Bishops will teach in document on Eucharist

By Msgr. Francis D. Kelly
Retired priest for the Diocese of Worcester,
and canon at the Vatican

For the last few weeks, the secular media has been filled with articles on a proposed document by the U.S. Catholic bishops which they erroneously report as an attempt by the bishops to deprive President Joe Biden of holy Communion. One is struck by two things – the prominence they have given to this “fake news” and the superficiality and shallowness of writers who have done little research on the issue, but seize on it to promote their own agendas. 
So what is really going on?  The U.S. bishops voted at their spring virtual meeting, by a large majority, to commission a document on the holy Eucharist for the instruction and edification of the Catholic faithful. That the bishops commissioned such a document should be no surprise. Because of COVID many Catholics have not been to Mass for a year and a half. Moreover, recent statistical studies have shown a surprising ignorance or confusion on the part of some Catholics about this central act of Christian worship. It is timely and necessary that the bishops should exercise their teaching role on this subject.
The New Testament reports that the very first Christian community in Jerusalem “devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles, to the common life and the breaking of the bread” (Mass) (Acts 2:42). The Eucharist, Mass, was central to their identity as it still is for Catholics today.
Paul the Apostle wrote perhaps the first instruction on this sacrament to his flock in Corinth. It is contained in Chapter 11 of the first letter to the Corinthians. More than 2,000 years later the American bishops are rightly following his pastoral example.
Paul wanted his flock to be clear about what they were doing when they came together for “the breaking of the bread.” He wrote: “Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you make present the death of the Lord until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26).  Christian faith holds that space and time are dissolved in the hands of the priest at the consecration at every Mass and that the power and grace of Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary are made present (St. John Henry Newman). The words of Jesus come alive as he says: “This is my body. ... this is my blood. … take and eat and abide in my love.”
This faith is the reason for the generally unnoticed and unreported fact that every morning in Catholic churches and chapels all over the United States millions of the faithful devoutly participate in this sacred rite. The bishops wish to rekindle the beauty and power of this faith and invite the faithful to receive the graces the Risen Christ offers them in this sacrament for their daily life and as a pledge of eternal life.
Undoubtedly, the bishops’ proposed document will rightly contain a section on the disposition one should have to properly receive this sacrament. It might well begin by repeating the words every Catholic prays just before receiving holy Communion, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.”
This penitent humility befits us all at that moment. It seems to this writer that self-righteousness and finger pointing are hardly appropriate in this context. Rather, each of us should seek spiritual direction and discernment on how we might become less unworthy of the sacrament and what we need to change in our lives to be true disciples of Christ.
The media’s attempt to politicize this issue is contemptible. Sadly, in our day, journalists seem to thrive on provoking conflict and stirring up division. The Church must simply continue about its mission with courage and serenity remembering the words of it founder – “My kingdom is not of this world” (Jn 18:36).