Inbox Inspiration: December 4, 2019 - December 18, 2019: Are We Worthy

Are We Worthy - 1

Dear Friends,
Are we worthy to receive Communion?
Just think about some of our prayers.
As part of the Communion Rite at Mass, immediately before the distribution of Communion, we pray together: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof…”
I think I am correct in saying that unlike all other responses invited by the priest at Mass, this is the only one that the priest is also to recite with the rest of the assembly.
So, we are all to declare that we are “not worthy,” including the priest.
I have quickly looked at the ordinary prayers of the Mass (those which are the same in all Masses) and I see the word “sin” at least nine times.
This does not include the word “trespasses” in the Lord’s Prayer or the times the word “sin” is used in the prayers that are special or proper for each Mass.
So, with this awareness of sin and the declaration of unworthiness, we might conclude that we are all unworthy.
And, in a sense, we are.
We are all human, imperfect, still in need of spiritual growth.
In that sense, we humbly admit that we are unworthy in relation to God, unworthy of receiving Communion.
But…but…but, there is another side to this story and I will look at that next week.

“With Gospel brilliance and insight, A.A. says that the starting point and, in fact, the continuing point, is not any kind of worthiness at all but in fact unworthiness! (‘I am an alcoholic!’) ...This is what Jesus affirmed in prostitutes, drunkards, and tax collectors, and what Paul praised when he said, ‘It is when I am weak that I am strong’” (2 Corinthians 12:10.)
From Breathing Under Water by Father Richard Rohr, OFM (1943 –. Ordained a priest in 1970, Franciscan friar, author, Director of Center for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico).
.
May God awaken us to the presence of Christ with and among us. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

********************************************************

Are We Worthy - 2

Dear Friends,
Jesus never expected his apostles or anyone else to be perfect.
Just recall the humanity of some of the apostles – the impetuousness and denial of Peter, the searching or doubting of Thomas, the self-focused jockeying for position of James and John, and on it goes.
Also, Jesus dined with so-called sinners – those looked down upon by others as bad people.
In fact, besides the other eleven imperfect apostles, he even included Judas in the Last Supper.
My point is that I don’t see Jesus expecting perfection.
What he did expect is that we admit our imperfection, our humanity, our faults, our sinfulness.
This leads me to think that we are all basically worthy to receive Communion – worthy because we admit and are aware of unworthiness.
It’s an interesting dynamic, isn’t it?
We become worthy if we recognize our unworthiness.
Maybe that’s why the full declaration that we recite before Communion is this: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”
Jesus has said “the word” by his words and actions –
a “word” of love, forgiveness, acceptance, healing and including.
The “word” has been spoken and that has made us worthy in our unworthiness of receiving Communion.
I will finish these thoughts in next week’s column.
  
 “For John [Saint John of the Cross], there is only one goal. His word for it is not so much ‘perfection’ – as if it were only about me becoming myself; he prefers to call it union – ‘union with God’, the ‘union of love’…Whether or not she realizes it, the human person aches for such a union…”
From The Impact of God by Father Iain Matthew (1940 –. British, Carmelite priest, Doctoral Degree from Oxford, author, chaplain, retreat director).

May God awaken us to the presence of Christ with and among us. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner

********************************************************

Are We Worthy - 3

Dear Friends, 
When I celebrate Mass and look at those present, I see good persons.
I see sincere men and women, teens and children trying to do their best.
I see persons sometimes under significant stress and pressure,
trying to live life well and follow the way of Christ,
and doing this amidst the complexities and messiness of life.
I don’t look for perfection and I don’t dwell on imperfection –
ways that I might think or even experience others falling short of the gospel or Church teaching on this or that point.
In other words, I don’t look at others through the lens of sin or mortal sin.
So, given my vision, my outlook, my perspective,
I see people desiring God in their lives.
I see persons hungering for the heavenly food of the Eucharist.
I see myself as like them, as one of them.
In fact, I don’t see a “them” at all.
I just see a “we” who gather to worship God and be nourished by the Eucharist.
Therefore, never, never have I refused Communion to anyone who comes forward desiring to receive.
To me, that would be judgmental, inappropriate, insensitive, and counter to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And, by the way, I say all of this mindful and not in disregard of the Church’s teaching about who can receive Communion. 
After a recent public incident in which a Catholic was refused Communion, I decided to share where I am on this important matter.
  
“The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”
From The Joy of the Gospel, an Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Francis, 2013.

May God awaken us to the presence of Christ with and among us. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner