Part 2, Chapter 20
Our Lord is truly present in Communion. It is His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. We receive God when we receive our Lord in the Eucharist. It is a gift of His very self. “The Savior instituted the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, really containing his Body and his Blood, in order that they who eat it might live forever” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 65). WOW (With Out Words)!!!!
We should try to receive our Lord as often as we can. During St. Francis De Sales, most people didn’t receive our Lord on a weekly basis in Holy Communion. This is part of the reason he is encouraging us to go more frequently. Why wouldn’t we want to receive our Lord more frequently if we are prepared to do this? “With respect to communicating every Sunday, I counsel and exhort everyone to do so, providing the mind has no attachment to sin” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 65). Even more frequent reception of Communion in his day was not considered normal. Today, more and more people try to receive Communion on more regular basis. However often we receive the Lord, we should be prepared to receive Him. “Only this much I will say, that monthly Communions are the very fewest that anyone seeking to serve God devoutly can make” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 66). We need our Lord, Communion prepares us and gives the graces that we need to live a devout life.
One thing to remember though is this: Communion means that we are in unity with the Lord. To receive our Lord at all, we are to be conscious of no Mortal Sin. To receive our Lord in the state of Mortal Sin would be a lie because for us as Catholics, Communion means that we are in a state of grace, that our minds and hearts are united to the Lord. It means that we believe all that the Church, founded by Jesus Christ, believes. That is, her teachings on marriage, respect of life, that the Eucharist is truly His Body and Blood and much, much more. I heard it once said that to go to Communion and receive our Lord, we are saying, in saying the Amen, we are willing to die for it. Our Lord Jesus Christ died for us and He gives us Himself. We should be conscious of all of this when we come to receive our Lord in Most Holy Communion.