the blood-covenant
"This cup is the new covenant in My blood." —1 Corinthians 11:25
Holy Communion is not only communion with the Lord but also with each other. When we receive Holy Communion, we commit ourselves to serve each other, to wash each other's feet (see Jn 13:5). We make a covenant in Jesus' blood even to lay down our lives for one another (see 1 Jn 3:16).
It's difficult to believe that Holy Communion is this serious because we repeatedly go to Communion with people we hardly know and don't even want to know. We may even be alienated from some of these people because we haven't forgiven them or vice versa. Yet we go to Holy Communion as if we didn't need to be in communion to go to Communion. "That is why many among you are sick and infirm, and why so many are dying" (1 Cor 11:30). These communions "are not profitable but harmful" (1 Cor 11:17).
On this Holy Thursday, we should wash each other's feet by repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. We should go to Holy Communion as often as possible, even daily. Yet we must go in the right spirit by doing all we can to be true brothers and sisters to those with whom we receive Holy Communion.
Prayer: Father, help me to live and die for those with whom I go to Holy Communion.
Promise: "This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution." —Ex 12:14
Praise: Members of Susan's home-based community often meet at weekday Mass.
Reference: (For a related teaching, order our leaflet The Secret of Confession or our tape on audio AV 44-3 or video V-44.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, XXX 11, 2011
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