I once heard a non-Catholic ask a priest why they couldn’t receive communion.
While we encourage Christian unity, Scripture sets a very high bar for communion. In saying, “Amen,” and accepting the Eucharist, we profess to believe all the Church teaches, and that our soul is in a state of grace, that is, not in a serious state of sin.
Saint Paul shared this on the gravity of receiving communion…
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said,
“This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.”
Let’s pray – Father of Grace and Mercy – you gave us the Eucharist as the new manna from heaven. Help ignite within us a renewed respect for the gravity of communion. Amen.