Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” (Jn 6:53) The Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus. By the very words of consecration the priest says, “this is my Body, which will be given up for you” and “This is… My Blood..which will be poured out..” taken from Matthew 26: 26-28. Jesus is so adamant about the Eucharist being His body and Blood that he is even willing to let many of His followers leave Him and His teaching and never come back (Jn 6:66).
Why would God want to institute such a strange sacrament? What happens to the body happens to the soul. When we receive Jesus in the Eucharist, He enters our body. If this happens to our body, it also happens to our soul; Jesus enters us! It is a renewal of the reciprocal gift of self. We give ourselves to Jesus, and He gives Himself to us. Participating in the gift physically makes the gift more whole and therefore integrated. It is God’s way of giving us a physical expression of love for us. It is a partaking of the one-flesh union with God! Therefore, as Catholics, we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, we have an intimate relationship with Him!
Like Marriage, responsibility comes with such a great gift. That is why those who are not Catholic or in the state of mortal sin should not receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion. Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.…For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that 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 death of the Lord until he comes. 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 on himself. (Cor. 10:16-17& 11:23-29)
If you desire intimacy with Jesus in the Eucharist and an adult, you can join in our RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) classes to prepare yourself in such a wonderful gift.
If you have children who you want to receive communion click here to find out more.