Is it all right to share communion with someone younger than seven and/or with someone who has not made their first communion?

Sharon G. Susswithall 

NO!  NEVER!  NOT NO HOW!

“Well, the Greek Orthodox do it,” you may say.  Fine.  They’re lovely people.  I know quite a few. 

BUT I’M NOT GREEK ORTHODOX AND I DON’T HAVE A CLUE WHY THEY SHARE COMMUNION WITH LITTLE KIDS. 

I JUST KNOW WHY ROMAN CATHOLICS DON’T!!!!

St. Paul reminds us in his first letter to the Corinthians that it is possible to eat and drink to condemnation if we do not discern the body of the Lord. (1Cor. 11 29) 

Remember that Holy Communion is a sacrament.  It is THE sacrament par excellence.  Sacrament is a Latin word that means an oath to the death.  In effect, to take Holy Communion means that just as Jesus, the Messiah, gives His Body and Blood for me, I swear on this altar to give my body and blood for Him, to live for Him and if necessary to die for Him.

St. Paul said in the text cited above that people can be made sick and even die from receiving communion unworthily.  This is a very serious business.  The host is not a good luck talisman.  It is the living presence of Christ who died and rose again from the dead. There is no more solemn vow that a human being can make.  You will never eat a more expensive meal, no matter how fancy a restaurant you might find. 

The thin round communion wafer and the sip from the chalice may seem unimportant to you, but they cost the broken body of Christ on the cross.  Without his precious blood spilled on the rock of Calvary, there would never have been a single Mass offered in all of history. 

The angels bow in worship before the uplifted Communion host and the devil trembles in fear of it.

You and I  come to Mass in a pair of shorts or an old sweat suit. We chew gum and forget to turn off our cell phones and complain that the sermon was boring and the whole thing was too long.  If only we could see what God sees, I think we would weep for shame and for love. 

So don't invite anyone to communion who isn't ready to commit his whole life to the power and the majesty of the king of the universe, and to the bride, the church, for whom he gave his life.

Rev. Know-It-All