Winnie writes: “Dear Father, My adult son and daughter no longer attend the Sacraments. At a recent wedding they both received Holy Communion without prior Confession. I know the Church teaches that one should make a good confession before receiving Holy Communion but isn’t everybody welcome at the table of the Lord, no matter what state their life is in? Even Judas took part in the Last Supper. Winnie. Fr Bernard McGuckian replies.
Your question reminds me of an incident at another wedding. It happened some time ago in Italy. One of the young women guests turned up in a shabby, worn dress. The bride did not like this one little bit. In fact she was so incensed that she embarked on a most unladylike course of action. In all her finery and in the full view of the whole assembly she set about physically beating up the other lady. There’s only so much a girl can take!
She would have had no trouble identifying with the attitude of the King at the wedding in the parable of Jesus. ‘My friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ Nor would it have been any surprise to her that it all ended up in `weeping and gnashing of teeth’ cf. Mt.22:11-14. (The wedding garment symbolizes good works).
I am presuming that by no longer ‘attending the Sacraments’, you mean ‘do not attend Mass except on big occasions, never go to Confession and rarely receive Holy Communion’. To receive Holy Communion worthily, a person has to be in a state of grace. This does not mean being in a state of advanced holiness. Nor does it mean having been to Confession in the days immediately preceding Holy Communion. It simply means that I am unaware of any unconfessed mortal sin in my life. Where this is not the case, Holy Communion should not be received until it has been put right.
This has been the understanding of the Church since the time of St. Paul. ‘Everyone is to examine himself and only then eat of the bread or drink from the cup because a person who eats and drinks without recognizing the body is eating and drinking to his own condemnation’ (I Cor.28-29). This clear message does not dissuade people from attending any Church gathering, including Mass. One participates perfectly validly at the Sacrifice of the Mass whether or not one receives Holy Communion.
There can be a variety of good reasons for not communicating during a particular Mass but there is no good reason for never ever communicating during one’s whole life.
To prevent anyone from embracing such a bizarre lifestyle, the idea of the Easter Duty arose in the 13th century. This requires every Catholic to receive Holy Communion at least once a year. The intention here is to ensure at least a minimal response to the mysterious words of Jesus: ‘in all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you’ (Jn.6:53).
From the earliest days of Christianity people have been urged to respond to these words by approaching the table of the Lord in a dignified manner, ‘not with levity… not by habit or with formality, but with sincerity and pureness of spirit’ as St John Chrysostom put it as far back as the 5th century. He tirelessly repeated that preparation for Holy Communion must include repentance for sins. This has always been the tradition. We must keep hoping that our young people will see the reasonableness of this position and embrace a more wholehearted practice of their faith.
You mention the presence of Judas at the Last Supper. Although an invited guest, he hardly qualifies as a model participant. While they were at table together, he was actually in the process of betraying his innocent Host to deadly enemies. This action, though patently wrong, need not have been the end of the road for Judas. Peter also did wrong in denying Jesus. Both sinned. Yet one of them is presented to us for imitation; not the other. The difference was in what they did next. Judas was filled with self-centred remorse ending in suicide while Peter was filled with heartfelt sorrow leading to redemptive tears. One turned away from Jesus; the other didn’t.
A final word about the young woman who caused the furore at that Italian wedding. She was well known in her home town for her beauty. But she was equally well known for her complete lack of concern about her physical appearance. She was, however very much concerned about how she appeared in the eyes of God. Sometime afterwards on the Eve of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 1899 she was to receive the stigmata and died aged 25 in April 1903. Pope Pius XII canonized her on 3 May 1947 as Saint Gemma Galgani. Her feast day is celebrated on 14 May.
In a world where appearances seem to be everything, we could do worse than commend our young people to her intercession.
