The Sacrament of the Eucharist has always had a special position in the Catholic Church. It is the faith of the Church that the consecrated bread and wine is truly and really the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is fully and entirely present in every part of the consecrated species, with his body and blood, soul and divinity. (CCC #1374) As such, when Catholics receive the consecrated species at Communion, they truly receive Christ. They come into intimate union with their Master and Savior and become more closely conformed to the image of Christ through the power of his transformin grace in this sacrament. It indeed fills the human mind and heart with awe and immense gratitude, that God who made the universe should come to us his creatures, and struggling sinners at that, under the appearance of bread and wine to feed them, transform them and come into intimate union with them.
Because the Eucharist brings about an intimate union between Christ and the communicant, it also expresses, strengthens and deepens the communion within the Church, which St. Paul describes as the Body of Christ. Being each of us joined to Christ through the Sacrament, we also enter into deeper communion with all other members of the Church: those present with us in our worship physically, other members of the Church throughout the world, and the members of the Church in Purgatory and in Heaven (the saints). Hence, it would be inappropriate for Christians not in full communion with the Church to receive Communion in the Catholic churches. It would similarly be inadequete for Catholics to receive the Lord in the Eucharist without recognising the challenge it poses us: our communion with our fellow Catholic Christians
Recognising these two realities about the Eucharist, we can understand the dignified office the Church considers in the distribution of Holy Communion. The commissioning prayer from the Book of Blessings prays that God will bless the ministers to faithfully give the bread of life to his people, and that they in turn may be strengthened to enter into the banquet of heaven. The ministers are also charged to administer the holy eucharist with utmost care and reverence and to help serve and build up the Church through their ministry.
To be faithful ministers of Communion however, we have to go beyond being just wonderful assistants at Communion time. The Tradition of the Church has always seen the Eucharist as inseparable from the Mass, the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation from the Sacrifice. It is through the Mass that the bread and wine is consecrated and changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but the relation between Eucharist and Mass goes beyond that. The Word that was proclaimed in the Liturgy of the Word is made present in the form of the Eucharist as the people of God recalls and celebrates the paschal mystery. In the Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ who died once for all on Calvary re-presents this offering of himself to the Father for and with his Church, and in offering himself through the priest, the whole Church, with her pains and sufferings, joys and woes is offered up (cf CCC #1367-8). Just as the Mass is the offering of the whole Church united around her Lord, so the Eucharist challenges us to remain united around the Church and perfects that bond of communion. Just as the Mass is an offering of ourselves to God, so too does the Eucharist challenges us to be bread for the world, broken and shared. The reserved Eucharist, the Real Presence of Christ, is truly the pre-eminent reminder of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ
As such, ministers of Communion should grow towards greater appreciation and participation at Mass throughout their ministry, and that of the other liturgies of the Church as well, since every liturgical act is the act of Christ and his whole Church. We should also be challenged to live out our faith with acts of love and charity concretely, recalling the words of the Book of Blessings that as ministers of holy communion [we have to] be... especially observant of the Lord's command to love your neighbor. For when he gave his body as food to his disciples, he said to them: "This is my commandment, that you should love one another as I have loved you." We also have to do our part in contributing to the unity of the Church, recalling the words of St. Paul that we though many are one, because we share in the one bread and one cup.
As with any ministries in the Church, prayer is an essential part of the ministry. St Therese of Lisieux once wrote that prayer is a surge of the heart, a simple look turned toward heaven, a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. Prayer is also a simple conversation between God and us, where we should let God do more talking, and us more hearing. The Church's Tradition encompass a variety of forms of prayer, and you may have some particular traditions that you favor. Be it the rosary, meditation, the Liturgy of the Hours, angelus etc., be sure to set aside time as frequently as you can to look toward God and converse with him. Some form of spiritual preparartion before ministering at Mass is always encouraged.
The special importance of the Eucharist in the Catholic life gives special focus to this ministry, and adds some form of solemnity to it. However, it is also a very rich ministry in itself, that offers growth and renewal both to the local community and to the individual minister. Thank you for volunteering as an extraordinary minister of Communion! God Bless! |
