4th Week of Lent - Why Holy Communion?

"There followed him a great crowd." St. John, 6:16

In the early sixteenth century the Lord Chancellor of England was a man by the name of Thomas More. He is known today as St. Thomas More. His was a position of many duties. Yet, on even his busiest day he heard Mass and received Communion. Asked why he did not devote that time to the affairs of government, the brilliant and saintly chancellor gave answer:
"Your reasons for wanting me to stay away from Holy Communion are exactly the ones which cause me to go so often. My distractions are great ­but it is by Holy Communion that I recall myeslf. Many times a day I am tempted to sin - it is through my Communion I overcome. I have many weighty affairs to manage - and I have need of light and strength to do so well. It is in Communion that I find all this."

For these and many other reasons Christ gave us Holy Communion. This week and next we will consider some of those reasons.

1. Christ gave us Himself as the life of our souls. "He who eats me, he also shall live because of me. . . He who eats this bread shall live forever." St. John, 6:58,59. Communion gives us the fullness of Divine Grace, for it gives us the very Author of grace. It increases sanctifying grace, making the soul even more healthy spiritually.

It also gives sacramental graces, special helps to live in, by and through Christ. It weakens our wish to sin; it cools the passions and makes both body and soul pleasing to God; it gives spiritual joy and devotion to God; it makes us more like Christ in all the virtues, especially in humility, pa­tience and charity.

2. Holy Communion is food for our souls, just as the Manna of the Old Testament was food for bodies. The Manna fell from heaven; from heaven our Eucharistic Lord comes to us. The Manna was for God's children only; Communion is only for the members of God's Church. Not until they had passed the Red Sea did the chosen people receive the Manna; only after passing through the waters of Baptism can we receive Holy Communion. The Manna had every taste; Holy Communion has every spiritual taste and delight. The Jews received Manna on their journey through the desert; we receive the heavenly Manna during our journey through the desert of this life. Manna was food for the body, and the Jews ate it every day. Holy Communion is food for the soul. How often do you receive Communion?

3. Holy Communion was given as a strength and support for the body as well as the soul. We read of this in the lives of many saints, like St. Catherine of Siena, St. Juliana, St. Rose of Lima and St. Angela of Foligno. In recent times there was a striking instance of this in the person of a German peasant woman by the name of Theresa Neumann. For twenty years her only food had been the Sacred Host received devoutly every morning. Com­munion helps the health in another way. A virtuous life is always a healthy life. By helping us avoid excess and lead regular lives Holy Communion helps our health, helps our bodies.

4. Holy Communion gives strength in time of Temptation. To live worthy of the Holy Communion you have received and worthy of the Holy Communion you will receive next, is to be sure of strength against the promptings of the world, the flesh and the devil. We read in Exodus, 12:23, that the destroying angel spared the houses marked with the blood of the lamb. Even more warily the devil who destroys souls will avoid the human temple that houses the Lamb of heaven. The Blood of Christ is all-powerful, especially against the assaults of Satan. The Holy Eucharist does not remove temptation, but it does give supernatural strength to resist it.

Holy Communion has other effects, of which we will speak next week.

The Bible tells us of a great crowd that followed Christ because of the wonders He worked on those who were sick. Join that crowd. Join that army of saints and sinners who feel the need for this heavenly Food. Follow Him, receive Him, despite distance, duties and indifference.

Think of St. Thomas More, hero of those horrible days of King Henry VIII, when a man was put to death if he opposed in any way the whims of the king. In Holy Communion More received the courage and strength to stand up for God and God's Church, even to the point of placing his head on a block and having it chopped off. If such a busy man could find time and take time to attend Mass and receive Holy Communion every day, surely you can find time to receive the Bread of Angels more frequently.

When we see what Holy Communion did for a man like that we begin to realize what Holy Communion will do for us, what Christ intended that His body and blood should do for us. Knowing that, realizing that, we will give Christ a chance to work His wonders for us too.
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Adapted from Talks on the Sacraments
by Fr. Arthur Tonne, 1947