Does Holy Communion increase our love of neighbor?

Mission Lab

Yes, since Holy Communion increases sanctifying grace in our souls, it also increases our love of neighbor.

In Holy Communion, we are united directly to Jesus Christ, and through Him, to the Father and to the Holy Spirit, Who are in Him. We also are united with Him and through Him to all His members, and especially to those who are perfectly united with Him in glory.

The Eucharist is the bond of love that unites all Christians as members of one spiritual body, the Church. St. Paul says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:16–17). Jesus is that one Bread in Holy Communion.

Through frequent Holy Communion, Jesus will give us help to carry out His great commandment of love for our neighbors and to put away all unkindness. He will give us the grace to love our neighbors as ourselves for His sake and to respect and love them as God’s image and likeness, as children of our Heavenly Father, and as temples of the Holy Spirit. We must not be unkind to those whom Christ loves and for whom He died on the Cross.

By frequent Holy Communion, we learn to overcome our selfishness, to resist feelings and reactions such as hatred and bitterness, to develop kindness, sympathy, forbearance, and forgiveness, to think kindly of everyone, and to find our happiness in making others happy, and thus we will unite ourselves by love to Christ and to the members of His Mystical Body. By uniting all of the faithful to Jesus, Holy Communion unites us to each other in love.