Being unable to receive the Eucharist is a form of sacrifice, but it can also be a time for spiritual growth, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi.
The current situation, which many people are experiencing, of forced abstinence from the Eucharist “can become a time of growing in faith, of desire for the gift of sacramental Communion, of solidarity with those who for various reasons cannot benefit from it, of freedom from the sloppiness of habit,” he wrote.
“To understand once again that the Eucharist is a freely given and unexpected gift of the Lord Jesus,” which should be desired with one’s whole heart all the time, “couldn’t this also be the outcome of this disconcerting time?” he asked in an article April 18 in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.
The article was the second installment of his “Diary of a Crisis” for the newspaper.
Physically receiving the Holy Eucharist is extremely important, he wrote, “but it is not the only and indispensable way to unite oneself with Jesus and his body that is the church.”
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With thanks to Catholic News Service (CNS) and Carol Glatz, where this article originally appeared.
