The Total Gift-Exchange of Holy Communion

This reflection on the total gift-exchange of Holy Communion came out of me earlier on the book of faces. Wanted to share it here, too. [It was my response to a question on whether a non-Catholic Christian can receive the sacrament of Reconciliation.. My thought is that there’s more to it than just yes or no; I’m always interested in the *why*. So here’s my take on the *why*]

What is implied in seeking absolution (in the sacrament is a reconciliation) is a moral/spiritual restoration of full communion in Christ’s Body; the whole Christ (the Totus Christus) which necessarily includes His Bride which is one flesh with Him. So, either that moral/spiritual communion is restored or it is deepened (if no mortal sin was present.) 

For one outside of *visible* and *public* full communion with that same Christ and His universal Church such as a.) a Catholic who publicly renounced the Catholic Faith and wishes to repent and confess his sins against faith (aka manifest heresy or apostasy) and be restored to full communion or b.) a baptized Christian who was never in visible and public full communion with Christ’s Church to begin with... These can receive the sacrament of penance (after proper catechetical instruction by the local pastor or RCIA if it is preferred) and absolution when they confess all mortal sins against faith, hope, and charity. 

Visible and public full communion happens for the first time or it is restored via the sacrament of confession  (and a lifting of any censures for anyone who publicly committed heresy/apostasy but that’s another nuanced conversation) 

The restoration of visible and public communion occurs through public confession of sin which allows for the public confession of faith in the liturgical assembly I.e. the Church. This visible and public communion allows for a deepening of one’s moral/spiritual communion with the Body of Christ—especially in Holy Communion.

So, the person is making a public gesture by reorienting themselves towards Christ’s Body; they are declaring that their whole life belongs to the whole Christ (the Totus Christus; all that He is and all that He teaches) when they publicly go to a public representative of Christ  *and of* the whole Church—a priest—in order to confess their sins against faith hope and charity so as to receive grace that is sanctifying (even though the confessed sins themselves may not be made publicly known out of prudence and the Church’s/Christ’s compassion) and that sanctifying grace can now grow in that person bringing them from grace to grace towards their Heavenly calling of eternal, public and full communion with the whole Christ in Heavenly.

So public confession of sin and public confession of faith (both done in the midst of “the assembly” or the “Ecclesia” or the Church; i.e. these are liturgical acts) allows for public confession of one’s total love for and hope in Christ via sacramental, Eucharistic Communion with His whole Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

This Eucharistic Communion is a liturgical, public covenant wherein one swears one’s entire being to Jesus—one confesses and swears/vows “I am all yours and everything I have is yours” and the Father says “My child, you are with me always. Everything I have is yours” and He gives us all that He has—His Son—in Holy Communion. 

So to receive the sacrament of reconciliation is to say publicly “I am no longer my own; I am “Christ’s” as we seek to love the Lord with our *whole* heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our neighbor as we would wish to be loved (i.e. wholly, completely) This *includes* the total gift of one’s mind in public assent to the Faith of the Church; the confession of the Bride and her public “fiat”; her public acceptance & declaration of exactly Who He is and what He says. As in the marital act when one holds nothing back from one’s spouse, so in a more intimate way one holds nothing back from Christ—even one’s intellectual beliefs clinging to His every word—in the sacrament of reconciliation. It is the necessary preparation 

(if there needs to be a restoration of the sanctifying baptismal grace) of the bride-soul-church so as to properly receive all of her Bridegroom—God Himself—in the Eucharistic covenant (aka sacrament) 

To sum up, in the midst of the assembly of believers confession of sin and confession of faith (and hope and love) allow for a fuller participation in communion with Christ who has publicly revealed Himself as totally in love with us. Our Bridegroom, then, waits at the altar for His bride.

“But you would not...”

Fiery Conviction; Two Cents Worth: Repentance, Purification, and Receiving all the Fullness of God

Why is deeper and deeper conviction of sin/repentance/purification necessary for us? Here's my two cents.

In the psalms we pray “search my heart oh God” (Psalm 139)  and we of course want the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin--and that more and more deeply--so that we can allow His purifying fire to burn away everything that is unfit to be laid on the foundation of Christ in us. God is building His edifice in us so that we can grow into Christ come to full stature.

Full stature. Complete. Lacking in nothing. Sanctified. Divinized as the eastern Catholics/Orthodox would say. 

All done.

I’m reminded of 1 Corinthians Chapter 3:11-15 which speaks of our works being tried by the fire of the Holy Spirit’s conviction and truth. Our sinful works like straw and wood will be burned up but our works of charity and mercy will be revealed for what they are, the works of Christ which will be like gold refined by fire laying up treasure for us in eternal life. 

