First, I think it’s important to cover what/who the Eucharist is and how the Eucharist in the Catholic Church is very different from other Christian denominations that give out communion. It starts with what we call Apostolic Succession. The very first celebration of Holy Mass was in the upper room on Holy Thursday. Jesus not only instituted the Eucharist for the first time, He also ordained His first priests, the 12 Apostles. He told His first priests “do this in memory of me.” From that point on we see in the Scriptures (Acts 6:6) that the laying on of hands played a big role in passing on the authority Christ gave to His Apostles and the Apostles discerned there are different roles needed to administer the Church we would eventually call Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. To this day, at the ordination of a Bishop, Priest, and Deacon the Bishop lays his hands on the head of the men being ordained, passing on the authority originally given to the 12 Apostles.
Our protestant brothers and sisters do not have Apostolic Succession. I don’t doubt their liturgical leaders are holy and devout followers of Jesus, but they are not priests that have been given the authority or power to turn bread and wine into Jesus’ Body and Blood. If you go to a Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, or any other protestant church and they give out communion, you are eating normal bread and wine/grape juice (but you shouldn’t receive their communion anyway). It is not Jesus’ Body and Blood. They may think it is, but it’s not. Jesus only gave that authority and power to His 12 Apostles and that succession of authority and power is only passed down through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Just as only women can get pregnant and have babies, only ordained priests with permission from their bishop can consecrate bread and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus.
We call the reception of the Eucharist “communion” because the very act of receiving the Eucharist means you’re in communion with the Church you’re receiving it in. This is why Catholics shouldn’t receive communion in protestant churches. We don’t believe the same things they believe, as similar as we may be, but the differences are huge! Martyrs went to their death because of what seems to be small differences in our theology. These brave women and men didn’t die like Christ because “communion is the same in every Christian church.” That’s false. Jesus Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist is only found in the Catholic Church because of our Apostolic Succession. This includes both our Western Roman Catholic Church as well as Eastern Rite and Orthodox Catholic Churches. No one else has Jesus in Eucharist…they only have bread and wine/grape juice.
My friends, the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. It is the cornerstone our entire spiritual, moral, and physical lives should be built on. Without a proper understanding of the Eucharist, our ignorance spills over into other aspects of our spiritual lives. The Eucharist must be the center of our lives. Sunday Mass obviously needs to be prioritized but we should also do our best to make time for daily Mass whenever possible and Eucharistic Adoration. We celebrate daily Mass Monday-Saturday at 8:30am and we offer Eucharistic Adoration every first Friday from 9:00am-7:00pm.
Since the Eucharist is God, we should be as reverent as possible when receiving God into our body. The Church asks us to practice the following so we’re as reverent and prepared as possible to receive Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity and hopefully become who we receive. Here is what the Church asks of us:
Fast from food and drink, except water, one hour before receiving the Eucharist. Obviously, if you need to eat with medication you’re exempt from this.
Have all serious/mortal sins confessed and forgiven in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving the Eucharist. If no serious sins have been committed, you must have received the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once in the last 12 months.
It is appropriate to bow before receiving the Eucharist either in your hands (like a throne) or directly on your tongue. The preferred way of receiving the Eucharist in the universal Church is kneeling and on your tongue. If you receive the Eucharist in your hands, you NEVER take the Eucharist from the minister because Jesus is a gift we receive.
Only Baptized Catholics can receive the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is the greatest gift our Lord left us. We must give this gift the respect and dignity He deserves. He died so that we may live forever.