Therefore, partaking of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we enter a reality where the two aspects of the Church are realized: we heal (rather, we manifest what is given in fullness, in baptism) our nature, partaking of the deified, healed human nature in the hypostasis of the Lord Jesus Christ (actualizing the Christological aspect of the Church) and receive Divine Love, the Kingdom of God (actualizing the pneumatological aspect of the Church), and receive a new impetus, potential for overcoming evil in ourselves and witnessing to the whole world that Christ is Risen. And all this we have in accordance with the conditions we mentioned above.
To also make the reader work, the author deliberately did not directly quote the apostle Paul, considering the teaching about the sacrament of the Eucharist based on the Eucharistology presented by the apostle in 1 Cor. 10-12. Since the article contains only a paraphrase of the words of the apostle and allusions (hints – V.A.) to his letter, the reader is left with the task to compare, correlate what has been said with the letter of the apostle Paul, and most importantly – to draw conclusions, which the author, for certain reasons, did not make. To make it easier to draw conclusions, it is necessary to pay attention to the key words in 1 Cor. 11: division.., contempt of the Church of God and humiliation of the brethren.., not thinking about the Sacrament (mindless attitude towards the Sacrament…) – all this leads to unworthy communion. Who eats and drinks unworthily, … for condemnation eats. It is said not “unworthy” (which indicates the state of nature), but “unworthily” (which indicates personal participation in something, the quality of action). And regarding illnesses and even death as a result of unworthy communion, it is clear that when I enter a foreign sphere for myself, which I do not correspond to (a person underwater without air dies, a fish in water lives), the severity of pathologies depends on the degree of mismatch with the reality I enter. This is the judgment. Also pay special attention to the divisions and schisms in the Corinthian church (1 Cor.). The purpose of creating the Church, as we defined above, is the unity of all in God. “That all may be one: as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so may they also be in us one, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me, I gave them: that they may be one, as We are one; I in them, and You in Me; that they may be perfected in unity, and that the world may understand that You sent Me and loved them, as You loved Me” (Jn.17: 21-23).
“Guilty, unworthy—these terms, which Apostle Paul uses in the context of 1 Corinthians, are legal terms (unworthy is more ethical, but can conditionally be considered in this category), which always in jurisprudence indicate an action performed, not the state of the actor. Therefore, unworthy communion is an image of participation in the Lord’s Supper, not the participant himself. Then worthy communion in our unworthiness, which is often undermined by mandatory confession, as a guarantee of worthy communion, because it is said that all sins are forgiven and we are clean! But we saw that in confession sins are not forgiven; a fracture cannot be forgiven! Reading (not prayer!) of prayers, canons, akathists, which, due to the ignorance of spiritual fathers, become a pass to communion…) – this is to consume the Lord’s Supper in unity, in the pursuit of unity. Test yourself (not mood, not moral state, not sins; not faith, not hope, not love, which you do not have, for which you go to God) not at confession, but test yourself, whether you are ready to accept the new, salvific order of the Kingdom, created by Jesus Christ, whether you are open to the very purpose of the Eucharist, the purpose of the Supper – the unification of all in Christ? From here, we see that an individual approach to the sacrament: I partake, I will partake, this is my sacrament, I need to partake (birthday, name day, or some other event?!), it is me who stands, it is me who prays, etc. – is one of the factors that tears apart unity and leads to unworthy communion (cf. Mt.5:23-24). Another factor is an overly spiritualistic understanding, – treating the sacraments as pagan mysteries, as guarantees of salvation. The sacraments themselves, Baptism and Eucharist, and all the sacraments of the Church – are not guaranteed remedies (cf. 1 Cor. 10: 1-5), but only auxiliary means for salvation, – for acquiring the appropriate correct spiritual state (humble love) because the correct spiritual state will allow the human personality to unite with the Spirit of God (St. Seraphim of Sarov).
Someone else might object: “You want to finish the chapter without talking about the sins and vices in which people ‘repent’ (and do the same again!)”. An attentive reader can find an answer to this misunderstanding in the above, but for a deeper understanding, it is not difficult to repeat. “Now I have written to you not to associate with anyone who, being called a brother, remains a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one not even to eat together” (1Cor.5:11). Apostle Paul in his letters provides a catalog of vices of pagans (e.g., 1Cor.6:9-11; Rom.1:18-32) and says that it should not even be mentioned among Christians and the baptized (cf. Eph.5:3-5)!