Expert: Sal - 10/20/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi Sal,

My visit to Naju was amazing.  By the statue of Our Lady just outside the chapel, I noticed an intense fragrance of roses.  Inside the chapel was a fragrance I'd never smelled before.  The Virgin Mary told the visionary Julia Kim that it's a heavenly fragrance.  Later I went to the mountain. On the Blessed Mother's mountain, I did the stations of the cross and noticed pilgrims moved to tears.  Also, at the mountain, inside a glass pagoda, I saw a sacred host with five small drops of blood and a host which was partly human flesh. The most amazing thing, though, is what happened later.  On my way back to my hometown, as I was about half an hour away from arriving and travelling by bus, probably at least 250 km from Naju, I felt an urge to hold my rosary.  I don't know why.  As I did, I noticed an unusual fragrance.  The same fragrance from the chapel was all over my rosary and on my hands.  It lasted until I went to bed.  I was so moved I started to cry.  Now here comes my question.  I think I've had a revelation and wonder if you agree.  If a person is not worthy of communion and goes to receive it, Jesus Christ can not abide in that person, right?  I think that the communion wafer then ceases to be Jesus Christ and becomes merely a wheat wafer.  Do you think this is accurate?

ANSWER: Hello Les:
Thanks for the great information on your experience at Naju. You were truly blessed at Naju.

I disagree that a sinful person who receives Communion would not being receiving the Body & Blood of our Lord. The fact that Jesus is really present in Communion is not altered by the persons state of holiness. St. Paul warns those who receive unworthily that they eat and drink damnation on themselves (see I Corinthians 11:29). If Jesus were not present in the Communion then they would not be in danger of losing their souls. It is precisely because Jesus is present that their sin is so great. Note that St. Paul tells the Corinthians that those who receive unworthily have become sick and some have even died!(v. 30). This could hardly be the case if it were only bread that they were receiving. St Thomas Aquinas wrote in the Summa Theologica that even the unjust are still receiving the Body & Blood of Jesus in Communion.

I hope that answers your question. Again, congratulations on your Naju experience.
God Bless You,
Sal

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Sal,

I'm a little confused.  I thought that God and sin could not co-exist.  Perhaps even those who are unworthy receive Christ, but how can Christ continue to live inside a very sinful and unrepentant  person?  

Answer
Dear Les:

The Body & Blood cease to be Christ's actual body and blood once the consecrated host and wine begin to be digested. Jesus is not digested by us. So if an unworthy person receives Communion Jesus is not "forced" to dwell in such a one. If Christ's Real Presence were based on the worthiness of the recipient then it would not be of concern when an unworthy person receives. However, St. Paul thought that it was a major concern as the previous quotes show and the Catholic Church is also very concerned about not given Communion to unworthy individuals which includes all non-Catholics.

I hope that this clears up the confusion.

God Bless,
Sal