This week, the most influential group of American Catholic bishops, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (U.S.C.C.B.) is gathering virtually, discussing what to do about public officials who purport to be Catholics, but who ignore Catholic teaching on abortion and at the same time expect to be allowed to participate fully in Mass and receive Holy Communion. At the top of the list of those Catholics defying Catholic teachings stands President* Joe Biden.
Other bishops in the country have written to the U.S.C.C.B., asking them to continue to allow such lapsed Catholics to partake of Holy Communion, but the most powerful message comes from the Vatican. Pope Francis advised them not to ban the president and others from Holy Communion, stating that communion is “not the reward of saints but the bread of sinners.” That communiqué by the Pope begs for comment.
The first part of his comment, that communion is “not the reward of saints” is Biblically correct. It is not the reward, but rather the requirement of saints. Christians the world over take communion because Christ Himself instructed His disciples to do so on the night He was betrayed. Paul describes it to the Corinthian church in this manner:
“For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Even as He instructed His disciples to eat the bread and drink the wine in order to remember the sacrifice of Christ on the cross until He returns to earth again, all those who became members of the early Church obeyed His words. And now, 2000 years later, Christians still eat the bread and drink the grape juice, fermented or not. Why? Because we were told to do so by the Lord Himself. Thus, Holy Communion is not a reward but a requirement, a responsibility of Christians. It, like baptism, is considered a Sacrament in both the Catholic and all Protestant churches, a holy duty of all Christians and one which draws us closer to God. Because it is holy, it is not to be entered into lightly. And that is why I disagree with the second part of Pope Francis’ statement.
When the Pope says that Holy Communion is “the bread of sinners,” he is only partly correct. Certainly, every Christian is a sinner who has been saved from sin and forgiven by the Grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. But to be once forgiven is not to be forever exempt from sin. Sin is disobedience to God and God’s Word, and most of us manage to commit sins of omission (failure to study the Bible, forgetting to spend time each day in prayer) as well as sins of commission (breaking a commandment or failing to pattern our behavior after that of Jesus) nearly every day. It is important for us to ask God each day to forgive us for these sins as well.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians continues:
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, ( the King James Version reads “damnation”) not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11: 27-30).
Where the Pope goes wrong here, is that Jesus, at the Last Supper, was speaking not to a crowd of the curious who had come to listen to this Man of Galilee, but to His own disciples, His intimate group of twelve followers – – – those who believed in Him, who had seen His miracles, who had listened to His words for three years. Likewise, Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, was talking to Christians, not to the unsaved sinners of the world. It is to them that he cautions that if they have not examined themselves for unrepented sins and asked forgiveness for those sins before partaking of Holy Communion, it is as if they are guilty of having crucified the Savior themselves – – – “guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.”
Paul advises Christians to examine themselves because only they and God are aware of the sins they may have committed. Thus, many Church leaders reason that they cannot point out individuals who are unworthy of partaking in the Lord’s Supper and exclude them from communion. Many Protestant churches, therefore, leave the decision of an individual’s worthiness to take communion up to the individual. Many others, however, limit Holy Communion to those of their own congregations whom they believe to be Christians in practice as well as in name.
Likewise in the Catholic Church, those who do not believe as the Catholic Church believes or who are not themselves Catholics are not permitted to take Holy Communion at Mass, even if they are members of a Catholic church or other Christian churches. Joe Biden was refused Holy Communion by Rev. Robert Morey, the pastor of St. Anthony Catholic Church in Florence, S.C. in 2019 because his stance on abortion is contrary to Catholic beliefs. Father Morey explained “Holy Communion signifies we are one with God, each other and the church. Our actions should reflect that. Any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of church teaching.”
And this bring us to the question being considered by the U.S.C.C.B. Can an individual be a good Catholic, a good Christian, one with God, when he advocates for the murder of the innocent unborn? The Bible specifically commands us not to commit murder, and abortion, though pro-choice advocates refuse to admit it, is in most cases the deliberate and often cruelly horrific killing of a tiny human being, whose heart is beating, who can feel pain, who may be developed enough to recognize the voice of his or her mother, or who may even survive the abortion only to be allowed to die afterwards.
.In a 2004 essay released by the U.S.C.C.B by the then-archbishop of San Francisco, Archbishop William J. Levada, he wonders rhetorically “who can know the state of an individual’s soul?”, yet concludes that in rare occasions a priest may find himself in the position of having to deny Holy Communion to someone because of an “obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin.” Surely the continued support of the murder of innocents by a supposed “good Catholic” is an “obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin.”
It is my considered opinion, that the Bishops of the U.S.C.C.B. would be right in the sight of God to deny Holy Communion to public figures who promote and support abortion.
The Pope is not infallible, but the Word of God is!