(The Nationalist, 23 February 2001)
Communion is a sacred event, or occasion, or action, not just a sacred thing. But it doesn’t work by magic; all the sacraments work within a context of faith. The fruitfulness of any sacrament, that is to say, its effectiveness in our lives, is in proportion to the dispositions of the person receiving it. Outside of a context of faith and reverence, communion, or indeed any other sacrament, is just an empty ritual.
The way in which we make communion expresses our attitude towards it, and can either enhance or diminish our faith and reverence towards it. A fourth-century saint, Cyril of Alexandria, wrote this about the act of communion: –
‘When you approach, do not come forward with wrists outstretched, or with fingers spread open. Make your left hand, as it were, a throne for the right, since it is about to receive a king; and hollow your palm, and receive the body of Christ, adding your “Amen”. Then, after you have carefully hallowed your eyes by the touch of the holy body, partake of it. Take care to lose none of it.’ (Catecheses 23.21.)
Small things make a difference. Signs and gestures count, especially where sacraments are concerned. So, go slowly to the altar; there isn’t a rush. It’s not an assembly line, or a conveyor belt; it is an act of entering into communion with God. It is a holy co-union, that is, literally, a sacred union with God. That’s what the words Holy Communion mean.
Receive the host on your left hand, then take it with your right hand and place it in your mouth. (If you are left-handed, do it the other way round.) Please don’t receive it with one hand outstretched and then swinging that hand back to your mouth like someone gulping down a handful of raisins. Consume the host in front of the altar before you return to your seat; don’t walk back to your seat with the host clutched in your hand. And when you turn around don’t bump into the person behind you.
Surround this sacrament with reverence and faith; don’t reduce its reception to the level of something functional, something that you just do, as if the all-important thing were to get it into your mouth and then it works by itself after that. The gestures and signs with which we surround the sacrament don’t make any difference to God, but they do make a difference to us, and may do so to others who are present.
The more we put into the sacraments, the more we get out of them.
And, lastly, please don’t go forward for communion just because others are doing so, for example, at a wedding, or because you think they might comment if they notice that you have not received. That is no reason for receiving any sacrament. The decision as to whether or not to receive rests with one person alone, and that is you – before God.