Repentance and Communion

During Mass, after receiving Communion, I was pondering the meaning of Communion.

Communion, as explained before on this blog, is a participation in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. (1 Cor. 10:16-21.) We are joining ourselves with Christ on the cross. In consuming Christ we join with Christ, and this, I take it, is the literal meaning of Communion.

When Jesus calls people to follow him, he calls them to repent of their sins and be washed clean of them. In which case, each time we decide to partake of Communion we must be, not sinless but repentant. In that case we must not be sinning willfully, since you can’t will something and repent of it at the same time. And this is why it would be blasphemous and hypocritical to receive Communion in the state of unrepentant mortal sin.

Nothing new here, just something I thought of.