How to Best Receive Holy Communion

The greatest action that we can do on this side of heaven is to receive Jesus, the Bread of Life (Jn 6), in Holy Communion. No other action can come close to the reception of our Eucharistic Savior.  Ignorance of this supremely important gesture can prove catastrophic, if not disastrous, towards our eternal salvation. In clear, concise, and unequivocal words, in His Bread of Life discourse, Jesus states that our salvation depends on nourishing ourselves on Him—the Bread of Life—who gives life to the world.

Jesus had a family of good friends that were always ready to welcome Him into their home. Not too far from Jerusalem was Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. These three truly loved Jesus and cherished Him as a dear friend. Martha worked hard at the details of hospitality and serving Jesus; Mary, more contemplative, entertained Jesus by listening to Him, speaking to Him, and simply giving to Him her presence.

In a very real sense, we are all called to be a Bethany for Jesus. Welcoming Jesus into our homes, in imitation of Mary and Martha, can be part of our spiritual journey towards our heavenly Home. Mary and Martha would invite Jesus into their home, but this did not take place on a daily basis, due to Our Lord’s busy apostolic life. In this sense, we have an advantage over the family of Bethany.  Many of us can actually invite and receive Jesus into our homes on a daily basis. How? By attending Mass and receiving Jesus as our Divine Guest in Holy Communion.

Jesus loves us so much that He has given us free will and respects our free response to His invitations—He does not ever force Himself upon us. Our reception of Him could be one of forgetfulness, or apathy and indifference, coldness, or even hostility. But, it is His earnest desire that all of us, in imitation of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, make a sincere and concerted effort to receive Jesus with warmth, attention, kindness, and above all else, with burning love.

Following up on our theme of Jesus as the Divine Guest of our soul, we would like to highlight (and this is of paramount importance) how should we act, what should we do, and what we should say after we have received Jesus into our spiritual homes—the depths of our souls—in Holy Communion. May Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and their Bethany experience be both a model and a stimulus for us to upgrade our reception of Our Eucharistic Friend and Lord.

The following points emphasize some of the ways that we can improve upon our Eucharistic experience, ways we can welcome Him into our own “interior Bethany.”

God loves a grateful heart. The Lord appreciates gratitude and suffers when there is a lack of it—as in the case of the nine lepers who did not come back to thank the Lord for their healing (Lk 17:11-19). After receiving Holy Communion, pour out your hearts in gratitude towards the Lord. Cultivate an “attitude of gratitude.” In fact, the more we overflow with gratitude towards the Lord, especially upon receiving Him in Holy Communion, the more abundantly He will shower us with graces.

Thank Him for what, you may wonder? For everything! All that we have in our lives (with the exception of sin) are pure, unmerited, and gratuitous gifts from the Father. May the words of the Psalmist echo and resound in our hearts: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His mercy endures forever.”

Upon receiving the Eucharistic Lord in Holy Communion, the Sacrament of His love, abound in acts of love. Every time you tell the Lord that you love Him, you grow more in the intensity of love burning in your heart. Jesus said, “I have come to cast fire to the earth, and I am not in peace until that fire be enkindled” (Lk 12:49). The fire of the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus explodes most intensely at the moment of Holy Communion, especially when the heart receiving Him is longing for the fire of His love.

Another very important mode of expression after receiving Jesus in Holy Communion is to be completely honest with the Lord and to express to Him what is going on in your life, especially the times, places, and circumstances in which we are suffering in one form or another. We all have some cross—health issues, family problems, economic worries, moral weaknesses, emotional uncertainties, or insecurities—not to mention spiritual struggles. 

After you receive Jesus into your interior Bethany in Holy Communion, this is the propitious time to open up to the Lord and express with utmost sincerity your sufferings. Jesus invites us in these words: “Come to me all of you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me who am meek and humble of heart because my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt 11:28-30). If we could only learn and implement the true meaning of this passage, then our lives and souls would be far better for it.

We are not alone in our struggles, crosses, and sorrows. Jesus, especially after receiving Him in Holy Communion, is there, ready to listen to us, comfort us, console us, and even to carry us on His shoulder, offering us refuge in His Sacred Heart. Let us allow our fervent Communions to transform our lives. 

The souls in Purgatory are saved due to God’s mercy and dying in the state of sanctifying grace. However, their suffering is most intense in the fires of Purgatory. A fervent Holy Communion can serve not only to alleviate these excruciating pains, but also to be the final means of catapulting those souls from Purgatory to the Heavenly banquet. Of all prayers, sacrifices, and spiritual practices, the offering of Mass and Holy Communions is by far the most efficacious.

Another intention of capital importance that can be part of conversing with the Lord Jesus after receiving Holy Communion is to pray for our family members, our loves ones, relatives, and friends. However, there is a very important class of persons that should be part of our Communion dialogue—those who have turned their back on God and His Church. Parents who have prodigal sons or daughters, wandering and lost sheep, angry, bitter, confused or disgruntled loved ones: upon receiving the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion, beg the Lord for their conversion, for their return to the Church, and for their eternal salvation.

Mary is truly the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, the refuge of sinners, as well as the Mother of the Eucharistic Lord. We should beg Mary for the grace to receive Jesus with great humility, devotion, and love in Holy Communion and to praise, adore, thank, and implore Him as we receive Him into the Bethany of our hearts.

Mary received Jesus with the greatest of love in the Incarnation. Mary, in addition to Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, will pray for us that we too will receive the Eucharistic Lord with an explosion of love, developing our hearts into an interior Bethany prepared for the most holy sacramental reception of Our God.

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash