You may have non-Catholic or non-practicing family or friends who’ve gone to Mass at some point, probably for a wedding, funeral, or first Sacraments. At some point, the priest may well have explained that while Catholics in a state of grace are welcome to come up and receive Holy Communion, non-Catholics are welcome to come forward to only receive a blessing. In other words, your friends or family confronted the issue of “closed Communion.” What is it, and why does the Church do it? The simplest, bluntest answer is that people who are not “in communion” with the Catholic Church should not take Catholic Communion. If you do not share the Catholic faith or morals, then don’t eat the Eucharist. If you don’t believe in the Real Presence, don’t receive. Why do people find this offensive? I think because it seems exclusive. It says that not all people are absolutely equal, that some are permitted to take full part in the banquet and others are not. After all, don’t we believe that God welcomes all humanity into His Church? Scriptural foundation Everyone is welcome to come to Mass, yes, and everyone is free to become a Catholic. But not even Catholics are always welcome at the table of the Lord. It’s a very simple principle that has a clear Scriptural foundation. Saint Paul teaches: 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. That is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying (1 Cor 11:27-30). Why are Catholics sometimes not supposed to receive Catholic Communion? Because we sometimes fail to meet Paul’s criteria. Sometimes, we are not capable of “eating the bread or drinking the cup” worthily. We need to go to Confession. Why? Because we are not alive in Jesus Christ when we are in a state of mortal sin. The Trinity is not dwelling within us, so we are not temples of the Holy Spirit. We are not prepared to receive the Son into ourselves. We need to go to Confession. People who are not baptized, who don’t believe in the Real Presence, or who are not in the state of grace, are not ready to eat the bread and drink the cup worthily. I’ve had to abstain from receiving Communion repeatedly. Having fallen in one way or another, I am sometimes absolutely unprepared to receive Jesus properly. So I go to Mass, I step aside to let others go up to receive, and I wait until I’ve been to Confession to receive again. It’s Jesus But why does the Eucharist matter so much? Again, look at Paul’s words. “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” The Eucharist is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. The Eucharist is Jesus. Now, does this mean that only people who are practically perfect in every way may receive the Eucharist? No, of course not. Jesus is the Divine Physician —He’s here to heal the sick, not hang out with the healthy. He is the Redeemer —He’s here to help the sinners, not merely spend time with the saints. Make sure you go to Confession when you are aware that you’ve committed a serious sin (like breaking one of the Ten Commandments or committing one of the Seven Deadly Sins), but don’t be afraid to receive the Eucharist if you’re a baptized Catholic and you’ve done your best to go to Confession when you know you need it. Adapted from “Question 33: How can you still be Catholic when your Church has closed Communion to everyone other than Catholics?” in How CanYou Still Be Catholic? 50 Answers to a Good Question (Marian Press; Product Code B53-BCBB). Visit ShopMercy.org/B53 to order. 20 Marian Helper • Spring 2022 • marian.org WHY IS COMMUNION ‘CLOSED’? Answers to Questions By Chris Sparks
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