Denver Catholic

H O LY CO M M U N IO N Communion, Confession and Causing Scandal C atholics and non-Catholics alike are often confused or offended by the Church's "rules" about receiving Holy Communion. Why might I need to go to Confession before receiving? Why can't Protestant Christians receive the Eucharist? Why are public figures sometimes denied Communion? These restrictions can seem judgmental, discourteous, or inappropriately "political." Such measures in fact all stem from the Church's basic pastoral concern for the salvation of souls. To understand them, however, we first need to rethink what the Church is. H O LY CO M M U N I O N A N D T H E CH U R CH A S CO M M U N I O N In his first letter, John writes that he proclaims Jesus Christ "so that you also may have communion with us." What John has in mind is not just any communion (or "fel- lowship"), but a communion that is necessary for our salva- tion: "...this communion of ours is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 Christ shares with us his own rela- tionship with the Father, and it is this fellowship that Chris- tians share with one another and that makes us the Church. Because it is a sharing in the communion of God himself, the Church's communion is not a human achievement. It is a sheer divine gift: "The Church is born primarily of Christ's total self-giving for our salvation." 2 Amazingly, our baptism into Christ's death and resurrection grants us "entry into the life of the Most Holy Trinity." 3 Members of the Church participate in the communion of the Trinity through the love of the Holy Spirit. 4 Our communion in God's love is made visible and concrete by our common confession of faith, worship, and life together under the bishops' leadership. 5 Like the divine commu- nion that they mediate and safeguard, none of these reali- ties is a human invention or accomplishment. Each is a gift from Christ, given to us through the Holy Spirit. The highest expression of Christian communion is reception of Christ's Body and Blood in the Holy Eucha- rist. The Mass makes truly present the sacrifice of Christ by which he founded the Church and invited us into his own communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, so it is no coincidence that we call this Sacrament "Holy Communion." Reception of Holy Communion is not just a symbolic gesture. It signifies and deepens our belonging both to Christ and to one another as members of Christ's Body. 6 Understanding this beautiful truth can also help us understand the circumstances in which it would be inap- propriate to receive Communion. BY DR. JOHN SEHORN Assistant Professor of Theology at the Augustine Institute W H E N S H O U L D A C AT H O L I C N OT R ECE I V E CO M M U N I O N? If we are not in a state of grace—if we have knowingly and deliberately turned away from the Lord through a serious sin that we have not yet brought to God's mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation—we should refrain from receiving Communion. Pope Francis has rightly insisted that the Eucharist "is not a prize for the perfect but a pow- erful medicine and nourishment for the weak." 7 Implicit in the Holy Father's words is the recognition that we are weak and need to walk the path of conversion. The Church has always understood the Eucharist as the feast of those who have responded to Jesus's calling of sinners to repen- tance. 8 St. Paul solemnly warns that those who receive Communion without the right disposition are "guilty of the body and blood of the Lord," and they eat and drink judgment on themselves. 9 28 FEBRUARY 2021 | DENVER CATHOLIC

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