Brief synopsis of the readings: From Exodus we read Moses speaking to the newly liberated slaves. In the previous three chapters Moses had proclaimed the 10 Commandments and had given other rules for the people to follow. Here the people respond with a promise to obey all these command. The next morning Moses built an altar of sacrifice and ordered the sacrifice of young bulls. He then sprinkled the blood of the bulls on the altar and on the people. “[T]his is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.” Mark’s Gospel recounts preparations for Jesus and his disciples to celebrate the Passover meal. This will be known as the Last Supper. While they were eating Jesus took the unleavened bread, blessed it and said: “Take it; this is my body.” He then took the cup of wine and said: “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.”

This is an interesting few weeks for our readings. Two weeks ago it was Pentacost, last week it was Holy Trinity and today we complete the set with the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, often called by its Latin name, Corpus Christi.

We are a church built on the celebration of the seven sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Matrimony, Orders, and Anointing) we generally place special emphasis on Eucharist, what we sometimes call Communion. We also call it the Blessed Sacrament.

First the good news: from the Last Supper through the early, shaky days of the church to the fall of the Roman Empire, we’ve celebrated the Eucharist. In the darkest days of the Dark Ages, through the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation we’ve kept the Eucharist. When missionaries from Europe began to travel the world they brought Christianity and the Eucharist with them. Today the Eucharist is celebrated every day and in all parts of the world. Like any sacrament Eucharist depends not only on God’s actions but also our own. God’s presence in the Eucharist has existed because every generation has decided to follow God’s plan.

But here’s the bad news: in varieties of places and situations we have used the Eucharist to hold power over people and manipulate their behavior. Perhaps most pervasive is the belief that you can’t receive Eucharist unless you’ve recently been to Confession (Reconciliation). I was reminded of this a few months ago when we learned my father in law’s nursing home roommate was Catholic. When the Eucharistic minister came to bring Al Communion I told him about the roommate. His first question to him was: “Have you been to confession recently?” When told he hadn’t, he was told that he could get Eucharist today but he “needed to get this taken care of.” In fairness almost all of us were told this and the minister was only repeating what he had been told. The thing is, it’s simply not true. The Catholic Church teaches that only someone who has committed a grave (or mortal) sin needs to reconcile but that’s rare. A grave sin is defined as a sin so great that the person has willfully and deliberately broken all relationship with God and his people. This is Charles Manson level sin, not just the ordinary dumb things we do all the time.

It is unfortunate that Eucharist has been held up as the reward for doing what we want you to do. Each and every Sacrament brings healing and forgiveness of sins. Look at the words the priest says at mass when holding the chalice: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me. (emphasis mine).

I’m writing about this because the idea that we need one sacrament before celebrating another really cheapens both. Of all the sacraments we celebrate, we celebrate Eucharist more than any other and there’s nothing wrong with called it the Blessed Sacrament. But believing that we need Reconciliation before Eucharist makes Reconciliation a subset and it’s not. It also implies that Eucharist can’t forgive sins by claiming that work needs to be done before approaching Eucharist.

It also claims that we need to cleanse ourselves before approaching Eucharist. My response to this comes from Pope Francis: “Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” Believers who find themselves caught in addiction or destructive relationships or just plain feel stuck should be able to find healing in the Eucharist directly because, frankly, Eucharist contains the healing we all need.

Now obviously the Church does have a responsibility to determine who is eligible. It cheapens the Eucharist if it’s given to someone who is scornful or hostile of it or someone whose lifestyle makes a mockery of it. But it (like all sacraments) is ultimately a gift from God and should be thought of in terms of generosity.

There have been times in our history when most Catholics received Eucharist rarely, perhaps once once per year. Also children were often excluded until they could “understand” the sacrament, likely in adulthood. But in the early 20th Century, led by St. Pius X, it changed so that children as young as 7 were eligible. This recognized that this sacrament (again, like all sacraments) should be dealt with generously.

Again we do need to handle this judiciously but not see ourselves as the “traffic cop.” Lay people have been able to distribute the Eucharist since 1979 and we all have stories of finding ourselves in front of someone whose eligibility could have been questioned. My advice has always been that if I need to explain myself to God, I’d rather say I was too generous than too harsh.

Eucharist is always going to be a mystery and we have great responsibility in how we celebrate. But it was given to us joyfully. Let’s do the same.