I will reiterate what I have written before, but first, I think this is a good document, although I do think bishops have to deal with casual liturgies and the casual ways adults and children often receive the Eucharist. This past Sunday, I was told by a parishioner that someone walked off with the Host at Communion time and placed it in his pocket. The Eucharistic minister who say it, politely asked the gentlement to consume it or give it back, which he did give back and the minister consumed the Host.
But local bishops need to privately meet with politicians or other public people who make a mockery out of mortal sin and receive publicly for political or other purposes. I don't think anyone should be publicly humiliated or talked about in the press, even those in very high office, keep it private until a formal decree of censure is issued.
US Bishops foster Eucharistic devotion with new document
Mortal sin and Communion
The document notes that the Eucharist also involves our transformation in Christ, which touches on every aspect of our Christian lives, including our public life.
Receiving Christ in the Eucharist fills us with love that should extend to those around us, especially toward the poor and most vulnerable.
Conversion is another important aspect, since our reception of the Eucharist can harm us if we receive the Sacrament in a state of mortal sin.
“There are some sins, however, that do rupture the communion we share with God and the Church,” reads the document. “These are referred to as grave, or mortal, sins. One commits a mortal sin by freely, knowingly, and willingly choosing to do something that involves grave matter and that is opposed to charity, opposed to the love of God and neighbor.”
When Catholics are in a state of mortal sin, we must seek out the Sacrament of Reconciliation and absolution before receiving the Eucharist.
Eucharistic coherence
The document says that a Catholic who “has broken communion with Christ and his Church but receives the Blessed Sacrament acts incoherently, both claiming and rejecting communion at the same time.”
The Bishops then repeat a portion of their 2006 document on the Eucharist, which called on Catholics who publicly reject “defined doctrines of the Church, or knowingly and obstinately repudiate her definitive teaching on moral issues,” to refrain from receiving Communion.
They also note that “reception of Holy Communion in such a situation is also likely to cause scandal for others.”
3 comments:
Not good enough!
Tom Makin,
I think we need "Bell, Book, and Candle!" These bishops are fraidy cats. If they had done their job in 1974 we would not be dealing with this today and the Democratic Party might not have morphed into the Party of Intrinsic Evil. I am of the school that words, without action, are meaningless
'Beati qui ad cenam Agni vocati sunt'. I'll wager a pound to a penny that 90 per cent of Mass-goers think that 'the supper of the Lamb' just means trooping up to receive Holy Communion.
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