Altar Serving in State of Mortal Sin

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PonderingJak

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I am in a state of mortal sin, and if I ask my parents will not let me drop out. There is no chance of confession in the meantime, and I’m pretty sure communion is mandatory in altar serving. What should I do? Mass starts in non hour and a half
 
Cross your arms and the priest will not give you Communion. Not a problem. Nobody will think anything of it at all. Saw an altar server do this recently.
 
Cross your arms and the priest will not give you Communion. Not a problem. Nobody will think anything of it at all. Saw an altar server do this recently.
I’ll try. Thanks for the suggestion
 
I am with JMR_1985 and crossing the arms. I loved to serve, but often had my struggles (I served as a youngster and as an adult) That is what I did. If a visiting priest was serving mass I would ask someone to cover for me and I would cover for them next go around.
You may want to consult Fr. next time you go to confession and see what he advises. I urge you never to receive in a state of mortal sin.
 
If you make eye contact and shake your head “no” just a bit, all while neither opening your mouth nor presenting your hands to receive, but rather just keeping your hands folded (in whatever manner a server in your parish would normally have his hands folded 90% of the time) that is all it takes and Holy Communion will not be distributed to you. Priests (and EMsHC) are sensitive about not making a scene over this.

You don’t have to cross your arms over your chest or anything like that. In some parishes, that is a request for a “blessing,” which could be a bit confusing.

OP, you will see Father in the sacristy. Simply tell him you won’t be receiving Holy Communion, if you want to. He will probably not ask why you aren’t.
 
Since you are in the sacristy with the priest vesting up, what’s the big deal in asking him to hear your confession? Confession need not be a long drawn out thing or a protracted counselling session. Just be brief in telling the priest your sins…you might want to write them down beforehand to insure that you are accurate and short winded.
Priests hearing the confession of alter servers before Mass is actually quite common, and most priests will not mind you asking.
 
I tried the arms-crossed method, abstaining from the Body of Christ went by without confusion, there was a small moment of hesitation from the Eucharistic Minister, but all in all Communion went by fine.
 
I could be wrong but you can’t serve with mortal sin secondly not to ask you put your sin on display but you’d be real hard pressed to commit a mortal sin.

No really, it’s really hard to commit a mortal sin. The evil intent alone is hard enough to muster but the sin itself has also to be very grave.

The easiest mortal sins I’m aware of are breaking laws that would invoke jail time, missing mass or already having a mortal sin and having a sacrament and most sins regarding sex.

That’s surprisingly a very narrow list.

Remember the requirements
It’s gravely wrong, you know it’s wrong but you are going to do it anyway.

If there is any doubt or uncertainty or outside compullustion it muddies up the water quite a bit and it becomes hard to tell. If you are not sure or you don’t know what else you could have done or did something on impulse or snap call its prolly not mortal.

Not to downplay sin but let’s be realistic here.
 
I could be wrong but you can’t serve with mortal sin secondly not to ask you put your sin on display but you’d be real hard pressed to commit a mortal sin.

No really, it’s really hard to commit a mortal sin. The evil intent alone is hard enough to muster but the sin itself has also to be very grave.

The easiest mortal sins I’m aware of are breaking laws that would invoke jail time, missing mass or already having a mortal sin and having a sacrament and most sins regarding sex.

That’s surprisingly a very narrow list.

Remember the requirements
It’s gravely wrong, you know it’s wrong but you are going to do it anyway.

If there is any doubt or uncertainty or outside compullustion it muddies up the water quite a bit and it becomes hard to tell. If you are not sure or you don’t know what else you could have done or did something on impulse or snap call its prolly not mortal.

Not to downplay sin but let’s be realistic here.
I would not give this advice. People (young and old) do commit mortal sins, and it isn’t advisable to suggest otherwise. I am not saying it is inevitable either. I don’t think it is helpful to suggest either way. For example, in the area of chastity (it doesn’t just take sex to have a mortal sin) young people can have mortal sins. Let’s not try to suggest otherwise and just let the poster talk with a priest in confession about whatever happened. OP, I would ask all the questions you have in confession, what to do for future reference, etc.
 
I would not give this advice. People (young and old) do commit mortal sins, and it isn’t advisable to suggest otherwise. I am not saying it is inevitable either. I don’t think it is helpful to suggest either way. For example, in the area of chastity (it doesn’t just take sex to have a mortal sin) young people can have mortal sins. Let’s not try to suggest otherwise and just let the poster talk with a priest in confession about whatever happened.
Do and the frequency of sins done is in question here. I could write a book just on the sins people get into a tail spin about thinking they are going to hell.

