274. The Eucharist and forgiveness
274. THE EUCHARIST AND FORGIVENESS
Since the obstacle to our goal of Heaven is sin—mortal sin eternally and permanently, if not repented of, venial sin temporally and temporarily—does God remove this obstacle in the sacrament of the Eucharist, or only in the sacrament of Confession? If in Eucharist He does remove sin, why does the Church forbid anyone in mortal sin to receive this sacrament?
Whether the forgiveness of mortal sin is an effect of this sacrament?
Whoever is conscious of mortal sin has within him an obstacle to receiving the effect of this sacrament . . . because he is not alive spiritually, and so he ought not to eat the spiritual nourishment, since nourishment is confined to the living, and because he cannot be united with Christ, which is the effect of this sacrament, as long as he retains an attachment to mortal sin. . . . Hence, in him who is conscious of mortal sin, this sacrament does not cause the forgiveness of sin. . . (III,79,3).
Whether venial sins are forgiven through this sacrament?
The reality of this sacrament is (divine) charity . . . which is kindled in this sacrament; and by this means venial sins are forgiven. . . . The power of charity, to which this sacrament belongs, is greater than that of venial sins (III,79,4).
The Eucharist is not a substitute for Confession. That would make Confession superfluous. It can do no good, either to us individually, or to anyone else, or to the Kingdom of God on earth, to receive the Eucharist into a soul that is in a state of mortal sin, i.e., a soul deprived of the life of Christ (zoe, eternal life, supernatural life, sanctifying grace, divine charity). Food can’t nourish a dead body.
Thus if we are conscious of mortal sin, or if we believe we are in a state of mortal sin, we should not receive the Eucharist but go to Confession as quickly as possible. Our own judgment of ourselves is fallible, of course, but it is all we have to rely on. God does not give us infallible divine revelations about the state of our own individual souls.
Imperfect contrition (motivated by fear of punishment) without Confession is insufficient to remove mortal sin, but perfect contrition (motivated by justice, honor, and love of God) is. We often do not know whether we have perfect contrition or not, and in this case again we must act according to our own best honest judgment, avoiding scrupulosity and indifference equally.
If our habitual error is scrupulosity, we should worry more about being too scrupulous than about indifference, and be more bold to receive the Eucharist, trusting in God’s grace. For over-scrupulosity is an insult to God’s mercy, and, as St. Thomas says, “the power of this sacrament is (divine) charity . . . and by this means venial sins are forgiven. . . . (for) the power of charity . . . is greater than that of venial sins.” Venial sins are not an obstacle to reception of the Eucharist, and the Eucharist, through the infusion of charity, can forgive venial sins. (We do not know exactly which, when, or how many, just as we do not know exactly which, when, or how many germs are removed by soap, light, or medicines.)
If our habitual error is indifference, which is the much more common contemporary error, we should worry more about that than about scrupulosity, and be less bold, or rather less thoughtless and automatic, in choosing to receive the Eucharist. For indifference is an insult to God’s holiness. And the consecrated Host in the Eucharist is the holy God Himself.
We may judge whether we are more prone to scrupulosity or indifference, if we honestly ask ourselves this question: Which of these two divine attributes is the more obvious to us, and which is the one we most easily forget or minimize?—His holiness or His mercy?
Venial sins, like inevitable germs on us, do not make us unfit for the banquet table. But we should wash them away by the sacrament of Confession when we notice them.