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Happy
Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
The bishops of the United States meet in plenary session for the better
part of a week twice a year: May and November. One of the documents
resulting from the November 2006 meeting was titled Happy Are Those
Who Are Called To His Supper. It addresses what the Church believes
and teaches concerning the Eucharist and the reception of holy
Communion. Because an increasing number of people don’t seem to
understand what the Church teaches and the fact that the call to receive
holy Communion is a call to always approach this holy mystery
with due reverence and awe, the document warrants special attention.
In any situation where we do things repeatedly, there is a danger those
things can become rote. Because the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is
ritual, what is done at Mass can, unfortunately, become semi-automatic.
The message of Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper is
that holy Communion stands apart from standing for the proclamation of
the Gospel, sitting or kneeling at the proper times during Mass, dipping
one’s hand in the holy water font or contributing to the collection.
Taking Communion is a statement that the communicant embraces the
teachings and discipline of the Catholic Church. St. Justin Martyr
(second century) reflects this when he writes, “No one is allowed to
partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true.”
Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper spells it out this way:
Being baptized and sharing in the faith of the Church are conditions for
full participation in the sacrament of the Eucharist. That means the
reception of holy Communion.
Happy Are Those Who Are Called To His Supper is a reminder that
each of us has a responsibility to approach holy Communion with due
reverence and awe. St. Paul speaks about this in his epistle to the
Corinthians. He writes: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the
Lord unworthily will answer for the Body and Blood of the Lord” (1 Cor.
11:27).
While it is presumed a Catholic sincerely trying to live his or her
religion meets the criteria for the reception of holy Communion and that
all should strive to receive holy Communion regularly, gratefully and
worthily, there are situations where an examination of conscience before
God is likely to reveal that the reception of Communion is not
appropriate.
Mortal sin is the primary obstacle. As the Catechism of the Catholic
Church teaches, “anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the
sacrament of reconciliation before coming to Communion” (1385). How so?
Because mortal sin constitutes a rejection of communion with God and
destroys the life of grace within us.
Some would argue that mortal sin, since it requires not only grave
matter but must be done with full knowledge and complete consent of the
will, rarely happens. Subjectively, perhaps. Moralists speak of
invincible ignorance. But, people do engage matter which the Church
teaches is grave. Should those things be our unfortunate choice, one
needs to question if he or she should excuse himself or herself from the
reception of holy Communion until reconciled with God and the Church
through the sacrament of reconciliation (confession).
The goal is not to foster scrupulosity. Rather, it is to acknowledge
that in holy Communion the Risen Lord comes to dwell personally within
us. He gives himself completely and entirely to us, and we are called to
give ourselves completely and entirely to him. That is the point
underlined in Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper.
It comes as no surprise to well-catechized Catholics that each of us has
an obligation to form our conscience about what constitutes mortal sin
in accordance with the teaching of the Church. While not
attempting to present a complete list of those things that objectively
involve grave matter, Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper
provides examples. The order of the Ten Commandments is followed. Some
may find a few surprises.
• Believing in or honoring as divine anyone or anything other than the
God of the Holy Scriptures.
• Swearing a false oath while invoking God as a witness.
• Failing to worship God by missing Mass on Sundays and holy days of
obligation without a serious reason, such as sickness or absence of a
priest.
• Acting in serious disobedience against proper authority; dishonoring
one’s parents by neglecting them in their need and infirmity.
• Committing murder, including abortion and euthanasia; harboring
deliberate hatred of others; sexual abuse of another, especially of a
minor or vulnerable adult; physical or verbal abuse of others that
causes grave physical or psychological harm.
• Engaging in sexual activity outside the bonds of a valid marriage.
• Stealing in a gravely injurious way, such as robbery, burglary,
serious fraud or other immoral business practices.
• Speaking maliciously or slandering people in a way that seriously
undermines their good name.
• Producing, marketing or indulging in pornography.
• Engaging in envy that leads one to wish grave harm to someone else.
To quote Happy Are Those Who Are Called to His Supper: “As
Catholics we believe what the Church authoritatively teaches on matters
of faith and morals, for to hear the voice of the Church, on matters of
faith and morals, is to hear the voice of Christ himself. To give
selective assent to the teachings of the Church not only deprives us of
her life-giving message, but also seriously endangers our communion with
her.
“Some Catholics may not fully understand the Church’s doctrinal and
moral teaching on certain issues. They may have certain questions and
even uncertainties. In these situations of honest doubt and confusion,
they are welcome to partake of holy Communion, as long as they are
prayerfully and honestly striving to understand the truth of what the
Church professes and are taking appropriate steps to resolve their
confusion and doubt. Individuals who experience serious difficulties
with or doubts about Church teaching should carefully study those Church
teachings from authentic sources and seek advice from a confessor or
pastor.
“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 and obstinately to repudiate her definitive teaching on
moral issues, however, 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.”
More on this next week with thoughts on how we can prepare to receive
holy Communion more worthily. |
