(Corpus Christi 2018: This homily
was given on June 3, 2018 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond
Suriani. Read Exodus 24: 3-8; Psalm 116:
12-18; Hebrews 11: 9-15; Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Corpus Christi 2018]
Before you come forward, don’t forget to look backward.
That’s the thought that came to
me as I was reflecting on what I should preach about on this Corpus Christi
Sunday.
Before you come forward, don’t forget to look backward.
St. Paul said something similar
in his First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 28, when he wrote: “A
man should examine himself first; only then should he eat of the bread and
drink of the cup.”
In other words, before you come forward to receive the Holy
Eucharist—which is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Savior of the
world (and not a symbol!)—don’t forget to look
backward into your life. Look
backward to determine if, at that moment, you’re in the proper spiritual state—and
are properly disposed to receive worthily. Because the one thing you don’t want to do as
a Catholic Christian is to receive the Eucharist unworthily. As St. Paul says
in that same chapter 11 of First Corinthians: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks
the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the Body and Blood of the Lord.”
Now that’s certainly a sin that
can be forgiven. God will forgive every
sin we repent of (and, when necessary, bring to the sacrament of reconciliation). But it’s no small matter. Receiving unworthily is a sin that’s very
serious. There is, after all, nothing
more precious and holy on earth than the Body and Blood of the One who died on
the cross and rose from the dead for our salvation.
What I want to share with you now
are three situations you might find yourself in when you do “look backward” at Mass. If you find yourself in one of these
situations, you should definitely not “come forward” to receive—at least at
that particular Liturgy. Come up with
your hands over your chest in this fashion and receive a blessing instead. But fear not, even if one of these applies to
you, there are still some positive steps you can take to “move forward”. And if you move forward enough, you’ll
eventually be able to come forward
and receive communion with a clear conscience.
So here they are.
Situation #1: Mortal sin—which
includes things like hatred, adultery, blasphemy, fornication, masturbation,
contraception—and missing a Sunday or a holy day Mass without a good reason. As it says in paragraph 1415 of the
Catechism, “Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must
be in the state of grace. Anyone aware
of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received
absolution in the sacrament of penance.”
Which, of course, is precisely the
way to “move forward” if you suddenly realize that you’re in this situation. Today’s second reading from Hebrews 9 says
that Jesus “entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of
goats and calves but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.” He shed his precious blood so that we could
receive forgiveness—for anything and for everything! But we have to reach out for it, which is
what we do in the sacrament of reconciliation.
On that note, we have confessions
here every Wednesday afternoon at 5, and every Saturday afternoon at 3:30—or at
some other time by appointment.
So go to confession if you need
to! What have you got to lose—except
your sins?
Situation #2 that might prevent
you from coming forward: You’re not Catholic.
In 1 Corinthians 10: 17, St. Paul says this: "Because the loaf of
bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one
loaf." When we share Eucharist with
others we are making a public statement that we are one in faith with them.
That's what Paul is telling us in this text. But, unfortunately, we are not one in faith
with our non-Catholic brothers and sisters.
Yes, we share some elements of
belief in common with Protestant Christians, that's true; but not enough such
that we can come together and partake of "the one loaf."
If you are not Catholic and you’re
here at Mass this morning, I certainly welcome you. I’m glad that you’re here with us to pray to
our common Lord and Savior. I invite
you, too, to come forward for a blessing at communion time. But I also encourage you to learn more about
the Catholic Faith and to consider becoming Catholic. That’s the best way you can “move
forward.” Deacon Fran and his wife Donna
will be starting their RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) classes
again this fall. Think about signing up
for those classes. Signing up doesn’t
mean you will become Catholic (although I hope you will!). It will simply give you the opportunity to
learn more about the Church, so that you can make an informed decision as to
whether or not you want to enter it.
And if you do enter it, the good
news is that you’ll then be able to join us at the altar, because you will be one in faith with us and with
the Church.
Which brings us, finally, to the
third situation that might prevent you from coming forward for the Eucharist:
Your marriage is not valid in the eyes of the Church. Some people might think this teaching has
changed recently, but it hasn’t. You
see, marriage, from the Catholic perspective, is not a contract; it’s a
sacrament that forms a covenantal
bond between a man and a woman. The fact
that it’s a sacrament means that Jesus and his Body, the Church, must be part
of the union. And even in marriages
where a Catholic marries an unbaptized person (which are not, strictly
speaking, sacramental), the Lord needs to be involved, because, as the
Catechism says, “God himself is the author of marriage.” (CCC 1603) What I often tell people is this: “If you’re
a Catholic, you’re a member of the spiritual
family known as ‘the Church’. For
your marriage to be valid, you need your spiritual family’s blessing. And this blessing is what you should want,
just like you want the blessing—the approval—of your parents and siblings and
other members of your biological family when you get married.”
So, if this is your situation
right now, how do you “move forward”?
My recommendation would be to
talk to a priest or deacon. He can help
you to determine what you need to do, and then help you begin the process. If you and your spouse in the civil union
were never married before, you simply need to have your marriage “convalidated”—which
basically involves some preparation, some paperwork, and then a brief ceremony
in which you take your vows in front of a priest and two witnesses.
If there are previous marriages,
the process may be more involved—but that’s what the priest or deacon can help
you determine.
In the meantime, come up for a
blessing at Mass like the others—and also make a spiritual communion.
Actually a spiritual communion is
something we all can do, when, for some reason, we’re not able to receive the
Blessed Sacrament. Even non-Catholics
can do it. It basically involves asking
Jesus to come into your heart and to give you the spiritual benefits of the Eucharist. There’s no official prayer or formula for
this; you can use your own words—although many people use the spiritual
communion prayer of St. Alphonsus Liguori as a model. It reads as follows:
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things and I desire you with all my heart. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already in my heart and unite myself to you completely. Please do not let me ever be separated from you.
I think that’s the one they use
on EWTN during their televised daily Mass, for the benefit of the shut-ins
watching at home who aren’t able to receive communion that day.
Before you come forward, don’t forget to look backward.
That, I believe, is the Lord’s
simple and direct message to us on this Corpus Christi Sunday.
It’s my prayer today that we will
all learn to put this message into practice, so that whenever we do come
forward to receive the Eucharist at Mass we will do so worthily, and thus be
open to the many graces that Jesus wants to give us in and through the
sacrament of his Body and Blood.