I kid you not I saw child burst into tears over breaking a rosery thinking Angels were about to smite him.

As for sins regarding sex I said regarding not just sex. I’m very aware of the list one can fill with impurity.

People give themselves way to much credit, fear of the lord is not irrational fear.
 
I’m sure that what you’re going through is a very common situation for young men who live at home.

Jimmy Akin wrote an article about it:
  1. If one knows that one is in a state of mortal sin and cannot get to confession prior to Communion, one might receive under the terms specified by Canon 916 of the Code of Canon Law:
Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin [they mean “mortal sin” in this case; see here] is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.
Can there be a grave reason to receive the Eucharist in this situation? Yes. If failing to receive would cause grave pain (e.g., by creating a nightmare family situation) or if failing to receive would lessen one’s resolve not to fall into the same sin (i.e., “I’ve already done it once; I’ll refrain from receiving Communion so that I can do it twice) then a grave reason to receive Communion exists.
jimmyakin.com/2010/10/youthful-passions.html

You aren’t required to reveal your sins to your parents. If not receiving the Eucharist creates a family situation I would receive the Eucharist and bring the situation up with your confessor at your next confession.
 
I’m sure that what you’re going through is a very common situation for young men who live at home.

Jimmy Akin wrote an article about it:

jimmyakin.com/2010/10/youthful-passions.html

You aren’t required to reveal your sins to your parents. If not receiving the Eucharist creates a family situation I would receive the Eucharist and bring the situation up with your confessor at your next confession.
This is horrible advice. Receiving Eucharist in a state of mortal sin is a very grave matter and a mortal sin in itself. It is incredibly disrespectful to Christ present in the sacrament. The provision in canon 916 is there for truly extraordinary circumstances, such as for a priest who must celebrate Eucharist or for someone in the danger of death. The advice given by easterjoy and jmr is much better.
 
I could be wrong but you can’t serve with mortal sin secondly not to ask you put your sin on display but you’d be real hard pressed to commit a mortal sin.

No really, it’s really hard to commit a mortal sin. The evil intent alone is hard enough to muster but the sin itself has also to be very grave.

The easiest mortal sins I’m aware of are breaking laws that would invoke jail time, missing mass or already having a mortal sin and having a sacrament and most sins regarding sex.

That’s surprisingly a very narrow list.

Remember the requirements
It’s gravely wrong, you know it’s wrong but you are going to do it anyway.

If there is any doubt or uncertainty or outside compullustion it muddies up the water quite a bit and it becomes hard to tell. If you are not sure or you don’t know what else you could have done or did something on impulse or snap call its prolly not mortal.

Not to downplay sin but let’s be realistic here.
We have no idea what the sin even is here. This is an issue for the OP and his confessor. In all charity, we are not competent to give this advice, especially with no details.

JMR
 
…You aren’t required to reveal your sins to your parents. If not receiving the Eucharist creates a family situation I would receive the Eucharist and bring the situation up with your confessor at your next confession.
I would * NOT receive *just to avoid a family situation. I would show the respect that is due to our Lord. If your parents question you say I am in sin I will NOT receive in SIN.

I had my mother question Why I didn’t receive one sunday. I told her I was in sin. She questioned my sinfulness I told in respectfully that the Priest would hear my confession and I will receive next time I was able. She wasn’t happy but she got the message. She rambled some but I ignored it.
 
The OP refrained from receiving Holy Communion and there was no tempest. I’m sure he has found a way to get to confession. It was handled well, and we can all hope that he won’t ever be in a position to need this advice again…well, unless he is serving a third Mass in the same day. In that case, he would also refrain from receiving Holy Communion.
 
I find the terminology being used here unhelpful.

What exactly does “being in a state of mortal sin” actually mean.
It is unlikely that a teenage boy who is devoted enough to be an altar server easily commits a personal sin that completely kills the life of God in the soul every third week.

However, we are all easily capable of engaging in acts of “grave matter” which is the nub of the question I suggest.

And the CCC is very clear on what must be done in these situations.
If we become conscious of such acts of grave matter then we may not receive Communion without first being absolved.

But there is a proviso…we may receive Communion (without first being absolved) provided it is reasonably impracticable to get absolution beforehand and that we make a personal, whole hearted act of contrition before Communion WITH THE INTENTION OF GOING TO CONFSSSION AS SOON AS IT IS PRACTICABLE.

Ours is a reasonable religion, God does not want us to get tied up in an endless chain of mortal sins just over technicalities and unnecessary humiliations true or putative…

I would NOT pester a priest directly before Mass for Confession, he has many other things on his mind including his homily.
 
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