At Mass today

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frenchbeatle

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Something happened at Mass today that I’d like to get your thoughts on.

I’m fortunate enough to work near a Catholic church that offers Mass at noon. I’m able to go almost every day druing my lunchbreak. Lately, I’ve had the idea in my head that I’d like to invite my coworkers to come with me; at best, one of them is Christian.

I invited one of them to Mass with me today. I had told him beforehand that he could not receive Communion as he is not a practicing Catholic. He seemed to understand. When Communion time came, he got up and I assumed he was moving so that I could get past him into the Communion line. I discovered too late to do anything that he had gone into the line and received from the priest!

This experience is making me wonder if I should invite my other coworkers to Mass with me. What happened today made me a little upset and I feel guilty about it, even though I know I did my best in telling him not to receive. Any thoughts on what to do better next time, or if I should invite my other coworkers? 🤷
 
You did the right thing by telling him beforehand that he is not to receive the Eucharist. Perhaps the next time you could explain that because we are not all perfectly united in the Body of Christ due to varying differences in belief ,that it is necessary for them to refrain from receiving the Eucharist.

It would be a shame to not invite others because of what happened with that one person. As long as you tell them, and you see they understand, it is nice to invite them to “come and see”.
 
It wasn’t your fault–no need to feel guilty.
You did a great thing by inviting your coworkers to Mass. Keep up the good work! 👍
 
You need to speak to this co-worker and find out why he went to receive Communion even though you explained to him that he should not. And then you need to remind him again that he should not do that. (The way Dorothy phrased that explanation was excellent.) In fact, it might be helpful if you not only told them what they should not do, but also tell them what they should do: remain seated in the pew and observe and pray.

I think you should not let this experience keep you from inviting others. I think it’s neat that you feel comfortable asking them and they feel comfortable accepting.
 
You did fine! I would keep inviting others and explaining that they are not allowed to receive Communion. Maybe next time, you can sit at the end of the pew, and during Communion stand up and tell your co-worker that you will be right back.
 
I would continue inviting your coworkers to come to Mass. However, I would remind them a few times that they must not receive. There’s a possibility that the coworker you took with you today didn’t remember that he wasn’t supposed to receive. That’s why it might be a good idea to remind them a couple times if you would choose to take them again.
 
Here are the guidelines for receiving Holy Communion from the USCCB website. You can print them out and give/discuss them with your co-worker. Sometimes people are dense and need to see it in writing.

usccb.org/liturgy/current/intercom.shtml

YOU did a great job of proclaiming the Gospel by inviting them to experience Jesus in the Mass. Please don’t let the actions of one person stop you in the future.
 
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