Receiving Christ: Why the Eucharist Demands More Than Habit

Rediscovering reverence, confession, and the life-changing power of the Body and Blood of Christ in our daily lives and families

Across many of our parishes today, the greatest challenge we face is apathy. When pondering why this might be, it is hard to ignore the quiet crisis of reverence in the Eucharist and the long lines for those who want to receive it contrasted with empty confessionals.

Let’s face it, many Catholics (a majority) come to Mass out of habit rather than devotion. They approach Communion with little reflection and often neglect confession altogether. For some, the faith has become a distant inheritance rather than a living reality, a real practice, and as apathy deepens, questions naturally arise: Why bother? What difference does it make to bring up our families as Catholics? What benefit will it have to follow practices we do not fully understand?

This lack of reverence and preparation is, at its root, a lack of faith in the real power of our Catholic faith. If we can recover that faith, we can begin to truly share the incredible gift of our faith and show the profound difference it can make in our lives.

St Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 11:27 confronts this issue directly.