A couple of weeks ago, I looked at how in the early days the Church would dismiss those not in full communion (for example, catechumans in formation to become Christians, those who were not baptized, those who were in the order of penitents for serious sin) after what we now call the Liturgy of the Word and before what we now call the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This was not out of a desire to exclude these people, but to follow the mandates of sacred scripture that we must give to people the spiritual nourishment that is appropriate for them. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “when I preached to you, I had to approach you as men with natural, not with spiritual thoughts. You were little children in Christ’s nursery, and I gave you milk, not meat; you were not strong enough for it. You are not strong enough for it even now; nature still lives in you.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2) St. Peter, similarly, writes, “[y]ou must put aside, then, every trace of ill-will and deceitfulness, your affectations, the grudges you bore, and all the slanderous talk; you are children new-born, and all your craving must be for the soul’s pure milk, that will nurture you into salvation” (1 Peter 2:1-2) In the letter to the Hebrews, we hear, “[s]olid food is for the full-grown; for those whose faculties are so trained by exercise that they can distinguish between good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14)

Adults usually do not like being referred to as children, but we must recognize that St. Peter, St. Paul, and the fathers of the early church did this out of pastoral care for their people. Whether they came from a Jewish or Gentile background, the early Christians struggled to follow the teachings of Christ and to leave behind their old ways, just as we do today. These letters were written to address issues in the communities, so when St. Paul writes against the practices of lust and idolatry in communities, it is because these new Christians were struggling to leave those practices behind. When St. Peter writes of grudges, slander, and ill-will, it is because Christians are struggling to overcome these sins. The Letter to the Hebrews instructs us that, “[o]f Christ as priest we have much to say, and it is hard to make ourselves understood in the saying of it, now that you have grown so dull of hearing. You should, after all this time, have been teachers yourselves, and instead of that you need to be taught; taught even the first principles on which the oracles of God are based. You have gone back to needing milk, instead of solid food.” (Hebrews 5:11-12) The people have heard the Good News, and as the novelty of salvation has worn off and the work of holiness has begun, they have slid back into their old non-Christian practices.

These people who are needing to repent of their former lives or who have not yet been fully initiated into the Church are in a different spiritual place than those who are initiated into the Church–the life of Christ–and are in what we now call a “state of grace.” In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we behold the great mystery of the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, but this is not even the sacrifice of the Mass! This is not even the most important part! God gives us the gift of his Son on the altar so that we might have a worthy offering to give back to the Father. If you listen closely to the Eucharistic Prayer, it is begging God to make us holy and to accept this sacrificial offering that he has given us for our good, for the salvation of all the world, and, above all, for his great glory. The elevation of the Body and Blood of Christ during the Doxology (“Through Him, and with Him, and in Him…”) at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer, followed by the Amen, is when we finally offer this sacrifice to the Father. Witnessing these things requires great faith, and because we are a part of the offering to the Father it requires preparation and holiness on our part so that we might not be spiritually harmed by such a close encounter with God. If you give an infant a piece of steak instead of milk, he will choke; similarly, if someone not prepared for the Eucharist were to receive it, they eat and drink spiritual condemnation on themselves. (1 Corinthians 11:29) While the Good News of Sacred Scripture is nourishment for all souls, we must live according to Scripture and according to the ways Christ taught us to grow and mature spiritually so that we can be ready to accept the incredible gift of the Eucharist.

Lent is just a week and a half away. A good preparation for this holy and solemn season might be to examine our hearts and ask the Lord to show us where we still cling to the things of this world. May we then ask the Lord for the strength to leave behind our attachments to these things so we can offer our hearts more fully and truly to him.

Fr. Matt