Written by Bridget Klawitter, Pastoral Associate

    Part of the greatest preparation we can make to receive Christ’s Precious Body and Blood worthily is to experience his forgiveness and healing in Confession. If we are full of sin, there is no room for Christ. St. Paul made this point to the first-century Christians in Corinth: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Cor 11:27-29).

    We can sin if we do not receive the Eucharist in the appropriate moral and spiritual state. As many saints and theologians have shown, to receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin is itself a mortal sin! A basic rule of thumb that the church teaches in the Catechism, following the wisdom of the saints, is this: “Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 1415). Receiving Christ in the Eucharist forgives venial sins. The CCC states, “As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins” (CCC 1394).

    Since the reception of the Eucharist does not forgive mortal sins, a person who is conscious of mortal sin must go to confession before receiving communion. The CCC further explains, “Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession” (CCC 1457). Basically, if you are aware of a mortal sin on your soul after examining your conscience and can confess your sins to a priest, then it is your duty to seek sacramental absolution.

    But what is a mortal sin? The church supplies three criteria for making that evaluation. First, the action itself must concern something serious or grave. A shorthand way to understand this is to assess how close the action is to breaking one of the Ten Commandments or to exemplifying one of the seven deadly sins (pride, wrath, lust, envy, gluttony, greed, sloth). Second, we must know that the action is serious. If there was no possible way for us to know that something was wrong, then our culpability is greatly diminished. However, if we pretend not to know, or go out of our way to ignore what we should understand about right and wrong, then we are not off the hook! Third, we must freely choose to do serious action. While certain things like fear and psychological issues can hinder our ability to make free choices, the more responsible we are for our actions, the more severe it is to choose sin. There are resources to guide you in examining your conscience appropriate to your age and state of life, such as those provided on usccb.org.

    Those who receive Communion should be prepared to accept this great gift of the Body & Precious Blood and are encouraged to receive the sacrament devoutly and frequently. If a person is conscious of grave (mortal) sin, they should not receive Communion without prior sacramental confession. The Church sees the two sacraments as connected, and urges us, when we can, to join frequent Confession with frequent Communion. 

    Confessions at St. Leonard are heard on Saturdays, 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. or by appointment. You can also find a Confession time at other Archdiocesan locations by visiting archmil.org/Parishes/Find-a-Confession.htm or masstimes.org.