Examination of Conscience before Receiving Communion

Time has passed and things had indeed change, and because of this changes, some Catholics specially the young ones nowadays had totally forgotten or maybe had failed to understand the importance of examining our conscience before receiving Holy Communion.

Why is it important for us Catholics to examine our conscience before receiving Holy Communion?

Let's see what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about this one Holy Sacrament.

1322 The Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by baptism, and configured more deeply to Christ by confirmation, participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.

1323 "At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. This He did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'"

The very words of the Catechism, "...in which Christ is consumed..." already states the reason why we need to examine our conscience before receiving Holy Communion.

Sad to say, but nowadays, some Catholics no longer adhere to this rule, totally forgetting that what we are receiving during Holy communion is Christ Himself. Totally disregarding the words that the Minister utters before giving us the Holy Host, "the Body of Christ!" and our answer "Amen".

Totally forgetting, that when the Minister says "the Body of Christ!" what the Minister is actually stating is a fact and not a question. And whenever we answer "Amen", we mean "I totally Agree".

To receive Holy Communion under the state of Mortal Sin is far more greater Sacrilegious than destroying an image of a Saint or even of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For doing so, would be far more greater than slapping Christ right in the face.

But sadly, there are some Catholics who no longer believes in this, and would even question the right of a Pastor or of a Minister to deny Communion to Catholics who openly, either by their own words or by their action opposes the teaching of the Church, where they claim they belong. The very Church that Christ Himself has founded.

Examining our conscience before attending mass is not only a matter of requirement, but a a responsibility that every Catholic should adhere too, in order to make sure that we no longer hurt Christ.

Christ had already suffered before, and through the very suffering that He endured, we were given the privilege to attend the Paschal banquet.

And similar to earthly privileges, it comes with a requirement, and one of those is to make sure that we are indeed worthy to receive Him, by examining our conscience.

In Christ.