In this way each person is united together to the total Mystical Body of Christ. Our union is far more than fellowship. The branches of a vine or a tree don't just live in fellowship with each other, they live united to each other through their union to the life giving trunk. We are the branches united to the vine and sustained by the life force of the Eucharist. Sometimes people ask me or the other priests about non-Catholics receiving the Eucharist or Catholics receiving the Eucharist in non Catholic churches.
Communion is closed in the Catholic church.
It is offered only to practicing Catholics in the state of grace. We'll talk about that in a second. In the theology of our Church, the reception of the Eucharist is an affirmation of the entire faith of the Church. People may share a belief in Christ, but not necessarily share a belief in the Eucharist as being the real presence of Christ. We use the word communion to refer to the Eucharist to emphasize the Eucharist as the meal of the community.