PASTORAL LETTER ON THE WORTHY RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION

PASTORAL LETTER
ON THE WORTHY RECEPTION OF HOLY COMMUNION

By His Grace
MOST REV. LEONARDO Z. LEGASPI, O.P., D.D.
Archbishop of Caceres

On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi
10 June 2012

“Take it; this is my body… This is my blood.”
(Mark 14: 22,24)

Introduction

Dearest brothers and sisters!

When you receive the Holy Communion in the Mass, are you fully aware of what you are receiving? Do you clearly understand how you should worthily receive it? Do you really know when you are allowed or prohibited to take it?

I am asking this question because it seems that in our churches, so many are receiving communion, but only few are going to confession. Only few! This reality may be a sign of neglect and ignorance among our faithful of the glory of the body and blood Christ and of the Church’s norms concerning the worthy reception of Holy Communion.

Receiving Jesus, Sharing in His Life

What is it that we are receiving in Holy Communion?

In the Gospel today (Mk 14: 12-16,22-26), we find that Jesus directed his apostles to a house where everything will be ready. There they had a meal. Jesus was the real host. During the supper, Jesus got into a ritual involving bread and wine. The words Jesus used give us an understanding of the significance of the ritual.

Taking the bread, Jesus says, “This is my body” (Mk 14:22). Taking the cup with wine, he said, “This is my blood of the covenant for the salvation of the many” (Mk 14:24). In other words, it is not just bread; it is the body of Christ. It is not just wine; it is the blood of the new covenant. It is not anymore the flesh and blood of calves and goats (as in the first two readings), but the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. The second reading confirms, “Really, Jesus offered his body and blood for you,” for us! (Heb 9:11-15).

What does this mean? Every time we come to the Eucharist, every time we hear the story of the Last Supper, every time we come to the table to receive the body of Christ, to drink of the cup of the blood of Christ, and we say, “Amen!,” we are actually receiving the life of Christ to be our life. How joyful it is then to be part of the Eucharist, the very life of Christ – in his body and in his blood – is being shared with us to be our life. (cf. Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 16)

A moral duty

What does this urge us to? Our sharing with the life of Christ demands a specific moral duty upon Christians who wish to participate fully in the Eucharist by receiving the body and blood of Christ (EE, 36). The Holy Communion needs to be received by a clean heart. How? By examining one’s conscience and by going to confession.

Examining one’s conscience. The Apostle Paul appeals to this duty when he warns: “Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Cor 11:28). St. John Chrysostom strongly exhorts: “If one draws near to this sacred table with a sullied and corrupt conscience, such an act can never be called 'communion', not even were we to touch the Lord's body a thousand times over, but 'condemnation', 'torment' and 'increase of punishment.'”

Going to confession. While only God can actually judge the state or condition of every Catholic who receives communion, the Church gives norms by which we can judge whether we are worthy to receive it. The Catechism says, “Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.” (CCC, 1415). This norm is not at all a punishment or a discrimination of the Church against sinners. Rather, it is their situation or condition that renders it impossible for them to receive Holy Communion (cf. Familiaris Consortio, 84).

There are sins which are mortal that need to be confessed before going to Communion: like abortion, contraception, sterilization (i.e. ligation and vasectomy), fornication, masturbation, prostitution, homosexual acts, adultery, divorce and re-marriage without proper dispensation, civil marriage, free union or cohabitation, being involved in acts of crime and corruption, drug operations and heavy gambling, and many others. Sad to say, many of our faithful in these situations, whether through ignorance or disregard of this norm, continue to receive the Eucharist without going first to confession.

Conclusion

Dear brothers and sisters, remember that while our attendance in the Holy Mass is not complete without receiving communion, because it is, in fact, an invitation to and directed to it (EE, 16), we need to receive Christ worthily in the Holy Communion – that is, with a clean conscience, with a clean heart, with a clean soul.

This Feast of Corpus Christi is not just attending the Mass, adoring the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It should impel us to truly receive Jesus, the life of Christ, so that his life will operate in us. And we may lead a holy life, pleasing to God.

With the intercession of our Ina, the woman of the Eucharist, may we truly receive Her Son, Jesus, our Lord, in the Holy Communion. *

BIKOL VERSION
SURAT PASTORAL
MANUNGOD SA MANINIGONG PAG-AKO KAN BANAL NA KOMUNYON

Ni Muy Reverendissimo
LEONARDO Z. LEGASPI, O.P., D.D.
Arzobispo nin Caceres

Solemnidad kan Corpus Christi
10 Hunyo 2012

“Akoa; ini an sakong hawak… Ini an sakong dugo.”
(Mark 14: 22,24)

Pagpoon

Namomotan kong mga tugang!

Kun kamo minaako kan Banal na Komunyon sa Misa, nag-aaram daw kamong maray kun ano an saindong inaako? Nasasabotan daw kaya nindo kun papano an maninigong pagkomunyon? Aram daw nindo kun nuarin pwede asin bawal an pag-ako kaini?

Naghahapot ako huli ta sa satong mga simbahan, kadakul an nagkokomunyon, alagad dikit sana an nagkukumpisal. Kadikit sana! An realidad na ini pwedeng tanda kan pagpasipara asin dai-pagkaaram kan mga tawo sa kabanalan kan hawak asin dugo ni Cristo asin sa mga reglamentos kan Simbahan manungod sa maninigong pag-ako kan Banal na Komunyon.

Receiving Jesus, Sharing in His Life

Ano an satong inaako sa banal na Komunyon?

