting information on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist (the video is a really cool cartoon drawn as you watch!):

Feel free to steal this graphic if you want!