As we learn more about sacrifice uniting us with God and offering creation to him, let’s pause and remember that it connects to our hearts. For the Bible, “heart” means more than our emotion or an bodily organ. “The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as the image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2563). Sacrifice goes wrong if our offering doesn’t match our heart.

For example, the prophet Malachi said to Old Testament priests, “Oh, that one of you would just shut the temple gates to keep you from kindling fire on my altar in vain! I take no pleasure in you, says the Lord of Hosts, and I will not accept any offering from your hands!” (Mal 1:10). Their hearts turned away from faith (Mal 1:2, 13; 2:17; 3:14-15) and love (Mal 2:2, 10, 14-16; 3:5, 8-10). Malachi prophesied that God would send a special messenger to people’s hearts before the Lord came, and John the Baptist came to prepare people to receive Jesus (Mal 3:23-24; Mt 11:14; Lk 7:27, 29-30).

Many prophets gave similar warnings about sacrifice and the heart (1 Sm 15:22; Is 1:10-20; Jer 7:4-15, 21-24, 31). Jesus himself told us to change our hearts if we wish to worship well (Mt 5:23-24). Saint Paul applied the same teaching to the sacrifice of Christians and sharing in Holy Communion at the Mass.

Saint Paul wrote to Corinth: “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many among you are ill and infirm, and a considerable number are dying” (1 Cor 11:23-30).

Please understand what I am saying. Yes, even before we are ready to repent, God wants us with him in church. There was a part of the temple set aside for people seeking God, and not yet ready to commit to him, and Jesus was angry in our Gospel today when temple insiders filled that part of the temple with mundane business. Yes, even while we struggle with serious sin, we should pray. Jesus said those prayers would bless us (Mt 7:7-11). And also, yes, Holy Communion is special, deep sharing in the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist. It requires a basic spiritual disposition in our hearts; without that disposition, Holy Communion will lead us farther from God, not closer to him. What spiritual disposition? Repentance from the serious sins we have committed. The Church teaches: “Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1385), and explains: “A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass [here the law refers to priests and bishops] or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible” (Code of Canon Law 916).

Serious sins also happen in the lives of ordinary, well-meaning Catholics — for example, if we miss Mass without good reason, if we drive while intoxicated, or if we engage in sexual activity outside of the covenant of marriage. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 1854-1865, you can learn more about serious sin. But even more simply and without any study, you can be ready for Holy Communion just by going to the sacrament of Reconciliation, asking the priest to help you, saying honestly the sins you remember, and telling God you want to do better.

Each Thursday the sacrament of Reconciliation is available from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Midweek Recharge at IHM Church. Or try going to a retired priest at Regina Cleri (10 Archbishop May Drive, 63119). I have found these men to be gentle and kind confessors who are available just about any time of day.

May God bless you!