At the LC Diocesan Eucharistic Congress I indicated that I would post my presentation on my blog. This is the first part of four.
The Holy Eucharist and the Moral Life
It is a privilege to be able to speak today at the First Eucharistic Congress of the Diocese of Lake Charles. I appreciate the opportunity to speak about the Holy Eucharist and Morality.
My talk today will be divided in to 4 parts.
Part I will lay the foundation for a discussion of the Holy Eucharist and the Moral Life. The Eucharist is food for the New Man, Remade in the Image of Christ.
Part II will consider the Impact of the Loss of Faith in the Dogma of the Real Presence.
Part III is a presentation of the Virtue of Religion and the sin of Sacrilege.
Part IV Will Consider the Necessity of Interior Union with Christ for Fruitful Participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.
Part I: The Holy Eucharist and the Moral Life
Let us begin with this verse from the Book of James, Chapter 1. It is verse 25:
“But the one who peers into the perfect law[a] of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.”
The Holy Eucharist and the Moral Law go hand-in-hand. That is obvious to anyone with a basic knowledge of the practice of the Church with regard to the Holy Eucharist. All those prepared to receive First Holy Communion know that this preparation requires a basic knowledge of the commandments, of the differences between mortal and venial sins, of the duty to repent from sin, and the practice of self-examination and, if necessary, seeking the sacrament of penance before receiving Holy Communion.
Let us consider for a moment what Catholic morality is and what it is not. I can demonstrate this very clearly from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part III, Life in Christ. That, you can review for yourself just to keep me honest. So, I ask you to consider this: The concept of morality in the Church is not what most Catholics think it is. Most people think that Catholic morality is defined by rules that limit their behavior. They tend to think only of the negative side of the commandments, “Thou shalt not,” as the essence of the moral teaching of the Church. This is a mistake, however, for it is like saying that traveling to a desirable destination is only a matter of obeying traffic laws, speed limits, stop lights, etc. That is an impoverished concept that many people hold, including many clerics all the way up to the top. Sadly, this situation is the result of many mistaken steps that took place over a number of decades. Anytime the focus of topic of conversation is on the moral “rule,” most often this mistaken concept of morality is at work. There are many articles in the Catechism that one could use to demonstrate the proper concept of morality. Indeed, the true and Catholic concept of morality is found in all parts of the Catechism. It is summed up in article 1696. “The way of Christ ‘leads to life’; a contrary way ‘leads to destruction.’… There are two ways, the one of life, the other of death; but between the two, there is a great difference.” (From the Didache 1,1)
This tells us that the whole of the moral life is not defined by a set of rules like traffic laws, but it is journey that one pursues like following a map with all of its symbols and advisories and, most importantly, marking out the path. There is a beginning and an end. And there is a “way” to go from one to the other. That way is Christ and he has revealed to us the fullness of what it means to be a human person, created in the image and likeness of the Creator. Christ, Redeemer and Savior, restores the divine image, disfigured in man by sin. This re-creation is accomplished by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The restoration brings the image to its original beauty and elevates it by God’s grace, so that man can live in the presence of God and see God face to face.
This restored image is the standard of good and evil. That image is the “map” so to speak. And it is in that way that we can speak about the moral law. It is not an arbitrary rule established by God, but the moral law is a path of development of the image. By choosing what is good for the “image” and avoiding what damages it or, according to our “map,” avoiding the mistaken paths that lead away from life we come to the fullness of life. What some think of only as moral rules are actually characteristics of the new Man, re-created by the power of the Savior. The obligations, however, as we have suggested are not the principal elements of morality.
Faith in Christ, given in baptism, transforms the believer giving him or her the ability to follow the example of Christ. “It makes him capable of acting rightly and doing good.” CCC 1709.
Our ability to choose the good and avoid evil characterizes freedom. God has given us that nature so that we can choose the good out of love for Him and for our neighbor. And, He has even given us a desire to do it, which the Church calls a natural desire for happiness.
St Paul’s teaching is very clear, that by Baptism, we are given a new personality, in Christ, in order to live in newness of life, a life according to the Spirit of Christ. He presents a description of how that transformation looks in various ways. Consider Eph 4:22-24. “You must give up your old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of Truth.” A properly formed conscience is a witness to all I have been saying.
Enlightened by such knowledge we are now eager to fulfill the exhortation of St. Paul that we must examine our conscience before the act of receiving Holy Communion. Since the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Angels, is our spiritual food for the new life of the resurrection, St. Paul is able to give direction about its meaning even by his telling us how to receive it. “Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink the of the cup.” “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church adds, “Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before going to communion.” (1385)
Front Line Moral 