Sacramental Snobs

Understanding why Protestants cannot receive Communion

01/30/2019

Hebrew 10:11-18 Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But this one offered one sacrifice for sins, and took his seat forever at the right hand of God; now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying: This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord: "I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds," he also says: Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer offering for sin.

Probably one of the hardest Catholic teachings for our Protestant brothers and sisters to embrace and accept is the Eucharist. And I don’t mean the teaching that the Eucharist is the Real Presence, Jesus’ Body and Blood, because many can actually accept that. But rather, I mean why they cannot receive Holy Communion at Mass. That prohibition for Protestants makes them feel like “second class Christians” in Catholic churches, and makes them think they are unwelcome at Catholic services. By contrast, when Catholics attend Protestant services, they warmly welcome us to receive their Holy Communion, which we should decline and not receive. To Protestants, therefore, Catholic come across as “sacramental snobs,” saying in effect, “Your Communion is not good enough for us, and our Communion is too good for you.” Do you know anyone who feels that way? My explanation today will probably not bridge this great divide and dilemma, but I hope it helps as it borrows from today’s excerpt from the Letter to the Hebrews.

The real bone of contention at the bottom of the cauldron of this controversy is the difference between the Protestant and the Catholic theology of salvation. Most Protestants believe in a doctrine called “once saved always saved.” Have you heard of that? That means once you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then you are saved. You have absolute assurance of salvation, and when you die you are guaranteed to go to heaven. The whole work of salvation hinges for most Protestants on one moment, when they make a definitive, whole-hearted, and irrevocable act of faith in Jesus Christ. Hence, our Protestant friends constantly ask Catholics, “Have you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior?” or “Have you been saved.” What’s more, in that miraculous moment of salvation, all their sins have been washed away by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Now, I know that’s a broad-brush explanation of Protestant salvation, but I hope it’s accurate enough.

The Catholic view of salvation is quite different. We believe that Protestant’s split second of salvation is actually spread out over the course of our whole life. Yes, we can say confidently we are “saved” when we are baptized as babies. But, as it says in Philippians 2:12, we “work out that salvation in fear and trembling.” Why do we “fear and tremble” regarding our salvation? Well, because when we sin we turn away from God and any act of turning your back on God, meaning sin, results in a loss of salvation. I know you probably think that I never sin, just don’t talk to Fr. Stephen, and let’s keep it that way. But I do sin, and so do you. In other words, we will not know if we are saved until we die. That is, if at the moment of death we are in a posture of facing God, or in a position of having our back to God. When a Protestant asks us, “Have you been saved?” the best Catholic reply is: “Ask me again when I die.” The crux of the conundrum lies in the thorny problem of sinning again after we have been saved.

Now, here’s how Hebrews can help us. We read: “But [Jesus] offered one sacrifice for sins…For by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.” Jesus’ sacrifice is the Eucharist, and it does indeed wash away our sins. But the problem is that right after Mass, we go out and commit more sins. We turn our backs to God, and in effect, we lose our salvation. That’s why we come back to the sacraments of confession and Eucharist to be saved again. I love that phrase, “being consecrated” because it implies an on-going, indeed life-long, process of salvation and sanctification.

So, now let’s return to our original question: why cannot Protestants receive Holy Communion in the Catholic church at Mass? Catholics receive the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the sacrifice of Jesus, in order to be saved. And we need the Eucharist Sunday after Sunday, month after month, year after year, until we die. Hopefully, we will die with Communion on our tongue as viaticum (literally food for the journey)– which means we die facing God. At that moment we will be saved.  If a Protestant truly believed that the Eucharist is necessary for salvation Sunday after Sunday, month after month, year after year, so they could die in a state of grace, then they would no longer be Protestant but a Catholic. And they would be welcome to receive Holy Communion (after going through RCIA).

Hebrews helps us see that the Eucharist takes away sins again and again for those “who are being consecrated.” That is, those on the way to salvation, not for those who are already saved.

Praised be Jesus Christ!