Day 190: Receiving Holy Communion (1384-1390)

• It’s Day 190!!

• TAKE THIS AND EAT IT, ALL OF YOU: COMMUNION

• We are talking a little bit more about THE PASCHAL BANQUET

• Communion is feasting upon our Lord and God who told us, “Take and eat, take and drink.”

• Because of this, we have to prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment

• How do we prepare ourselves?

• What kind of obligations do we have in order to receive Holy Communion in a worthy manner?

• None of us are truly worthy

• BUT…

• We have to make sure that we are as prepared as possible to receive Holy Communion in a way that TRANSFORMS OUR LIVES

• Not just the conditions for receiving Holy Communion

• But what are the PREPARATIONS we can make to receive Holy Communion in a worthy way?

• There may be times when we ought not receive Holy Communion and we will talk about that as well

• So let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you. We give you praise and glory. You are the God who has given your Son, and your Son has given Himself. You have both given your Holy Spirit to us as the one who makes actual and makes present what Jesus made possible. And so we ask you to please send, once again, your Holy Spirit into our lives, into our hearts. Send your Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that is active and that unites us to you, the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us, the Holy Spirit that allows us to cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ Send that Holy Spirit into our hearts in a new way so that we can always give you thanks and praise. The praise that you deserve, the thanks that you deserve so that we can give you the kind of hearts that you desire for us. Make our hearts like your heart. Help us love what you love. Help us hate what you hate and keep us far from all evil. Keep us far from all sin, and help us grow as your saints. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• This section is SO IMPORTANT FOR US

• The Church has said that the Eucharist is the SOURCE and the SUMMIT

• THIS IS THE HIGH POINT!!

• This is from which ALL GRACES for the Christian life flow

• FROM THE EUCHARIST!!

• And they lead us BACK to the Eucharist

• HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS!!

• Because of this and because Jesus wants us to receive Him…

• What did Jesus say?

• Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you.”

• Jesus says, “Take this all of you and eat of it. Take this all of you and drink.”

• We have to prepare ourselves

• We can’t just saunter up in the Communion line

• Because this is TRULY GOD

• Jesus Christ is TRULY REALLY AND SUBSTANTIALLY PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST

• THIS IS HIS BODY BLOOD SOUL AND DIVINITY!!

• Therefore, we cannot be cavalier about approaching our Lord

• So how do we prepare ourselves for so holy and for so great a moment?

• Paragraph 1385 says, “To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: ‘Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.”

• What St. Paul is saying is, essentially, that you will have the Blood of Christ on your hands

• YOU WILL BE GUILTY OF HIS MURDER!!

• If you walk up to a statue and knock it down, you are guilty of vandalism

• BUT…

• The image that St. Paul is using here is the image of being guilty of the murder of our Lord

• There is some kind of grievous think that happens

• St. Paul was warning people from the very  beginning

• When it comes to the Eucharistic assembly and Holy Communion we have to make sure that WE ARE NOT CONSCIOUS OF GRAVE SIN

• If there is a serious sin on our souls, then WE MUST ABSTAIN FROM THE EUCHARIST and avoid the Eucharist until we’ve gone to Confession first

• This happens when people come back to Confession after so long of a time

• Fr. Mike will ask, “Since some of the bigger deal sins (grave sins), have you ever received Communion without going to Confession first?”

• So many people don’t know THAT IN ITSELF IS A GRAVE SIN

• So if we miss Mass on Sunday intentionally we have to go to Confession before we can receive Communion again

• If we are guilty of any mortal sin, we have to go to Confession before we can receive Holy Communion

• IT IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• It is a matter of our SOULS

• It is a matter of LIFE AND DEATH

• It is a matter of ETERNITY

• If we are not living a life that is in conformity to the Gospel…

• If we are living a life where we have clearly stepped out, not just in private life, but in public life as well

• Sometimes there are public people who live their lives in a public way contrary to the Faith

• Sometimes bishops or priests will have to say, “If you are going to keep living this way, you cannot approach Holy Communion.”

• And people will say, “You are judging that person.”

• Here’s the thing…

• We can NEVER judge a person’s heart

• We are PROHIBITED from that

• BUT…

• If there is someone who is in public sin and is persistently gravely sinning, then it is actually the job of the Bishop or pastor to point this out

• It’s not their job or role to go online and say this

• BUT…

• It is their job and their role to approach that person and say, “Ok, I see what’s happening. Your life right now, you’re in an irregular marriage. Ok, you’re Catholic, but you’re married outside the Church. Well, until you get that marriage convalidated, blessed inside of the Church, you should not receive Holy Communion.”

