(We will talk more about reviving parishes in subsequent parts; if you are interested in something now, write to us.)
Thus, a necessary condition for assimilating the Eucharist – worthy communion of the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God – is an organic (permeating all levels of a person’s life, all aspects of psycho-somatic existence) Catholic consciousness, born through the correct spiritual (Eucharistic) life in the community. The more I become an organic part (member) of the Body, the more I am imbued with Catholic (universal, whole) consciousness – this is when it is not I who live, but Others live in me, and I live for them. Acquiring Catholic consciousness occurs through the transformation of ‘ego’, ‘I’ into the hypostatic ‘we’, which is possible only in a Eucharistic community (where God acts, not man; because by his own strength, an egoist cannot cease to be an egoist; the only way out is to be born again, – in the Holy Spirit; to receive oneself as a personality from God, in the freedom of the Holy Spirit; and this is only possible with the presence of humility, which is acquired only by the correct parochial (Eucharistic) life), with a certain ministry in the Church’s Liturgy. Therefore, thinking ‘we’ at the community level is significant, but it is not yet catholicity. Catholic consciousness is when I (organically, hypostatically, not intellectually) think of myself through the ‘we’ of all the members of the Church, and this ‘we’ of the entire Church exists in the mystery of communion: with God, the world, and each other.
When we say ‘necessary condition’, we mean that if this condition is not met, nothing good will come out, we will not achieve the goal. For example, nutritionists say that carrots should be eaten only with fats because without fats our body cannot assimilate them. The necessary condition for the assimilation of carrots is the presence of fats. Without them – no matter how many kilograms of carrots you eat – not a molecule will be assimilated, digested, as it enters the stomach, so it will go out – hunger is satiated (felt fullness – the stomach was stuffed), enjoyed the taste – but no benefit, nothing was assimilated. Or another example: for a car to drive, there must be gasoline in the fuel tank. Without gasoline, the car will not drive. The presence of gasoline is a necessary condition that needs to be satisfied for the car to drive, but this is not enough (the car may be broken). A necessary condition is to have gasoline, a sufficient condition is for the car to be operational. When necessary and sufficient conditions are met, then we can achieve the goal – the car will drive. Similarly with the assimilation of carrots: fats are present (necessary condition met), but the stomach is not working, it is sick – the sufficient condition (a healthy organism) is not met.
Therefore, in the assimilation of the Eucharist (communion of the Holy Spirit), a necessary condition (which is also sufficient) is the Catholic consciousness of the individual, that is, organic parish life in the context of the Eucharistic liturgy. That is, the ‘fats’ for the assimilation of the Holy Spirit is the parish. To assimilate the Eucharist, one must eat it parochially (with ‘fat’), together with others! If this condition is not met, no matter how morally pure we are, no matter how many canons, akathists, prayers we read, everything we do, without a Catholic organic hypostatic consciousness (‘we’), that is, without a parish (these real ‘we’, not imagined, with real problems, grief, pain, sorrow, joy, in which ‘I’ organically participate, sympathize, rejoice etc.) the Eucharist (Holy Spirit) is not assimilated. The sufficient condition for the assimilation of the Eucharist, worthy communion – is a humble and meek heart, seeing one’s unworthiness, incapacity, sinfulness, that is, being in truth (ascetically knowing the truth about oneself) and only hoping for God, His mercy (see Part I). It is not enough to see one’s incapacity and need for a Savior. It is necessary to properly accept the treatment, that is, to fulfill the necessary condition for salvation, healing (revelation of the reality of the Resurrection) – to be a member of a Eucharistic community, in the context of hypostatic unity of ‘many’, in which I can receive and assimilate this grace of God (the grace of the Holy Spirit)! (In the Church, the necessary and sufficient conditions coincide, that is, one cannot exist without the other). Therefore, when we say ‘necessary’, we mean that without this (necessary) we cannot achieve the goal (whatever you do, without the necessary: it is not assimilated, does not drive, does not act, etc.)!
To create a living community, similar to the one described in the Acts of the Apostles (see ch. 4, v. 32 and following), it might take not a few decades, but several generations. For the community to become a living family with a single soul, a single heart, and a single mouth – it requires all members to make titanic efforts and first of all the bishop, the presbyter in simplicity of heart to learn and teach… But if we know who we are to be (one with each other), and struggle on all levels of being for unity, and repent in our shortcomings and ask God for forgiveness (mercy), – then such a community will be worthy of communion and will bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit!