Communion isn't Casual: Receiving Worthily in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29

            At every Mass, we paraphrase the words of the centurion in Luke 7:6-7 by saying, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”  The centurion’s words provide for us the proper attitude that we should have before receiving Christ in the Eucharist.  We should have the same realization of who I am inviting into my “house.”    Even if we are in a state of grace, are we truly worthy to receive the omnipotent, all-loving, and merciful God?

St. Paul warns us of receiving worthily as well, and he writes about our worthiness in such a way that emphasizes the Catholic teaching on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  He writes, “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.  A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup.  For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment upon himself” (1 Cor. 11:27-29).

            Commenting on this passage from Paul, St. Augustine teaches, “if you have received worthily, you are what you have received” (Sermon 227).  He goes on to explain what St. Paul means.  “What does it mean to receive unworthily?  To receive in mockery, to receive in contempt.  Let the Sacrament not appear of trifling value to you because you look upon it.  What you see passes; but the invisible, that which is not seen, does not pass; it remains.”  Here Augustine is warning them that one should not receive the Eucharist without truly believing or receiving without regard to the significance of what it means to receive.  If we receive worthily, we are able to participate more in the divine nature.  This is achieved in the sacraments through sanctifying grace.  But it is a grace that can be lost through sin.

So, Augustine tells us of the cleansing nature of the Eucharist as well.  It is a remission of venial sin.  “Through the Eucharist those who live from the life of Christ are fed and strengthened.  ‘It is a remedy to free us from our daily faults and to preserve us from mortal sins’” (CCC 1436; see also CCC 1393-95).  But the Church also teaches that “anyone conscious of grave (i.e. mortal) sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion” (CCC 1385).  The Church teaches this based on the quotation from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, just as St. Augustine did.

What can be learned from this passage of Paul’s letter?  First, what we receive in communion is truly the Body and Blood of Christ.  If it were merely a symbol, how could we be responsible for the Body and Blood of Christ and bring judgment upon ourselves.  Christ’s body must be present for a sin to be committed against it.  One cannot be guilty if only a symbol had been consumed just as one cannot be convicted of murder for tearing up someone’s picture, a mere image or symbol of that person.  Second, we are to examine our lives prior to receiving the sacrament.  St. Paul, St. Augustine and the Church are very clear of the consequences of receiving unworthily.  To receive the Eucharist without recognizing the body and blood of Christ or without having confessed serious sin harms the soul rather than helps it.  Our desire to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament should never supersede the necessity to receive him worthily.  In fact, our desire to receive Him should cause us to examine our conscience, turn from sin, seek reconciliation, and abandon ourselves to His mercy.

Let us always seriously reflect upon our lives prior to receiving communion, not only recognizing our sins, but also mindful of God’s loving mercy.  God longs for us to be united with Him and the Church.  The Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation help us to attain a worthy unity with Christ.