Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter

I am intrigued that two apparently disparate themes are braided together in the sixth chapter of John: Jesus is the bread of life and Jesus is the obedient son of God.

The Church has its policies about who should receive the Eucharist and, simply put, they are "practicing Catholics." Others are welcome to observe and pray with us, especially to pray ut unum sunt, that all may be one. The Church has the right to pronounce these policies despite the protest of people who sport WWJD? wrist bands; they reflect our reverence and our beliefs.

But the bishops of the United States have also instructed Eucharistic Ministers to give communion to anyone who approaches the altar. This policy, perhaps, reflects the attitude of Jesus as we meet him in Saint John's Gospel,
       I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
       because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
       but the will of the one who sent me.
       And this is the will of the one who sent me,
       that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
        but that I should raise it on the last day.

John 5 has described the amazing and beautiful love of the Father and the Son. We hear more about their relationship when Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life.”

Bread is there for the eating. Anyone who eats is nourished. It “obeys” the one who eats, nourishing that person’s body. Like the manna in the desert, Jesus is available to anyone who will believe in him, regardless of their worth, their abilities, talents, status, sins, or past.

Jesus will not let himself come between the Father and “what he gave me.” He is not stuck on himself, or his rights and privileges as the Son of God.

So should anyone just walk up and get one of those things? When asked we should answer: the Eucharist is shared by those who belong to the Catholic Church. Those who are not practicing Catholics should not take the sacrament. When there seems to be a misunderstanding, we should clarify. We want to be an avenue to God, and our policies and teachings about the Eucharist are also avenues to God. And we want to harm neither our guests nor our reverence.

The person who receives the Eucharist irreverently will receive little benefit from it. He should see the many ways we show reverence to the Eucharist: the sanctuary lamp, the locked and veiled tabernacle, our bowing and genuflecting, the emptiness we feel when we enter the church on Good Friday and see the empty tabernacle. He should read our prayers, attend Eucharistic Devotion, and learn our Eucharistic songs. He should hear stories of the martyrs who died defending the Eucharist.

Anyone who is willing to receive the Blessed Sacrament with that attitude must eventually join heart and soul to our fellowship, and will certainly be welcome.