Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine
Dogs are not properly equipped to appreciate what is holy. Swine will profane pearls as surely as anything else tossed into their pens. This is not the fault of the creatures for they simply don't have the context and understanding that would allow them to treat such things well. Only those already committed to Christianity will understand the value of specifically Christian treasures like the Sacraments. It is therefore incumbent on us to ensure that they are treated with the proper respect, and not handled by those who cannot yet put them to good use. Having said that, we do hope that even such dogs and pigs come to learn the value of the pearl of great price and thereby undergo a transformation into humans capable of appreciating and receiving holy things. This is more or less the transformation that was evident in the Canaanite woman that allowed her to receive the bread from the masters' table (see Matthew 15:21-28).
We may have some part to play in protecting the holy things of God when we invite friends to mass and explain why it would not be fitting for them to receive the Eucharist. Well and good. Let us do so. But let us worry less about others and more about ourselves. For if the Canaanite woman can cease to be a puppy and become fully human so too do we risk devolving into subhuman creatures that fail to value the holy things at the core of our faith. That said, our call is not to avoid the Eucharist unless we are in a state of mortal sin. But we should nevertheless try to receive with active and conscious appreciation of the limitless value it possesses. Obviously we will never fully grasp the infinite value of this gift in particular. But we can at least use our intellect and will aided by grace to ensure we do our best not to take it for granted.
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.
It is as though when holy things are not appreciated the can provoke us by not appeasing us in the way we had hoped. It therefore is not a neutral and indifferent situation when pigs and dogs receive them. It is a situation which puts us and even they themselves at risk.
Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.
We would wish that others would share holy things with us, but we ought to wish only that they would do so only when we were equipped to appreciate it, and that they themselves would help us learn this value. This, then, is what we should will for others. This transformation into new creations in Christ, capable of valuing the holy things we are given, is a possibility for everyone. But we cannot begin with that which is the most interior and hidden. We must start with the basics so that faith can make the transformation a possible for each individual heart.
Enter through the narrow gate
The gate that leads to life is none other than Jesus himself. His is the only name given under heaven by which we can be saved. He himself is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. Every way that is not Jesus himself leads to destruction. But this is not to say that everyone on the narrow way consciously recognizes that they are on it. But again, we should wish and work that they might, in order that, together with us, they could partake of the holy things at the table of our master.
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