can i receive communion today?

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capricacity

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I ask this question mainly to see if I am beating myself up too much or being too scrupulous. Last night I went out with friends to just destress and I had a pitcher of beer. (like that jug of beer thing) over the course of say 2.5 hours. Then I drove home. I had a long day of traveling so I got drowsy while I was driving home but not to the point of swerving or anything but still, I was drowsy and maybe the alcohol did not help.

I feel bad because I feel like now I lost my state of grace by putting my life and someone else’s life in danger. Therefore can i receive communion today? I woke up fine just a little fuzzy and maybe a slight headache but i was not slurring my speech last night or falling over or anything but still.i just want to make sure that I am perfectly morally okay when I receive communion because i FEAR receiving the host in a state of mortal sin.

i dont know what to do…i feel tired and I went to confession yesterday, and I dont know if i should go to confession again today. I dont like going through the week without recieving communion because I suffer alot of emotional trials…Should I sit out communion today?
 
Receive. You did not commit a mortal sin. Okay you made a mistake and thanks to God’s mercy, you arrived home safely. That is just my opinion based on what you have written. I am being very brief in the hope you read this before mass.
 
I cannot say if you were intoxicated while you were driving. Alcohol affects people differently…sex of the person, their weight, percent of alcohol in the drink, ect. But your tiredness from earlier in the day is a factor too.

I could give you my opinion (I’d say probably not) but only you know how intoxicated you were.

God Bless
 
It is impossible to judge the case for you. You must use the data you have available, which is highly subjective and experiential.

What one could say, however, is that if you (when sober) would not have let someone else drive if he was in the same condition as you for a serious and reasonable fear of your safety or others’, then yes, there was a mortal sin.

Another note… we should strive not merely to “fear” sin (like receiving unworthily), but also to detest sin. There’s a difference!
 
No problem taking communion, but think you should be very thankful you didn’t kill yourself or an innocent person on your drive home. Assuming the pitcher you refer to is a 4 pint pitcher, that is twice the drink drive limit here in the UK - for someone who considers themselves catholic and therefore values human life, you should be thourghly ashamed of yourself.

Then trying to justify your actions on here is shameful, because the comments so far have said you can still take communion - does that mean you will do the same next time?
 
As a rule, any driver who feels drowsy should pull over – and either get forty winks, or wake themselves up.

However, doing something foolish without meaning to, or not having the experience to choose rightly, is not a mortal sin.

Sometimes foolishness provides an instant death penalty for yourself, though, so learn your lesson this time and be more careful in the future.
 
CCC 2290: Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.

Did you endanger anyone’s safety? No. Were you drunk? The legal limit is a civil law, not a moral law. The arbitrary BAC level in the civil law is not equivalent to the sin of drunkenness (see the Summa). So you did not commit the sin of drunkenness (and you probably were not even over the legal limit to drive either). And nobody was actually endangered. There is no sin. Not even venial sin. Was it imprudent? Maybe. Will you get other opinions on this issue? Yes. if you are worried about it, ask your priest. The foregoing is the advice and analysis I received.
 
capricacity said:
I ask this question mainly to see if I am beating myself up too much or being too scrupulous. Last night I went out with friends to just destress and I had a pitcher of beer. (like that jug of beer thing) over the course of say 2.5 hours. Then I drove home. I had a long day of traveling so I got drowsy while I was driving home but not to the point of swerving or anything but still, I was drowsy and maybe the alcohol did not help.

I feel bad because I feel like now I lost my state of grace by putting my life and someone else’s life in danger. Therefore can i receive communion today? I woke up fine just a little fuzzy and maybe a slight headache but i was not slurring my speech last night or falling over or anything but still.i just want to make sure that I am perfectly morally okay when I receive communion because i FEAR receiving the host in a state of mortal sin.

i dont know what to do…i feel tired and I went to confession yesterday, and I dont know if i should go to confession again today. I dont like going through the week without recieving communion because I suffer alot of emotional trials…Should I sit out communion today?
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It’s difficult to give comment here because people would give comment on our comment. But since you ask, I would say you did not seem to sin. You therefore can receive Holy Communion and do not have to go for Confession. You can drink, there’s no restriction about it. Try not to get drunk and most of all not a drunkard, but you’d know that.

God bless you.
 
Mi3hael said:
Assuming the pitcher you refer to is a 4 pint pitcher, that is twice the drink drive limit here in the UK - for someone who considers themselves catholic and therefore values human life, you should be thourghly ashamed of yourself.
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The drinking limits here in the US seem to be less strict than those in the UK, and an 195 pound man drinking a pitcher of beer over 2.5 hours would probably be a bit away from an illegal BAC—maybe a .054 out of .08.
 
I am 185lbs and I drank a pitcher of beer…i went to mass today and I received communion…i will probably mention all of this in confession next week
 
I disagree with other posters. Drink driving kills! You could be dead or be in jail now for having killed someone else! No I don’t think you should receive communion, you chose to drink, you chose to drive. You know it was bad!
Go to confession and don’t do it again!
 
Dear Cap, why do you ask this question here on this forum? We are mostly average Joes with all sorts of answers and opinions that will just result in judgment. And, who are we to tell you what you should do in this case? You should only ask your Pastor or any priest in your parish. Period.
 
capricacity said:
I ask this question mainly to see if I am beating myself up too much or being too scrupulous. Last night I went out with friends to just destress and I had a pitcher of beer. (like that jug of beer thing) over the course of say 2.5 hours. Then I drove home. I had a long day of traveling so I got drowsy while I was driving home but not to the point of swerving or anything but still, I was drowsy and maybe the alcohol did not help.

I feel bad because I feel like now I lost my state of grace by putting my life and someone else’s life in danger. Therefore can i receive communion today? I woke up fine just a little fuzzy and maybe a slight headache but i was not slurring my speech last night or falling over or anything but still.i just want to make sure that I am perfectly morally okay when I receive communion because i FEAR receiving the host in a state of mortal sin.
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Well, maybe go over this again. How could that be a mortal sin?

Do you know what constitutes a mortal sin?

If it is not a mortal sin, then you can receive Holy Communion.

Now, if it was a mortal sin, then you cannot receive Communion because you are not in a state of grace.

Now, you may be against the United State law by driving after having beer. That does not necessarily make you into mortal sin.

Think about it because there is such thing as scrupulosity.
 
rondirect said:
Dear Cap, why do you ask this question here on this forum? We are mostly average Joes with all sorts of answers and opinions that will just result in judgment. And, who are we to tell you what you should do in this case? You should only ask your Pastor or any priest in your parish. Period.
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Solid advice here. Trust your pastor. I love these forums, but I suspect you won’t find the peace you are looking for until Christ working through someone in a purple stole gives you absolution or tells you not to worry about it. Be gentle with yourself Caprica.
 
Blue_Rose said:
I disagree with other posters. Drink driving kills! You could be dead or be in jail now for having killed someone else! No I don’t think you should receive communion, you chose to drink, you chose to drive. You know it was bad!
Go to confession and don’t do it again!
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You have forgotten the 3 conditions for a mortal sin. But I’m glad you feel okay to condemn.
 
rondirect said:
Dear Cap, why do you ask this question here on this forum? We are mostly average Joes with all sorts of answers and opinions that will just result in judgment. And, who are we to tell you what you should do in this case? You should only ask your Pastor or any priest in your parish. Period.
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Well put!
 
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