Communion

“Who are we becoming? Let us receive the gift of God himself. Let us become what we receive.”

“I recently attended the U.S. bishops’ Spring Plenary Assembly during which we voted to move ahead with the drafting of a teaching document about the Eucharist. Unfortunately, much of the media coverage about this decision by the bishops misconstrues what we actually voted for and the nature of the document itself.”

A proposed document to examine the “meaning of the Eucharist in the life of the church” received a thorough discussion June 17 during the second day of U.S. bishops’ spring general assembly.

After receiving an unprecedented letter from 67 bishops appealing for a delay in a discussion during the bishops’ upcoming spring general assembly on whether to prepare a teaching document on the reception of Communion, the USCCB’s president explained in a memo the procedure followed in bringing the question to a vote during the June 16-18 virtual meeting.

“Has there been an erosion in Catholic belief about the Real Presence, and what does this mean for the Church?”

“As we move through dramatic changes of physical distancing and working remotely, we reflect upon the goodbyes we could not say as people move on.”

“What if we focus on the body of Christ and let everything organize itself around that?”

Every time a Catholic receives Communion, it should be like his or her first Communion, Pope Francis said.