By DON FIER
“The love of Jesus Christ reaches its highest perfection and produces the richest harvest of graces,” proclaims St. Peter Julian Eymard, “in the ineffable union He contacts with the soul in Holy Communion.” So inestimable is the value of Holy Communion worthily received, the great saint of eucharistic piety goes on to affirm, that “we profit more by Communion than all the other means of sanctification” (Holy Communion [HC], p. 1).
Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, who never tired of preaching and teaching on the incalculable value of the Holy Eucharist, unreservedly concurs by stating that “every worthy reception of Holy Communion deepens the life of God in our souls: automatically, spontaneously, and infallibly” (The Blessed Sacrament [TBS], p. 57).
Yet, as was stressed in last week’s column, it is crucial that Holy Communion be approached only by those who are properly disposed. In other words, the efficacy of receiving the Body and Blood of Christ — a sacrament of the living — depends on being in the state of grace. This stands to reason, for as Fr. Hardon explains, just as material food does not nourish a human corpse, supernatural food will not nourish a spiritual corpse, which sadly but accurately describes the condition of a soul in the state of mortal sin (cf. TBS, p. 52).
As St. Paul says, “Such a person draws condemnation on himself” (1 Cor. 11:29).
The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church concisely summarizes the various requirements for receiving Holy Communion that were unpacked last week: “One must be fully incorporated into the Catholic Church and be in the state of grace. . . . Anyone who is conscious of having committed a grave sin must first receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before going to Communion. Also important . . . are a spirit of recollection and prayer, observance of the fast described by the Church, and an appropriate disposition of the body (gesture and dress) as a sign of respect for Christ” (n. 291).
The Church “obliges [the faithful] to receive Holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter Season” (n. 290); moreover, she warmly recommends — even encourages — frequent reception of this august sacrament, on a daily basis if possible.
The fruits of the Eucharist in Holy Communion worthily received, the topic now considered by the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), are manifold. The first and principal effect “is an intimate union with Christ Jesus” (CCC, n. 1391). Nowhere is this highlighted more clearly than by the very words of our Lord Himself: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you . . . He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:53, 56).
Holy Communion enables us, as it were, to assume the nature of Christ, to be transformed into Him. “If you receive worthily,” says St. Augustine, “you are what you have received” (Sermon 227).
To better understand this, it would be helpful to consider an analogy, that of feeding our physical body. When we take ordinary corporeal nourishment, the food we eat is assimilated and becomes part of our substance.
When we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion, however, there is an incomprehensible difference. The spiritual nourishment we receive is Christ Himself, who is God. As beautifully expressed by St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 375-444), our being is mystically united with that of the God-man, as “when melted wax is fused with other wax” (Hom. in Joan., IV, xvii).
Thus, while ordinary food becomes that which consumes it, when we consume God in the Eucharist we become what we consume.
“What material food produces in our bodily life,” teaches the Catechism, “Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life” (n. 1392). With each worthy reception of Holy Communion, the supernatural life of grace received at Baptism is preserved, increased, and renewed.
“This growth in Christian life,” the Catechism continues, “needs the nourishment of Eucharistic Communion, the bread for our pilgrimage until the moment of death” (ibid.).
In The Blessed Eucharist: Our Greatest Treasure, Fr. Michael Müller, CSSR, explains the purpose of this transformation: “We are united to Our Lord’s humanity in order that we may be made conformable to his image in will and affections; accordingly, in the Eucharist we receive from Him [an increase in the] infused virtues” (pp. 124–125), which were received in Baptism and strengthened in Confirmation.
This includes, of course, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were considered earlier (see volume 149, nn. 6-13; February 16 to March 31, 2016).
A second effect of Holy Communion worthily received is that it “separates us from sin” (CCC, n. 1393). As Fr. Hardon explains, the Eucharist provides two basic forms of spiritual protection: It “protects the recipient from the contagion of sin like a spiritual vaccine” and “it protects the soul from the assaults of temptation like a supernatural armor, especially from the assaults of the world and the devil” (TBS, p. 54).
St. Thomas Aquinas explains this twofold effect of preserving us from sin in the following way: “First of all, by uniting man with Christ through grace, it strengthens his spiritual life, as spiritual food and spiritual medicine. . . . Secondly, inasmuch as it is a sign of Christ’s Passion, whereby the devils are conquered, it repels all the assaults of demons” (Summa Theologiae III, Q. 79, art. 6).
As a consequence of original sin and our fallen nature, we have a natural tendency toward pride, lust, envy, irascibility, greed, laziness, and gluttony. So yet another fruit of graces received from worthy reception of Communion is an enlightening of the mind and a strengthening of the will which are necessary to combat these evil inclinations.
To rely on our own human nature to control our passions, according to Fr. Hardon, is to play the fool. “The verdict of human history is certain,” he maintains. “Either a person receives Communion frequently and regularly, or human nature is no match for the passions that plague every human being” (TBS, p. 56).
Another effect of Holy Communion is the possible restoration of all that was lost by the soul through the commission of venial sins. Every sin we commit has two effects: guilt (loss of grace) and penalty (debt of pain). Holy Communion not only restores us to that state of grace which we had before having sinned, but also remits temporal punishment due to that sin.
How is this accomplished? “The Eucharist strengthens our charity,” explains the Catechism, “which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins” (CCC, n. 1394). The degree to which this effect is realized by the soul, however, depends on both the frequency of receiving and the fervor and devotion of reception. This effect, however, in no way lessens the absolute necessity of having mortal sins forgiven through the Sacrament of Confession.
What role does Holy Communion play, then, with regard to mortal sins? “By the same charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal sins. The more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal sin” (CCC, n. 1395).
This makes perfect sense if we consider what was said earlier. The graces received in Holy Communion act to curb concupiscence, which is the chief source of deadly sin. The more frequently and fervently we worthily receive our Lord in Holy Communion, the more we advance in charity and the less likely it is that we will fall in time of temptation.
Through reception of Holy Communion, the faithful are not only united more closely to Christ, but also to His Mystical Body, the Church, and thus to one another. “Communion renews, strengthens, and deepens this incorporation into the Church, already achieved by Baptism” (CCC, n. 1396). As St. Paul says, “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17).
The 16th-century Council of Trent, in recognition of the mystery of the general union of all the faithful in Christ and with one another, refers to the Holy Eucharist as “the sign of unity, the bond of charity, the symbol of concord” (session 13, chapter 8).
True Happiness
Yet another marvelous fruit of Holy Communion is that it makes the spiritual life and the practice of virtue enjoyable. St. Eymard posits that one must lead a life of recollection and prayer to “taste the sweetness of God and enjoy His presence” (HC, p. 74). However, he continues, these actions “will never yield true happiness if they are not based on Communion” (ibid.). True joy flows from interior knowledge of the Beloved.
“Before Communion, you contemplate Jesus outside you,” says St. Eymard. “Through Communion, we gain entrance into the Heart of our Lord….We can know Jesus Christ well only by receiving Him, just as we perceive the sweetness of honey by tasting it” (pp. 76-77).
As affirmed by Fr. Hardon, “There is no more effective way known to God or man for enjoying the practice of virtue and doing God’s will than receiving Holy Communion as often as possible” (TBS, pp. 56-57).
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(Don Fier serves on the board of directors for The Catholic Servant, a Minneapolis-based monthly publication. He and his wife are the parents of seven children. Fier is a 2009 graduate of Ave Maria University’s Institute for Pastoral Theology. He is doing research for writing a definitive biography of Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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