"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames." (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

Or another translation has it in verse 15: “he will be saved but only as through fire.” Catholics and Eastern Orthodox see one sense of these verses as referring to the further purification of the soul needed after death if one hasn’t allowed the Spirit to fully purify one’s heart and burn away all the dross of our worldly and selfish works.  This He prefers to do in this life; to help us completely let go of our various attachments and favorite sins.  Certainly, “the Day” of the final judgment will bring this refiner’s fire.  Also, our own personal, final "Day" (if we die before that Second Coming of Christ) will--if we die in God’s friendship--allow us the mercy of Christ’s redemption to become fully manifest in us 

“...but only as through fire.” 

We are to come grow into Christ come full stature (Ephesian 4). 

That’s more or less what Catholics understand purgatory to be; the refiner’s Fire making us ready for the Heavenly Holy of Holies—since “nothing impure [i.e. not fully purified by the fire of the Holy Spirit] shall enter Heaven” Revelation 21:27. If we follow the commandments then we will reach Heaven (step 1 being "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as you shall be saved [saved from eternal hell fire and saved by the refiner's fire of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies anyone who draws near to God.] However, if have not yet let God fully sanctify us by the time we die; if we have not yet let God fully have His way then His goodness will burn away all the remnants of our selfishness so that we can completely (i.e. with a "whole heart") say, “let it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38).

We will certainly need to allow Him to fully purify our souls one way or another. Hopefully we let His Love fully conquer us before we die but His mercy will need to purify the faithful-but-still-somewhat-worldly-and-sinful soul after that soul departs the body to be with the Lord in all His fiery love! 

A large part of being saved from our sin is just allowing the Holy Spirit to convict us of all the ways in which we are rooted in ourselves rather than Christ; all the ways in which we are selfish rather than selflessly loving towards our Father and each other. We don't know what we won't know so we have to let God show what He needs to show. Deeper conviction of and repentant sorrow for our sins is a grace to be prayed for fervently, daily. We need to know what we have done and what we have failed to do so that we can let Christ fully live in us with nothing held back from Him or from each other. 

"If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. [Now] this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us." (1 John 3:17-24)

I remember reading in 33 Days to Merciful Love by Fr. Michael Gaitley that it’s OK to ask God to be gentle with us :) If deeper purification scares you then do not fret.  Ask Him to be gentle with you. I like that. I think God prefers to be gentle with us when convicting us of sin--when we allow Him to be gentle--but if He has to shake us up to make sure we stop hurting ourselves and others spiritually (like a mother who slaps the hand of her child reach for a hot stove) then by golly He’ll do it.  Though we should humble ourselves and ask for His gentle mercy to descend on us first.  

It's easier to do things His way.

I think deeper repentance is a gift we should continually ask for since it’s impossible for us to know our sins apart from God’s light touching upon it. The only way to properly see our sin is through God’s eyes and heart anyway; otherwise we just just fall into blindness or self-condemnation or scrupulosity or the accuser’s lies and ain’t nobody got time for that—because the Day draws near. We need our lamp alight.

Where is your lamp stand?

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over 
to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny." 
(Matthew 5:23-25)

Unless you owe two cents.

We have forgotten Love

“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.” (1 Corinthians 11: 23-26)

“Forget not Love!” - St Maximilian Mary Kolbe

Jesus loves to abide in us. “He Who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” (John 6: 56) Then, later in John’s Gospel—during Jesus’ time of intimate sharing with and intercession for His disciples while they are in Holy Communion with Him (this is when He institutes the Eucharist in the Cenacle in the Gospel of John chapters 13-17), He lovingly exhorts His disciples (and us!) not to forget to remember to eat their daily bread—His flesh and blood—by receiving the Bread from Heaven daily in Holy Communion. He is pleading with them (and us!) to “Abide in Me and I in you!” (John 15:4) by receiving Holy Communion as often as possible for “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup you proclaim—you remember!— the death—the love!—of the Lord until He comes.” (See 1 Corinthians 11: 26)

He pleads with you.

Jesus’ flesh and blood is our daily bread and our inheritance from Heaven as Christians. “I came that they might have ͏life and have it to the full!” (John 10:10) and “I am the living bread which came down from Heaven; if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.” - John 6:51) Knowing that even our bodies need food every day God gave the Israelites the Manna in the desert to eat every day and likewise Jesus, God-made-flesh and born in the House of Bread (Bethlehem), exhorts us to eat the Living Bread every day. He begs us not only through His teaching in the Scriptures but also through His teaching in the Magisterium (“He who hears you hears Me”) and by His teaching through the example of the Saints’ lives who most authentically lived in Christ and show us how to do so, “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me will live because of Me.” (John 6:57) 

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) “And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

In fact, His commandments are very sweet. “You have given them bread from Heaven, having all sweetness within it!” (Antiphon from the Rite of Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament”

He pleads with you and with me with a desperate love:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)

Let us allow ourselves to be yoked to Jesus, our daily bread, in Holy Communion every day and so find rest for our souls. This is the light burden He calls us to; to rest on His heart and more: to abide in His Heart. “Abide in Me and I in you.”

