Being In and Receiving Holy Communion
by Fr. Roger J. Landry - December 15, 2006
During the 2004 presidential election cycle, there was much debate over whether Catholic politicians who publicly promote intrinsic evils like abortion should be denied Holy Communion. While there was no clear consensus among U.S. Bishops over whether Holy Communion should be refused, there were two things on which the bishops were clearly in agreement. The first was that politicians in such circumstances, because of their positions and actions, out of integrity should not present themselves to receive Holy Communion. The second was that these politicians were not alone among Catholics whose actions or beliefs should cause them to refrain from receiving the Eucharist.
The bishops decided that the wisest first step was to give all Catholics in the U.S. a clear and accessible catechesis about the necessary dispositions one must have to receive Holy Communion. They did so in the document they approved in their November meeting, "Happy Are Those Who Are Called To His Supper": On Preparing To Receive Christ Worthily in the Eucharist. Formatted in questions-and-answers, it is tailor-made for parish-wide and private study.
After reviewing that Catholics believe that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine, the bishops describe that sharing in Communion means participating in the life, death and resurrection of the Lord we receive. "He gives himself completely and entirely to us, and we are called to give ourselves completely and entirely to him." Our "Amen!" is meant to signify that we believe in and accept the reality of Christ's real presence, seek total loving communion with Him, and recognize that "union with Christ also means union with all those to whom he gives himself."
While the bishops encourage all of the faithful to receive Holy Communion "regularly, gratefully and worthily," they note that "we may find ourselves in situations where … we should refrain from partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ." They describe a straightforward principle: "In order to receive Holy Communion, we must be in communion with God and with the Church." What being in communion with God and the Church means is the heart of the first half of the document.
The bishops cite St. Justin Martyr, who in the middle of the second century, presented the ancient principle that "no one is allowed to partake [in the Eucharist] except one who believes that the things we teach are true, who has received the washing for the forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us." St. Justin described a three-fold Communion: doctrinal, sacramental and moral.
Doctrinal communion means that "one believes that the things we teach are true." The bishops say that "As Catholics we believe what the Church authoritatively teaches on matters of faith and morals.… If a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to reject the defined doctrines of the Church, or knowingly or obstinately to repudiate her definitive teaching on moral issues, he or she would seriously diminish his or her communion with the Church. Reception of Holy Communion in such a situation would not accord with the nature of the Eucharistic celebration, so that he or she should refrain."
Sacramental communion means that we are one body through the sacramental economy initiated in baptism, that is, "the washing for the forgiveness of sins and for rebirth." For this reason, the bishops declare, "Christians who are not Catholic are welcome to join us in prayer during the Eucharist liturgy, but normally are not permitted to receive Holy Communion, since they are not in full communion with the Catholic Church.… Members of non-Christian religions are also welcome to attend prayerfully the Eucharistic liturgy. They are not permitted, however, to receive Holy Communion, since they possess no bond of common faith in Jesus Christ, the one whom we receive in the Eucharist."
Finally, moral communion means that we "live as Christ handed down to us." When we commit a mortal sin and deliberately fail to live as Christ taught us in a serious matter, the bishops write, there is a "rejection of communion with God… and we are seriously obliged to refrain from receiving Holy Communion until we are reconciled with God and the church" through the Sacrament of Penance. The bishops specify several of these mortal sins. Some are obvious, like worshipping another God or committing murder. Some are not so obvious, but much more popular, like: "Failing to worship God by missing Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation without a serious reason, such as sickness or the absence of a priest"; "Engaging in sexual activity outside the bonds of a valid marriage"; "Speaking maliciously or slandering people in a way that seriously undermines their good name"; and "producing, marketing or indulging in pornography." The bishops state that Catholics who have cut off their communion with Christ in any of these ways must first go to receive Christ's forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance before they come to receive Him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
To present oneself worthily for Holy Communion, one needs to be in communion with Christ and the Church he founded in each of these three ways. Holy Communion is not a piece of birthday cake at a party which everyone expects to be offered as a sign of hospitality. Rather it is an efficacious sign of a radical union with Christ and His Body the Church that can be worthily received only by those who are already in such union doctrinally, sacramentally and morally.
Next week, we will discuss the advice the bishops give to those who are in this communion with the Lord, about how they can prepare to receive Him more fruitfully and worthily.
Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.
