All are invited, but…

Jesus told many stories about feasts and banquets, about hosts and guests, and about those who accepted invitations and those who refused them. In one case (Matthew 22) he told a story about a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. When those invited refused to come, the king sent his servants out to the ‘highways and byways’ to compel others to come in – both ‘the good and the bad.’ Nevertheless, even these were expected to ‘clean up’ before presenting themselves at the wedding feast. When a guest was found not appropriately dressed for the occasion, he was asked to explain himself. When he failed to give an explanation, the king directed his stewards to remove the man from the premises.

The story is not difficult to understand. The king who hosts the wedding reception is God. The wedding is between God’s Son, Jesus, and his bride, the Church. The Church has always recognised this feast to be the ‘feast of heaven,’ of which the Holy Eucharist is but a foretaste. The sad fact is that, although everyone is invited to this feast, many decline. And of those who do accept the invitation, there are some who dishonour the Divine Host by not properly preparing for the feast.

The parable provides a good background for us to consider the question of who may, and who may not, request and receive Communion at the altars of the Catholic Church.

The Church teaches that: “Since the Eucharistic Celebration is the Paschal Banquet, it is desirable that in keeping with the Lord’s command, his Body and Blood should be received by the faithful who are properly disposed.” All baptised and properly prepared Catholics, who sincerely love God and have not departed from the path of his commandments in a serious way, have a right to receive the Eucharist in the Catholic Church.

However, St Paul warns that everyone should “examine themselves” before communicating (1 Cor. 11:28). If we are conscious of having committed ‘grave’ sin, we need to have our robes washed clean and “made white in the blood of the Lamb” (Apoc. 7:14) through sacramental confession before presenting ourselves to receive Communion. We should take care not to misunderstand the gravity of our sin. Some sins are intrinsically and objectively ‘grave’ and remain so when accompanied by full knowledge and full consent.

Sadly, there are those whose whole way of life makes it impossible for them to receive Communion without repentance and a change of circumstances. For instance, anyone living as husband and wife with someone who is not their legitimate spouse is living in a state that openly contradicts the union of love between Christ and the Church, and therefore may not receive Communion. This is not meant as a punishment or a discrimination against the divorced and remarried, but rather expresses an objective situation that of itself renders Communion impossible.

Like the stewards of the king in Jesus’ story, priests must sometimes refuse Communion to those who are publicly known to be in a state of mortal sin. To do otherwise would greatly weaken the Church’s witness to the seriousness of sin and the need for repentance.

Although Catholics may never receive Communion from a priest who is not validly ordained, there are some rare cases when non-Catholics may receive the Sacrament from a Catholic priest. The Catholic Church permits Eastern Orthodox Christians to receive the Eucharist, although their own discipline discourages this. In cases of extreme pastoral necessity (e.g. the imminence of death) other Christians may request and receive the Sacraments from a Catholic priest only if a minister of their own denomination is unavailable, and they are both properly disposed and share the faith of the Church.

But there can be no such thing as ‘eucharistic hospitality’ offered on a broader basis to Christians not in communion with the Catholic Church or to non-Christians. When we receive Communion, by that act we give assent to the faith of the Church which offers it. This is not meanness on the part of the Church. The Church strives and prays for the day when all Christians will be able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ together at the one altar, but we have not yet reached that time. To offer such ‘hospitality’ before full communion has been reached would, in the words of the Holy Father, “result in slowing the progress being made towards full visible unity.” Sharing the Eucharist with our separated brothers and sisters cannot be used as the means to the end of unity. It is itself the end for which we long.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.