Say, “Yes! I swear this covenant with you! Amen!” when at Mass we are proposed the words, “The Body of Christ.” 

It means, “All of you for all of me for always.”

In the Wake of Scandal, Repair the Breach

Something for each of us to consider after such devastatingly sad and upsetting news of the Pennsylvania Report on clergy sexual abuse and misconduct: How am I called to make reparation?

God really is inviting you personally to some concrete response of love in the face of such evil.

"Where you do not find love, put love, and there you will find love." - St. John of the Cross

Consider praying the Chaplet of Reparation or getting a group together to pray the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet and offer in reparation for the sins of priests and lay people who committed these terrible crimes. Perhaps a regular Rosary prayer group could come of this for you.  Perhaps you could approach your Pastor and agree to take the lead in establish perpetual adoration at your Parish. (Click here to learn more about going about establish adoration at your Parish and consider having one of the Missionaries of the Most Holy Eucharist come to preach a mission to launch perpetual adoration.)

Doesn't Jesus deserve our love?  What response of love does He deserve from you? What will you offer Him? 

What concrete step will you make in your life to "repair the breach"?

Chaplet of Reparation prayer booklet

(prayers are available for free online elsewhere; just google search it if you're interested!)

Time to Enjoy

What brings you joy?

Now that I have a week off before summer classes start I'm realizing I can take time to enjoy my time. I can do what I want!  I enjoy writing.  I enjoy reading.  I enjoy walking, and talking, and learning about new things.  I enjoy museums, and monuments, and coffee shops.  I enjoy baseball games! I enjoy being able to breathe and not have any particular obligation barreling down upon me.  

So, I can at least enjoy this week before classes rev back up again.

But you.  What do you enjoy?  Even in our busy lives, we need recreation regularly.  We need leisure and fun.  We have to let ourselves enjoy our time from time to time.  Work is necessary though not necessarily altogether unenjoyable; it's just that it happens to be work and work can be tough sometimes.   Obligations are obligatory.  Duty needs to be taken care of.  

But if everything was taken care of and if you had the freedom to freely choose what to do with your time, what would you choose to do with your free time?  

When you are most fully alive what does that look like?  When you are at play what are you like? What kinds of fun do you like to have.

I hope this Lord's Day is restful and enjoyable and rejuvenating for you.  

I hope you enjoy your time.  

There's a time for everything; even and, perhaps, especially fun.

WhoWasTheMissingPersonInYourLife

A Dialogue on Painful Beauty: It Hurts so Good

A reflection on beauty which me and one of my best friends, Katie, were just considering together:

"Deep truth heals your minds, and deep goodness heals your will, but deep beauty wounds your heart. Deep beauty hurts." - Peter Kreeft

It reminds me of the wound of love that St John of the Cross talks about and the Transfixing of St. Teresa of Avila.  Have you ever seen that statue where she is in ecstasy?

Her heart is being pierced by a seraph angel with the love of God.  He delights (almost sadistically but really excitedly) to cause her this pain.  She is in rapture at receiving her invisible Bridegroom through the ministry of His messenger, the angel.  

"The Bridegroom is here!  Come out to meet Him!

"How beautiful are the feet of Him Who brings good news!" 

And if His feet are beautiful how much more His face!  How much more intense is the beauty of His Heart to the one who loves that Heart.

Maybe beauty wounds because it opens up that which it penetrates.  Beauty cuts and molds the receiver/perceiver into the shape of itself.  Beauty is diffusive of itself.  It makes everything it shines upon beautiful.  Every man who has ever seen a terribly beautiful woman knows what I am talking about.  

Katie: I think he [Peter Kreeft] was just getting at that when we experience real beauty, we get a glimpse of the creator, of what we were created for, but it’s just a glimpse and our hearts want it so badly that we’re wounded because it’s not ours now." - Katie 

Myself: We don’t even understand it [beauty]... and that wounds us...our lack of being able to receive its fullness hurts us… but then it increases our willingness to become worthy of such Beauty... like a man who knows he wants a particular woman; he has to become worthy of her and it is painful until he becomes such and is deemed as such by her.

Katie: But we’ll always be incomplete in this world.

Myself: Maybe our own recognition of our lack of beauty, our not living up to our beautiful dignity as Beauty’s image... that is what pains us.  The piercing truth that I am not worthy of Beauty yet I compulsively need it.  

"Why doesn't God let all of us hear this angel music all the time if it's so beautiful?... Maybe He does but we don't hear it because we let wordly wax grow in our souls' ears... Or maybe not.  Maybe it's not our folly but God's wisdom and mercy that insulates us from the angels' music... Maybe God puts cotton in our ears because such great beauty would drive us mad!" - Peter Kreeft