As a catholic I believe in the real presence of the Lord in the eucharist, and in the transubstantiation that takes place at every Mass. I also think that it should be distributed to christians without putting rules in place that would seek to use it as a weapon.
I am talking about this today as there is a new issue that has arisen with President Biden being a catholic but not agreeing with the church’s teaching on abortion. There is talk by some bishops that he should be denied the eucharist but the Vatican is saying that the eucharist should not be ‘weaponised’. It is a bit late for that, as it already has been. Catholics who divorce and marry again cannot receive the eucharist. Some have done so for very good reasons and through no fault of their own but they are denied this sacrament.
How can it now be said that to deny Biden the eucharist because of his views would lead to ‘weaponising the eucharist’? This is a complete double standard and astounds me.
Each of us receiving the eucharist should do so ‘in a state of grace’. If we feel we have something on our conscience that would make receiving communion wrong, then we should put it right, or confess it beforehand. It is a great sin to receive the eucharist knowing that we have sinned and will continue to sin. Each of us has to examine our own conscience in this respect.
If the church has instigated rules about communion and who should receive it, they should either stick to them if they believe them to be right, (infallibly), or welcome all to receive it. Whether you are a president or not.
There were no rules about who should receive communion at the Last Supper; perhaps we should reconsider who can receive this ‘bread of life’.
John 6:51
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Widows Mote 