Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Oath to the Death

An African priest was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel in his small village. A gunman entered the chapel and ordered the priest to his feet.

“Why do you kneel before a piece of bread?” the gunman asked. “Kneel before me instead.” .

“This is not a piece of bread,” the priest responded boldly. “This is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of my Lord Jesus Christ. I will only kneel to him.” .

The gunman laughed. “Do you actually believe that is Jesus?” he chuckled. “I will prove to you that it is just bread. When I shoot it, it will just crumble and break. It will not scream. It will not bleed. If I shoot you, you will scream and bleed and plead for your life.” .

The priest stepped between the Blessed Sacrament and the gunman. “If you must shoot someone, shoot me instead,” the priest begged. .

“Are you willing to die for this piece of bread?” the gunman said in disbelief. .

“When you look at the Blessed Sacrament all you see if a piece of bread. I believe that this is Jesus himself. I believe this because he tells me it is so. I trust Jesus when he says that this is his body and his blood. I believe in my head and I trust in my heart. I love him even more than I love my own mother. He died for me. I am willing to die for him. You think the worst you can do is to take my life from me but in doing so you free me to be with him. I do not fear this. Do what you came here to do.” .

The gunman lowered his rifle and stared at the priest. He stared quizzically for a moment. He shook his head, and turning, he walked out of the chapel and left the village. .

In the Lord’s Prayer we ask the Lord not to lead us into temptation. In Greek, the prayer asks that we not be put to the test. The test we ask not to be put through is the test of Peter. When facing death, will we deny Christ? As bold as we believe ourselves to be, none of us knows how we will answer that question until it is put to us. If a gunman were to walk into Mass and order anyone who believes that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist to stand and be shot for their belief would you be willing to stand when simply sitting would save your life? .

Yet, that is the statement we make when we present ourselves to receive him in Holy Communion. We don’t go to communion just to get something. The Eucharist is a Sacrament and a Sacrament begins with an oath to the death. Before we receive the Lord in the Eucharist we renew our oath to live for him and die for him if necessary. We reaffirm this oath with our “Amen” after the communion minister says, “The body of Christ.” .

There is a desire within the Church today to give the Eucharist to as many people as possible. There are many who support, and even demand, that the Church give the Eucharist to divorced and remarried Catholics, to those who embrace a same-sex lifestyle, to those living together playing house, and those who are transgendering, just to name a few. There are even those who want to open up Holy Communion to those who are not even Catholic. These desires are founded in a false sense of love. We want to be inclusive. To share Jesus with everyone regardless of belief. This is a noble thing but one that lacks understanding of what receiving the Eucharist actually is. .

To receive the Eucharist is to take an oath to the death that one will live for Christ and die for him if necessary. We offer our lives as collateral when we take this oath and when we willfully break this oath we forfeit that collateral. To live for Christ means to follow his commands and his teachings to the best of our ability. We believe that Jesus taught his disciples and that these teachings have been handed down to us through his Church. When someone disagrees with an official Church teaching they do not disagree with the Church. They disagree with Jesus. .

It would be wrong for the Church to demand that anyone take an oath to the death when they either do not understand what that oath requires or they do not believe what the Church teaches. You cannot be in communion with Christ and his Church if you do not believe what they proclaim and teach. .

The Church is currently in the middle of a three-year Eucharistic revival. This is meant to renew our love and reverence for the source and summit of our Catholic faith – Jesus in the Eucharist. This renewal has to begin with a proper understanding for what the Eucharist is and the oath we take when we receive him. We need to receive Jesus on his terms, not ours. Even the manna that came down from heaven to sustain the tribes of Israel had rules for its collection and consumption. The Eucharist is the true bread that comes down from heaven. To receive him properly is to have life within you. We eat to our condemnation every time we receive him improperly. It is false love to allow someone who is not properly disposed to receive Holy Communion. .

We are called to love one another with the same love God has for each of us. We are called to love one another with sacrificial love. True love is not giving someone something that will do them harm. To truly love someone is to keep from them something that will do them hard regardless of how much they want or demand it. .

Remember this the next time you present yourself to receive Holy Communion. Ask yourself, “If I had to be shot after receiving Jesus would I still be in this line?” If the answer to that question is no you shouldn’t be in that line. .