Roman Catholic Communion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Roman Catholic Communion - Essay Example Hence, when it comes to rituals, Communion tends to be an important ritual in the Roman Catholic religion. Communion in the Roman Catholic religion not only extends a sense of belonging to the Roman Catholics around the world, but also helps them stay connected with the essential beliefs and values associated with their religion. In the Roman Catholic Church, communion tends to be the source and centre of the Roman Catholic religion. Communion tends to be the high point of any Roman Catholic mass. In the Roman Catholic Church, communion happens to be an important sacrament. It is a way and means to reach Jesus. The Ritual of Communion The communion in the Roman Catholic Church begins with an opening prayer. The clergy conducting the mass makes a sign of cross and says the opening prayer. The clergy formally welcomes the believers attending the mass and offers prayers for the well being of the parish and the community. After the opening prayer, the clergy starts the reading of the scr ipture. It does need to be mentioned that the reading of the scripture in a Catholic communion is not random or haphazard, but rather it follows a liturgical calendar. The Catholic Church has prescribed the readings for each and every day of the year. This practice of affiliating to the same reading on a particular day at the Catholic Churches placed all across the world, lends a sense of community and camaraderie to the people following the Catholic religion. The reading of the scripture is followed by the Lord’s Prayer. Once the Lord’s Prayer is said then begins the sacrament of communion. The priest offers to the believers gathered in the Church for the mass, the bead dipped in wine, which at a symbolic level is taken to be the blood and body of Jesus, offered to the believers so that it could atone for the sins committed by them (O’Collins & Farrugia 250). It does need to be mentioned that communion tends to be the most important aspect of a Catholic mass. T he Roman Catholic religion preaches that receiving communion is a must for the attainment of salvation. The other important belief associated with the Roman Catholic communion is that only a priest, who has been ordained in the apostolic succession, could manifest through Jesus Christ the imminent miracle of Transubstantiation, thereby changing the ordinary bread and wine into the blood and body of the Christ. Meaning and Significance of Communion It does need to be noticed that Communion or Eucharist commands a central place in the Roman Catholic form of worship. Baptism and Communion are the two sacraments that have been clearly mentioned in the Bible. It is held that the practice of Communion was actually started by Jesus Christ, and this ritual is clearly recorded in the Gospels. It was Jesus Christ who initiated the practice of the Last Supper where he offered bread to His disciples, telling them that it is His body, and then made them drink a little wine, saying it to be His b lood. Jesus told his followers to repeat this ceremony and the Catholic Christians have been practising this ritual right from the days of early Christians. The ritual of Communion owes its spiritual moorings to the sacraments relation to the actual sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In the New Testament one many a times come across Jesus addressing himself as a sacrifice, thereby pointing towards his imminent sacrifice on