Појединац, Породица и Друштво
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Communion is medicine 'for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting', not for earthly success
Archimandrite P. Papadopoulos reflects on what the priest says when giving Holy Communion. The words are 'for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting'. The priest does not say 'for forgiveness of sins and earthly prosperity, social affirmation, bodily health, that your work may go well, for a good career', and so on.
To receive Communion, he writes, means being ready to say: 'Come, my God, come, my Christ, and lead me out of this vanity, out of this mortality, and make me eternal with You, as You will, when You will.' He then warns readers to be careful when they say they received Communion and felt joy. If that joy has no source in being ready for death, it is a false joy.
He describes accepting Christ within as trembling, being enlightened, and rejoicing at already being freed from the material things that held him back. Freed from persons and circumstances, he experiences Christ alone, and this experience connects him with everything while binding him to nothing. He closes by correcting a possible misunderstanding: Holy Communion does not mean wanting to die. It means being ready to live eternally.
Main points
- The priest's words at Communion are 'for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting', not for health, career, or social success.
- To commune means being ready to pray: 'Come, my God, come, my Christ, and lead me out of this vanity, out of this mortality, and make me eternal with You, as You will, when You will.'
- Joy after Communion is false if it is not rooted in readiness for death.
- The author describes being freed from material things, from persons and circumstances, experiencing Christ alone, connected to everything but bound to nothing.
- Holy Communion does not mean wanting to die; it means being ready to live eternally.