KNOW YOUR FAITH

The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect

When Pope Francis said that the Eucharist “is not a prize for the perfect, but a generous medicine and food for the weak” (Evangelii Gaudium), many people wrinkled their noses. They suspected that the pope was saying something contrary to Tradition, with a modernist background.

But this teaching is original to Pope Saint Pius X! The great enemy of modernism.

In 1910, during the papacy of Pius X, the Congregation of the Sacraments recalled the error of the Jansenist heretics, “who maintained that the Most Holy Eucharist was a prize, not medicine of human weakness” (Decree Quam Singulari).

The Jansenist heresy emerged and spread strongly in the 17th century. Its defenders claimed to defend the dignity and the revaluation of the Eucharist, in line with the guidance of the Trent Council. However, in practice, this very pious-looking excuse resulted in a strict behavior that were very distant from the mercy of the Gospel.

The central idea of ​​the Jansenists was that Holy Communion was a sublime reward for the good practice of virtues and severe penitence. And so the poor sinners (the vast majority of Christians), who often fell, were long periods without Eucharist. Even though they were sorry, they had to show that they were “humble” and not receive communion.

This austerity discouraged the weakest from pursuing holiness (Daniel-Rops, volume VI of Church History).

Quite different from this heresy, the Church preaches that even those who have any addiction or are crawling on the path of holiness must confess and receive the Eucharist. It is enough that he sincerely wishes to amend himself, and wishes to return to God. It is necessary to get up and start again, on each humiliating relapse!

It is harmful to the soul to receive Eucharist in mortal sin. It is also harmful to imagine that one must be almost a saint worthy of the altar in order to be able to approach the Holy Communion.

Whoever has a sick soul because of sin cannot be discouraged. He must persevere in the search for healing, which is Jesus. Whoever has faith will certainly be healed by grace. Sooner or later!

Click to comment

You May Also Like

KNOW YOUR FAITH

I once posted the photo that opens this article in my Instagram, saying it is the mask that covers the partially decomposed face of...

POPE & VATICAN

The year was 1963. The newly elected pope was Saint Paul VI. At the end of the event in which he was crowned, Paul...

HISTORY

Many Catholics have given credit to a shooting story involving Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother (Saint Gabriel Possenti). Only this is a legend...

SOCIETY, CULTURE ETC.

In the 1970s, thousands of Westerners visited or even moved to the city of Puna, India, to be close to a guru known as...

Copyright © 2021 by The Catechist. All rights reserved. The content of this website or any portion of it may not be reproduced without the permission of the administrators.