fr paul's spiritual reflection

Confession and Holy Communion go together.  If we deepened our awareness of the great gift we receive from Our Lord who gives us His Body, the living bread, we would prepare ourselves.  This preparation means that in prayer we examine our conscience in order to be reconciled and at peace with Him who is perfect love.  We should then come to the Sacrament of Confession often because as a member of the Body of Christ, the Church, my personal sin affects the whole body.  St Paul said to the Corinthians "Let a man examine himself" (2:28).  Paul in addressing the Corinthians warns against a superstitious regard for the Eucharist in which some believed that their participation in the Eucharist assured them against any possible forfeit of future salvation and so it did not matter how they lived their lives.  They might commit idolatry (10:7) and fornication (v8) they might tempt God (v9) and complain against Him (v10), without fear because they were baptised and received the Eucharist.  The punishments of the children of Israel who put God to the test will be their lot if they escape from the continuous and renewed act of faith and obedience that every person must make each time he receives the Body of the Lord.  The Eucharist, the Holy Mass, does not save a man but makes possible salvation.  The abuse of the Sacraments will bring upon the Corinthians the destruction of Satan (10:10).
Behind 1 Corinthians 11:27 Paul makes an important link again between the divisions of the community as being an abuse of the Eucharist.  Eating without discerning the Body of Christ, the living Lord, who is truly present.  To realise Christ's presence every person must prepare themselves suitably and approach with the right dispositions (cf.2 Cor 13:5).  Of this St John Chrysostom (c349-407) says, "Not discerning the Lords Body, that is not searching, not bearing in mind, as he ought, the greatness of the things before him, not estimating the value of the gift.  For if you should come to know who it is before you, and who He is who gives Himself, and to whom, you will need no other argument, but this is enough for you to  use all vigilance" (Patrologia Graecia, vol 61,p223)