Sa Evangelio ngonian (Mk. 14:12-16,22-26), nanunumpungan niato si Jesus na pinaduman an saiyang mga apostoles sa harong na kun saen ihahanda na an gabos. Duman sinda nagkarakan. Si Jesus an tunay na kagharong. Kan Huring Pamanggi, hinimo ni Jesus an ritwal na may tinapay asin arak. Asin an mga tataramon na ginamit ni Jesus nagtatao sato nin pagkasabot kan kahalagahan kan ritwal na ini.

Mantang sinda nagkakakan, nagkua si Jesus nin tinapay asin nagsabi, “Ini an sakong hawak” (Mk 14:22). Dangan kinua niya an kalis asin nagsabi, “Ini an sakong dugo kan tipan, na pinapabulos para kaligtasan nin dakul” (Mk 14:24). Sa ibang tataramon, bako na sana idtong tinapay; kundi an hawak ni Cristo. Bako na sana idtong arak; kundi an dugo kan bagong tipan. Bako na idtong laman asin dugo kan ugbon na baka asin kanding (siring sa enot na duwang binasa), kundi hawak asin dugo ni Jesucristo. Pinapatunayan kan ikaduwang binasa, “Totoo, idinusay ni Jesus an hawak asin dugo para saindo,” para sato! (Heb 9:11-15).

Ano an boot sabion kaini? Sa lambang pagdolok niato sa Eucaristia, mantang nadadangog niato an istorya kan Huring Pamanggi, sa lambang pagdolok niato sa altar sa pag-ako kan hawak ni Cristo asin pag-inum kan saiyang dugo, asin kita minasabi, “Amen!,” tunay na inaako niato an buhay ni Cristo na magin sato man na buhay. O anong kaogmahan an magin kabtang kan Eucaristia, an mismong buhay ni Cristo – sa saiyang hawak asin dugo – iheneheras sa sato na magin buhay man niato. (cf. Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 16)

Sarong moral na katungdan

Ano an sadol kaini sa sato? An satong pakisumaro sa buhay ni Cristo naghahagad nin moral na katungdan sa mga Cristianong boot na bilog na makisumaro sa Eucaristia sa paagi kan pag-ako kan hawak asin dugo ni Cristo (EE, 36). An Banal na Komunyon nangangaipong akoon kan malinig na puso. Papano? Sa paagi kan pagsiyasat kan konsensya asin kan pagdolok sa kumpisal.

Pagsiyasat kan konsensya. Nakiolay si Apostol Pablo manungod sa katungdan na ini kan siya nagpatanid: “An lambang saro dapat na magsiyasat sa sadiri niya, bago siya kumakan kan tinapay asin uminom kan kalis” (1 Cor 11:28). Maisog na ipinaghulit man ni San Juan Crisostomo, “Kun an saro dumolok digdi sa banal na altar na may digta nin kasalan asin ráot nin konsensya, minsan pa rinibong beses na makapotan an hawak kan Kagurangnan, an siring na gawe dai maaapod na ‘komunyon,’ kundi ‘pagkondenar,’ ‘pagpasakit,’ asin ‘pagdagdag kan padusa.’”

Pagdolok sa pagkumpisal. Mantang an Dios sana an tunay na makapag-huhusga kan estado, intensiyon o disposisyon kan lambang Katolikong nag-aako nin komunyon, minatao an Simbahan nin reglamentos tanganing mahatid-hatid niato kun kita maninigong mag-ako kaini. An Katekismo nagsasabi, “An siisay man na nag-aaram na nakagibo siyang kasalan na mortal dai dapat na magkomunyon na dai nakakaako kan absolusyon sa sakramento nin pagkumpisal.” (CCC, 1415). An reglamentong ini bako man na pagpasakit o pag-urí kan Simbahan sa mga parakasala. Kundi, an saindang sitwasyon o kondisyon iyo an nag-uulang sainda na makapag-ako kan Komunyon (cf. Familiaris Consortio, 84).

May mga kasalan na mortal na kaipuhan na ikumpisal bago magkomunyon: arog kan aborsyon, an pag-gamit kan mga kontraseptibo arog kan pills o condom, pagpa-ligate o pagpa-kapon, pakikipag-durog sa bakong agom, prostitusyon, masturbation, homosexual acts, divorce and re-marriage na mayong maninigong dispensasyon kan Simbahan, an kasal sa civil, an pag-iiribahan na dai kasal (o live-in), an pagigin imbwelto sa krimen asin korupsyon, operasyon kan droga asin sobrang pagsugal, asin dakul pang iba. Makamundo, huli ta dakul sa sato na yaon sa mga kamugtakan na ini, na huli sa daing-pakilabot o daing pagka-aram, padagos na nagkokomunyon na dai man lamang nagkukumpisal.

Conclusion

Namomotan kong mga tugang, paka-giromdoma na mantang an satong pagsimba dai kumpleto kun dai magkomunyon, huli ta Misa sarong imbitasyon asin nanununungod sa pag-ako kaini (EE, 16), kaipuhan niatong maninigong akoon si Cristo sa Banal na Komunyon – na may tamang na konsenya, maimbod na puso, asin malinig na kalag.

An Kapistahan na ini kan Corpus Christi bako lang tanganing magsimba kita, o sambahon an presensya ni Jesus sa Eucaristia. Dapat na magtulod ini sa sato na tunay na akoon si Jesus, an buhay ni Cristo, tanganing an saiyang buhay mapangyari sa sato. Asin kita magkaigwa nin buhay na banal asin ikinaka-ogma kan Kagurangnan.

Sa tabang ni Ina, an babae kan Eucaristia, lugod tunay niatong maako an saiyang Aki, si Jesucristo, satong Kagurangnan, sa Banal na Komunyon. *