• If someone is divorced and remarried without a declaration of nullity, they are living in a state outside of full communion with the Church

• They need to get that situation fixed before they can receive Holy Communion

• This is not meant to pick on anybody at all 

• These are just the more common examples that we see and people DON’T EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT

• How many people don’t even know that it’s a grave sin to commit grave sin and receive Holy Communion

• Voltaire was not a friend of Christians and hated the Catholic Church

• Let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s story about Voltaire and the young man who feels guilty for his mortal sins…

• Voltaire said, “Commit a bunch of mortal sins, and then keep receiving Holy Communion, and that will cure you of this pinprick of conscience that tells you that you’ve done something wrong.”

• The young man ends up doing that until his conscience was numb and destroyed 

• That’s what can happen to us

• This isn’t just about marriage but ANY GRAVE SIN

• If we are conscious of ANY GRAVE SIN then we MUST NOT PRESENT OURSELVES TO RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION

• At the same time, we must not judge someone else’s state of their soul

• It’s all about where am I at?

• What am I called to do?

• Where am I called to repent of my sins and go to Confession?

• Paragraph 1386 says, “Before so great a sacrament, the faithful can only echo humbly and with ardent faith the words of the Centurion…”

• LORD, I AM NOT WORTHY THAT YOU SHOULD ENTER UNDER MY ROOF, BUT ONLY SAY THE WORDS AND MY SOUL SHALL BE HEALED

• WHICH IS SO TRUE!!

• WE ARE NOT WORTHY!!

• WE ARE NOT WORTHY AT ALL!!

• BUT…

• We have to do WHATEVER WE CAN to prepare ourselves to be worthy

• One thing is there is a FAST required by the Church

• The Latin Church says we do not eat or drink anything except for water, or medicine, ONE HOUR BEFORE RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION

• Also, and this is not a requirement, but our bodily demeanor in Church

• How we act and how we dress should convey the respect, solemnity, and joy of this moment when Christ becomes our guest

• Fr. Mike is telling a story about some students so let’s listen…

• Some of them wear ties to daily Mass and some girls dress nice too

• It’s a reminder of the how solemn, respectful, and joyful the moment in Mass is

• IT’S REALLY REALLY INCREDIBLE!!

• Why is one of the encouragements from the Church be that when you go to Mass you should receive Holy Communion?

• One is because there was a time in the Church when people were SO IN AWE of our Lord’s presence in the Eucharist

• They were very aware of their unworthiness so they didn’t receive Holy Communion not even once a week, once a month, or even once a year

• They thought how could they possibly approach Jesus in the Eucharist

• So the Church had to say that not only were they ENCOURAGED to receive Holy Communion, warmly recommended, but that they are OBLIGED to receive Holy Communion AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR prepared by the Sacrament of Reconciliation

• Right?

• GO TO CONFESSION!!

• You are OBLIGED to receive Holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter Season

• BUT…

• Receive Holy Communion MORE REGULARLY THAN THAT

• Sundays

• Feast Days

• Maybe even daily

• The Eucharist is the same mystery that has two dynamic elements to it

• The Eucharist is a sacrifice

• The Eucharist is a sacrificial meal like a banquet

• This is a fellowship meal

• Maybe someone heard that the Eucharist is a sacrificial meal and they finally discover it is also a banquet

• That captivates their hearts

• So there was one time in Church when people were so conscious of their sins and so aware of the holiness of the Eucharist that it kept them away from the Eucharist

• There were other times in the Church where people seem to be unconscious of their own sin and so unconscious of the Lord’s holiness that they approached the Eucharist as if it were not a big deal

• So what’s the middle road?

• WE MUST RECOGNIZE OUR OWN SINFULNESS!!

• WE MUST RECOGNIZE THE LORD’S TRUTH AND BEAUTY AND GOODNESS IN THE EUCHARIST!!

• WE MUST RECOGNIZE THAT THE LORD STILL INVITES US TO COME TO HIM!!

• We need to be prepared by holy Reconciliation

• God wants us to draw near

• God does not want us to stay far away

• God wants to first forgive us and reconcile us to Him and to His Church

• Then we can confidently, humbly, and boldly approach Jesus in Holy Communion

• If you have been receiving Holy Communion and have not confessed grave sins that you may have or have not gone to Confession in a long time, go to Confession before you receive Holy Communion the next time

• You are INVITED to do that

• The Lord WANTS to reconcile you

• The Lord WANTS to forgive you 

• The Lord DESIRES that you actually have communion

• When we have a grave sin and we receive Holy Communion, it is not Communion

• It is anti-Communion

• We are eating and drinking condemnation upon ourselves

• The Lord wants to set you free

• Go to that sacrament of healing in Confession

• Be RESTORED

• Be RECONCILED

• Then approach our Lord’s banquet

• Approach our Lord’s table

• Approach our Lord’s altar with all the confidence in His love, in His goodness, in His beauty, and the fact that HE WANTS YOU TO COME CLOSE

• THIS IS CHALLENGING!!

• There is a lot of brokenness in all of our hearts and lives

• So we need God’s Grace

• We need God’s healing

• We need His true presence in the Eucharist to come to us in Communion

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow