2 questions about receiving Communion

[EIF5A]

Hello,

I had 2 quick questions:

1. Can one have a personal intention for receiving Communion (ie: reparation for particular types of sin, salvation of a particular person, etc)?
2. Is it a sin to refrain from Communion if one is not aware of mortal sins but venial sins? Always end up wondering if I actually did commit mortal sin, and even if I didn’t, venial sins are still sins and makes one unclean…I’ve usually been receiving Communion at the Mass right after Confession, but if I can help someone (ie: in purgatory) by praying for them after Communion, maybe I should receive the Eucharist…?

Not sure…

Thanks

 

[peter26]

Hello,

I had 2 quick questions:

1. Can one have a personal intention for receiving Communion (ie: reparation for particular types of sin, salvation of a particular person, etc)?

Yes.

1. Is it a sin to refrain from Communion if one is not aware of mortal sins but venial sins? Always end up wondering if I actually did commit mortal sin, and even if I didn’t, venial sins are still sins and makes one unclean…I’ve usually been receiving Communion at the Mass right after Confession, but if I can help someone (ie: in purgatory) by praying for them after Communion, maybe I should receive the Eucharist…?

Not sure…

Thanks

Not a sin, but also not necessary. You only have to receive once e year (during the season of Easter).

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Venial sin is wiped away during Mass; you only need abstain if you have mortal sin on your soul. Why deprive yourself of the grace and most intimate blessing we can receive?

 

[EIF5A]

Venial sin is wiped away during Mass; you only need abstain if you have mortal sin on your soul. Why deprive yourself of the grace and most intimate blessing we can receive?

There are…thoughts…that pass through my mind and I’m not sure if they are mortal or venial sins…

 

[Gorgias]

You only have to receive once e year (during the season of Easter).

Close.

A Catholic must receive the Eucharist at least once a year; and, if only once a year, then during the Easter season.

 

[Gertabelle]

There are…thoughts…that pass through my mind and I’m not sure if they are mortal or venial sins…

I have a very “colorful” past. Because of that, certain thoughts pass through my mind all the time. So long as they’re just passing through, there’s no sin – mortal or venial – at all.

Now, if you invite those thoughts in, offer them a coffee and a crumpet, and have a nice long entertaining conversation – then there might be some cause for concern on the sin scale.

If you don’t understand what does or does not constitute sin in the realm of thoughts, sit down with our pastor and discuss it with him. I’m 49 and I actually did have a conversation like that with one of our priests last year. Gave me a much clearer idea of my relationship with God and how to deal with temptations of all kind.

God bless you!

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

There are…thoughts…that pass through my mind and I’m not sure if they are mortal or venial sins…

As Gertabelle suggests, there may be no sin at all. You would be wise to seek the counsel of a priest rather than just skipping Communion.

 

[Herculees]

There are…thoughts…that pass through my mind and I’m not sure if they are mortal or venial sins…

For a sin to be mortal you must have “full consent of the will.” The fact that you are uncertain most probably means you did “not” have full consent of the will. I would
further go on and say IF you go to confession frequently (i.e. once a month) you most
likely are NOT in mortal sin.

 

[peter26]

For a sin to be mortal you must have “full consent of the will.” The fact that you are uncertain most probably means you did “not” have full consent of the will. I would
further go on and say IF you go to confession frequently (i.e. once a month) you most
likely are NOT in mortal sin.

Unless of course you have habitual sins that you regularly fall into.

 

[St_Francis]

I have not heard of having an intention for rdeiving the Eucharist, but one can have an intention for the Mass as a whole, and for each consecration I generally tell God at the beginning what my intentions are, and then usually remember them during the consecrations–that I sometimes forget, especially if Mass is in a different language, is why I tell God at the beginning.

 

[Gertabelle]

I have not heard of having an intention for receiving the Eucharist…
[snip]

I remember reading in different lives of the Saints how someone would “offer Holy Communion” (i.e., the graces received therein) for someone, or for a certain intention.

My friends and I have offered Holy Communion for one another on many occasions.

 

[Herculees]

Unless of course you have habitual sins that you regularly fall into.

NO Exception! A habitual sin is NOT mortal as you do NOT have full consent of the will.

 

[Gorgias]

NO Exception! A habitual sin is NOT mortal as you do NOT have full consent of the will.

Not quite.

While it’s possible that, through habit, one’s will may have been weakened, it’s not true that any grave sin – simply by virtue of being a ‘habit’ – cannot therefore be mortal.

 

[Herculees]

Not quite.

While it’s possible that, through habit, one’s will may have been weakened, it’s not true that any grave sin – simply by virtue of being a ‘habit’ – cannot therefore be mortal.

For it to be mortal the church says one must have sufficient knowledge and COMPLETE consent.

 

[Gorgias]

For it to be mortal the church says one must have sufficient knowledge and COMPLETE consent.

Agreed. That doesn’t mean that habitual sins are, by their frequency or nature, void of “deliberate and complete consent.” Instead, the standard is merely that the consent is “sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice.” The “force of acquired habit” may factor into a judgment of moral culpability – and may contribute to a “lessened” or “minimum” culpability – but that doesn’t mean that it’s automatically (or even always) so.

 

[otjm]

There are…thoughts…that pass through my mind and I’m not sure if they are mortal or venial sins…

Thoughts passing through the mind are not sinful. Any sin is when one pursues and engages with those thoughts. And the degree and complexity to which one engages may well determine the level of the sin.

You need to speak with your pastor, and it might help if you determine, with his help, if there is a tendency towards scrupulosity.

 

[otjm]

Not a sin, but also not necessary. You only have to receive once e year (during the season of Easter).

And the point is - what? That we all should become Jansenists? One should receive as often as one can.

That all is a bit like saying “Well, I went to Mass on Sunday; I don’t need to think about my faith, or pray, until next Sunday.”

 

[otjm]

I have a very “colorful” past. Because of that, certain thoughts pass through my mind all the time. So long as they’re just passing through, there’s no sin – mortal or venial – at all.

Now, if you invite those thoughts in, offer them a coffee and a crumpet, and have a nice long entertaining conversation – then there might be some cause for concern on the sin scale.

If you don’t understand what does or does not constitute sin in the realm of thoughts, sit down with our pastor and discuss it with him. I’m 49 and I actually did have a conversation like that with one of our priests last year. Gave me a much clearer idea of my relationship with God and how to deal with temptations of all kind.

God bless you!

A delightful post! 5 stars - and though I don’t know where the columbines grow, out here in the wild and woolly West, we call them muffins or rolls.