Tuesday in the Sixth Week of Easter, May 7, 2024

John 16, 5-11

Jesus said to his disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”

“But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.”  If the Lord remains with the Apostles they will continue to rely on him to do everything for them: they will not take the part in their own salvation necessary for them.  To put it another way, they will not grow up unless he leaves them.  Parents raise their children to the point where the children desire and are able to live on their own, for their own good and for the good of society.  The Lord Jesus leaves so that, filled with the Holy Spirit they may spread the Faith throughout the world, and in this way work for their own eternal good. “For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.”  The Lord’s physical departure from the Apostles serves to prepare them for the Holy Spirit by increasing their longing to serve Jesus.

“And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation.”  The sending of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles will fill them with the graces to preach the Gospel to the nations and it will also “convict” the world — the Greek word actually means “to expose” or “to rebuke” — so that the Apostles will see the world for what it is.  They will see through its smoke and mirrors, its false promises and its lies.  They will see it stand exposed, rebuked, and condemned.  But they would also see, through faith, the true Promised Land to come: “l saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth was gone: and the sea is now no more” (Revelation 21, 1).  “Sin, because they do not believe in me.”  To reject Jesus is to commit the most heinous sin, and the Holy Spirit comes to the Apostles to teach them this, and as a result they, in their love for their fellow men, will work all the more earnestly for their conversion.  “Righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me.”  The Holy Spirit will reveal to them the righteousness of the Lord Jesus so that, profoundly moved by the Lord’s giving up everything for us, they will give up all for him.  “Condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.”  Already the devil’s power has been sharply curtailed by the victory of Jesus over sin and death.  St. John would one day see the devil’s current state and describe it for us: “And he [the Lord Jesus] laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20, 2).  The “thousand years” here signifies the time between the Lord’s Incarnation and his return in glory — the present age.

We may wish very much to see the Lord now, at least for a moment, or to hear his voice in our ears, as the Apostles did.  When we do so we ought to recall the Lord’s words, which are both statement and promise: “Blessed are they that have not seen and have believed” (John 20, 29).

The twenty-seventh article in our continuing series on the Holy Mass: Holy Communion

In the current ritual for Holy Communion, the priest says to the communicant standing before him, “The Body of Christ” while holding up the Host.  The communicant then responds, “Amen”, by way of an act of faith.  The communicant then received the Host on his tongue or in his hands.  If in his hands, he is to place one hand under the other to receive the Lord in a sort of bed or couch.  The hands of the communicant are to be clean, with no writing or coloring on them.  The hands may not be covered, as with gloves.  The communicant should receive while standing still, preferably while gazing at the crucifix over the altar.  When the Precious Blood is administered as well, the priest, deacon, or extraordinary minister of the Eucharist holds up the chalice and says, “The Blood of Christ”, to which the communicant also responds, “Amen.”   The communicant then takes a sip from the chalice and hands it back to the minister.  The custom of administering the Precious Blood (in modern times) goes back to the 1970’s and was popular in many places.  However, this requires a certain amount of space and takes a certain amount of time, making it difficult and even frustrating to do.  For instance, in order to keep the line of communicants flowing it is necessary to have two ministers of the chalice per one minister of the Hosts.  The necessity of wiping the chalice after each use also has a slowing effect.  The result can resemble gridlock with confusion as to which line leads where.  Churches with little room between the sanctuary and the pews usually do not try to do this, at least at Sunday Masses.  The fear of contagion from a large number of people drinking from the same chalice also has driven down the demand for the Precious Blood.  While one possible solution to this might be intinction, in which the Host is dipped into the chalice before being placed on the communicant’s tongue, the practice is forbidden due to the danger of the Precious Blood dripping on the floor.  And it is the fear of this very danger that diminished the practice of Communion under both kinds as found in the early centuries of the Church.  

The first descriptions of Holy Communion give us the ritual as described above, a very simple one.  By the time of Pope St. Gregory I, devotion to the Body of Christ had deepened so that the words “the Body of Christ” became a prayer or blessing.  From the seventh century on we find that priests are now saying, “May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve your soul unto eternal life.”  While so saying, the priest would make the Sign of the Cross over the communicant and afterwards place the Host on his tongue.  The communicant’s “Amen” died away at this time.  Also as the centuries progressed fewer and fewer members of the congregation came forward to receive.  This, again, had to do with the greater devotion to the Sacrament and a greater understanding of one’s unworthiness of receiving it.  To encourage people to receive the Church, at various councils, regulated the reception: first, to every Sunday; then to once a month; then to three times a year; and finally to Easter, so that this became known as making one’s “Easter duty” along with confession.

Next: the Postcommunion