I Can and I Did
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
June 10 – 11, 2023
Gospel: John 6:51-58
Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from Heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will have life because of Me. This is the bread that came down from Heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
I have heard this many times, and you probably have too – “Father.” Yes. I can already hear the tone. “Father.” Oh God, here it comes. “Got a minute, Father?” Please, no! “Can we talk?” No – you want to talk while I listen. “The Church has an awful lot of rules.” Well, so does Christ. I mean, I read the book, and He has a lot of rules. Christ said, “If you love Me, keep My Commandments.” Our rules are His rules. “Well Father, why are there all those rules about Communion?” Well, the rules about Communion are Scriptural. Church laws are like Jersey barriers . . . they keep you on the road instead of driving over a cliff. They help keep you safe. Church law helps keep us on the right path . . . they keep us from becoming too liberal or too conservative.
The central mystery of our Faith is transubstantiation. At the Mass, Christ is present in the bread and wine, and He gives us His Most Precious Body and Blood just as He did in the Upper Room. This is the central mystery of our Faith. Only we and the Orthodox churches believe in transubstantiation. All the other churches rejected the doctrine of Real Presence. That’s why there’s no possibility of Communion, that, and the other moral things they have rejected.
The scriptural penance for receiving Communion unworthily is that you are guilty of Christ’s death. That’s a rule that has been passed down by the apostles. I can’t change that. You may be willing to take the rap for it, but I’m not. The central mystery of the Faith is that Christ is physically present in the Blessed Sacrament and made present on the altar. This is our Faith. This is His gift . . . the gift of Himself. You receive the whole Christ no matter the form in which you receive Him. You receive all of Christ, and it is blasphemy if you say, “Receiving both species is more meaningful.”
Some people cannot receive both species. I knew someone who was undergoing cancer therapy. He could not chew or swallow. So, one day at Mass, I took a syringe, filled it up, capped it, and put it underneath my sleeve. After Mass, I gave him the Most Precious Blood of Christ through his G-tube. Did he receive the fullness of God? Of course, he did. I told this story to some priests, and they said, “Oh, you cannot do that!” I can, and I did. I said, “Guys, that was one day I stayed awake in class. Look it up.” To their credit, they later told me I was right. No kidding. I’m a hospitalist. That’s what I do.
This is the mystery . . . we receive Christ Himself. Only a priest or a deacon is supposed to touch the Sacred Vessel. The Sacred Vessel holds Christ. Priests are consecrated by the bishop before ordination. At the Ordination Mass, the Bishop ordains the priest and presents him with a chalice which is consecrated and filled with the Most Precious Blood. The chalice is kept locked away. I went to one church to do some vicar work so that I could maintain my big title. In this church, they had displayed old chalices that other priests had left there. Na–na-na-na – No! “What do you mean?” Did I stutter? Chalices are not objects of art. They are supposed to be preserved and under lock and key.
Only a priest or deacon is supposed to give Holy Communion except under extraordinary circumstances. Every Sunday is not an extraordinary circumstance – it comes 52 times a year, so you knew it was coming. One of the exceptions happened at the Dachau Concentration Camp. There was a whole area for priests. The priests used to smuggle the Blessed Sacrament out under the wire so that laity could give it since the priests couldn’t. That’s the type of extraordinary circumstance I’m talking about. This is such a precious gift – the gift of Christ Himself. You will be fed if you are able. If not, come see me and we will work it out. Just like the apostles, you will be fed Christ Himself by the priest in persona Christi. And you can do that every day except on my day off or you can go to Concord. Driving a few miles is a fair trade to receive the great gift of Christ Himself just like the apostles. There’s no difference except for time and place. “Well, Father that was over 2,000 years ago, and this is Albemarle not Jerusalem.” God is everywhere and time is always in the present to Him. When you say things like that, you are denying the nature of God. But because of original sin and sins committed by us and to us after Baptism, we lose sight of Him.
We experience the fruits of Christ’s redemption by receiving Him in the Most Blessed Sacrament. The Real Presence is the greatest gift. Are there rules? Yes, there are rules. However, the rules are aids for our salvation. They keep us focused on the One who is truly here and Who wishes to give Himself to you.
How will you apply this message to your life? _________________________________
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