ASK A PRIEST

Why can't we receive sacraments remotely or virtually?

FALL 2020

THIS QUESTION HAS BUBBLED TO THE SURFACE GRADUALLY. With the technological revolution occurring in our midst – first slowly and then with greater and greater velocity – it was only a matter of time before we would have to contend with questions about sacramental participation and technology. Fortunately, we are not lost at sea here. Our answers lie in longstanding Church teachings.

To begin, let us be clear about what takes place when the sacraments are celebrated. We say of the sacraments that they are encounters with Christ and His Body, the Church. These encounters are personal in nature, and when we speak of personal encounters, we mean that presence is a requirement. I do not have an encounter with you unless we are in each other’s company. We may have contact by phone or by correspondence, but that kind of contact does not constitute an encounter.

Next, we must take into account the nature of our sacramental encounters. In every sacramental encounter, there is what theologians call a mediation. Someone is there in the sacraments to facilitate our encounter with God: a guarantor, if you will, to ensure that we have a genuine meeting with the Lord. We know from the New Testament that Jesus is the Mediator between God and the human race, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). In turn, this encounter with Jesus through the sacraments is also a mediated encounter. That is, there is someone there who brings about Jesus’ Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, who absolves sinners and who anoints the sick and dying. That someone, of course, is a priest.

But how is it that we have the Eucharist, the sacrament of penance, the anointing of the sick in the first place? We have them only because the Son of God became incarnate. The Incarnation made possible personal, sacramental encounters. In the words of the distinguished American Catholic theologian Fr. Thomas Weinandy, “The Incarnation sets the framework for the sacramental order. Sacraments . . . are incarnational signs that affect what they symbolize and symbolize what they affect. One must be a part of that sign and reality to participate in the sacrament.”

Thus, when it comes to personal, sacramental encounters, physical presence is required – which means that you cannot have sacraments remotely or virtually. For all the very real spiritual comfort that can be had through indirect communication – from the old technology of a letter written on paper to the wonders of video calling – the sacraments can only be received in person.