Don’t receive Communion out of routine, but with conviction, says pope

An excerpt from Pope Francis’ exhortation before praying the midday Angelus on Sunday’s feast of Corpus Christi, also known as Corpus Domini (the body of Christ or the body of the Lord).

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The feast of Corpus Domini invites us, every year, to renew our wonder and joy for the wonderful gift of the Lord that is the Eucharist.

Let us receive Him with gratitude, not in a passive, routine way. We must not get used to the Eucharist, and go to Communion as a habit – no!

Each time we go to the altar to receive the Eucharist, we must truly renew our “Amen” to the Body of Christ. When the priest says “the Body of Christ,” we say “Amen”: May it be an “Amen” that comes from the heart, with conviction!

It is Jesus, it is Jesus Who has saved me, it is Jesus Who comes to give me the strength to live. It is Jesus, the living Jesus. We must not get used to this: each time as if it were the first Communion.

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