Often in response to the question, “Why do you not partake in communion?”, Christians(?) commonly respond, “I am unworthy,” or to the question “Why do you partake in communion so infrequently?” (usually once or twice a year, out of tradition, because it seems proper), they reply, “To prepare well and be worthy of partaking.” Many Christians(?) don’t even consider whether they should partake in the Eucharist or not, what it means – the communion, and why they need it (and yet they consider themselves Christians!). From these answers, this logic, and this passive attitude towards life, we see that people often do not understand their place in the Church, the church sacraments, or what happens in these sacraments (as they deny themselves) and do not wish to think, ask questions, or seek answers that could lead them to the truth that would set them free.
The objectives that the author has set for himself in this chapter are firstly, to shed light on the understanding of the Eucharist Sacrament, secondly, to resolve the antinomy addressed in this chapter, and lay the foundation for those who think but are afraid to take the next logical step, and for those who do not think at all (just existing as Christians), and make these two categories of people start LIVING.
We often confuse the concepts of our own unworthiness and unworthy communion, which represent absolutely different realities (ontology and existence). What we dread when we see in ourselves – our sinfulness, unworthiness, which repels us from the sanctuary, is paradoxically the condition for worthy communion in a sin-damaged world.
To achieve at least a fraction of the set goal, let’s consider the questions we pose in the context of the Apostle Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, where he discusses the doctrine of the Eucharist and for the first time provides criteria and examines the conditions for worthy participation in the Church’s sacraments – in the Eucharist (in the Church’s sacraments, as consequences of the refraction [analogy: refraction of white light passing through a glass prism into a spectrum of seven colors – a rainbow] of the single Sacrament of the Eucharist in the creaturely world, divided and crippled by sin). Apostle Paul discusses worthy and unworthy communion in the context of ecclesiology (doctrine of the Church), which he unfolds in the First Letter to the Corinthians.
The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Sacraments (all other sacraments are rooted in and proceed from it), the Sacrament of the Church, not a sacrament in the Church. Therefore, we will pay special attention to the doctrine of the Church and resolve our question in an ecclesiological key, which is both natural and logical.
Thus, to approach an understanding of worthy communion, let’s first consider the doctrine of the Church in two aspects: the negative – the Church as a hospital, and the positive – the Church as the Kingdom of God, the womb of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for which the world (visible and invisible) was created. To have a holistic picture, these two aspects of the Church must be considered in one hypostasis, as inseparable and indivisible in a world where sin is present. This methodological approach is also necessary to emphasize the Theanthropic (God-man) nature of the sacrament: on one side – the most holy God, on the other – the sinful man, who in the Eucharist become One (a Whole).”
To further our understanding of worthy communion, we will first explore the concept of the Church as a hospital. In this understanding, St. Ephrem the Syrian defines the Church as a gathering of repenting sinners, those who have recognized their wounds, illnesses, their destructive state, and have wholeheartedly turned to the one Physician and Savior. St. Ignatius of Antioch says that the Eucharist is the medicine of immortality. We will first examine the basic concepts related to healing: what sin is, wounds, diseases, symptoms of ailments, and the process and conditions for healing.
Christianity is the only religion in the world that asserts the state in which humanity exists is not normal or natural, and sin is not merely a poor execution of desires or a mere miss, but a self-inflicted wound, a mutilation of nature, and consequently, suffering. There are two understandings of sin: sin as a personal act, an action committed by a person against the (spiritual and physical) laws of creaturely existence established by the Creator (e.g., jumped out of the balcony from the 5th floor, resulting in broken arms, legs; put a hand into fire – burns; drank poison – got poisoned; lost – became dry (died) to tender feelings; condemned – lost peace in the soul, etc.), and sin as a wound in nature resulting from personal action, against the truth (broke an arm – sin as an act, the process of breaking the arm, caused by wrongful actions; fracture – sin as a wound, damaged nature, consequence of the sin-trespass).
Theologians distinguish three types of sin: original – as a result of Adam’s personal sin resulting in decay (aging), passion (ability to suffer, vulnerability), and mortality (any descendant of fallen Adam will inevitably die); ancestral – hereditary diseases, pathologies (physical and spiritual) that children are born with (AIDS, dumbness, hunchback, tendency towards alcoholism, drug addiction if parents are alcoholics, drug addicts, tendency towards stinginess, etc., all observable in children who are not yet aware of what’s happening, but the passions are already active); and personal – the wounds that I (an individual) consciously or unconsciously inflict on my nature (the law acts regardless of my (human) awareness: if I grab a bare wire through which high voltage electricity is flowing, whether I knew it or not, I will die; staying in an area affected by radioactive substances results in radiation sickness and cancer). As we can see, laws operate regardless of us, hence the Gospel tells us to know the truth (i.e., what is really happening) and become free. Thus, the Lord told the apostles to teach all nations the laws of spiritual life, the knowledge of which is extremely necessary for a full life. Thus, it is not God who punishes us (who is Love and only Love), but we punish ourselves (who punished the drunkard if he has cirrhosis of the liver?).