Communion at Non Catholic former Church. Ok or No?

[Igiveup]

Are there exceptions to participating in communion at non Catholic churches? I’m a convert to Catholicism and was poorly Catechized( 2 months). I’m disabled both physically and surfer from severe mental illnesses. Severe nerve pain and PTSD are just 2 examples. I converted to Catholicism for my ex girlfriend who I hoped to marry but it didn’t work out mainly because I still wanted to go to the Church of my youth with my entire family every now and then. It’s a wonderful church too. I decided to remain Catholic and actually was engaged to a Catholic Woman after that. Sometimes I am unable to sleep well Saturday nights along with many others and experience to much pain and fatigue to make it to mass Sunday morning. Not safe for me to drive sleepy and with pain medication in my system. Sometimes when this happens I ride to my old church I was raised in with my family and take communion with them. It’s actually a good Protestant Church and the core teachings of Christianity are virtually the same I was told when catechized. It’s a mega church and is sometimes jokingly referred to as the 2nd largest Catholic Church in my area by my parish Father and a couple of other members of the Clergy I’ve meet. I was scolded by my ex fiancé for this and was told I was a bad Catholic in a round about manner. Is this true? She was saying how you can’t be in communion with two churches, but mentioned before that it was just bread and juice. They know it’s bread and juice and just do it to remember Jesus and to reflect and give thanks to him during a moment of silence. It’s not the holy Eucharist but it seems like a good thing to do if I can’t get to Sunday Mass. Under those circumstances is that really wrong? Seems a little extreme but I’m not the expert.

 

[CroatCatholic]

Dear friend,

I’ll just say that you should choose the Cathic Church. You cannot serve two masters, only one.
Please, remain a faithful and obedient Catholic, and talk to a priest about this too.
Do not attend Protestant worship/liturgy, even kf they are your best friends or family, do not be a part of Protestantism. Advise and evangelize with love and patience, ask for God’s light to shine through you to Protestants, so that they may also come to the Church. I am not an expert either, but I think Protestant churches(especially evangelical and baptist ones) do not fulfill the Sunday obligation. And, please, do not ever eat their crackers and wine.

I don’t ask you to sever friendships or to sow hatred, I advise you as a brother to advise and evangelize others with love and patience, but staying away from their services.
God be with you! Peace!

Edit: Just searched, Protestant services do not fulfill your Sunday obligation. https://www.companionscross.org/art...testant-church-fulfill-obligation-worshipping

 

[Kima]

I´m sorry to hear that you´re struggling. I will pray for you and I hope it gets better.

I would say in general that you cannot receive Communion any other place than in our Catholic parishes. This is has several reasons. First, it´s because the Holy Communion is a sign of religious unity, which we do not have with anyone but our Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ. That does not mean the others aren´t Christian or anything like that, it just means that we live with religious division and sadly that´s a fact.

Secondly, it´s worth mentioning the different beliefs among different types of Christians. We believe the Holy Communion is transformed to the actual Body, Blood and Divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ. This happens through the power of God, through the Holy Spirit working through the power of priestly ordination. Many other Christians believe this to be false. A lot of them think that it´s really just crackers and juice, and others believe that anyone could transform it into the Body and Blood of Jesus. However, this is a strong reason why we cannot receive Communion in other denominations and for which they cannot receive Communion in our parishes.

Thirdly, I would wanna speak a little more about Communion as a sign of unity. By receiving Holy Communion you basically say (through your actions) that you believe all Catholic teachings that meaning you´re in Communion (in full unity) with the Church. I do not know how that applies to other denominations, but that is Catholic teaching.

Fourhtly, it is worth mentioning that the faithful (Catholics) need to be properly disposed before we receive Holy Communion so that we don´t pour judgment upon our selves (1. Corinthians 11:27-31). This is done through regular (at the very least, once a year) examining your conscience and go to confession with a priest. This is a reason of which non-Catholics cannot receive Communion in our Catholic parishes.

Lastly, the Church takes Communion so seriously that per definition, you should go to confession for taking Communion when you have grave sin on your conscience or if you receive Communion in other denominations. However, it seems like you weren´t aware of this, which lackens your culpability here.

I would definitely recommend you to bring this to the attention of your priest. He should not recommend that you receive Communion in other denominations. Generally, attending other denominations regularly instead of your Catholic parish is not good. However, I cannot answer for how this applies pastorally to your needs, so you would have to ask your Catholic priest about this. Perhaps he could set you up with some parishioners that have the same travelling distance as you so that they might take you to Mass on Sundays? Or he could find another way to help you get there?

I hope my answer was helpful. However, do definitely not hesitate to bring this to the attention of your priest, he is very much qualified to help!

God bless!

 

[Kima]

For videos about Holy Communion:

• Why non-Catholics cannot receive Communion:
• Why we have to attend Mass and also receive Holy Communion in a state of grace:
• Aren´t all churches the same? -
• Why you should be Catholic and not just Christian:

Ascension Presents with several priests, monks, sisters and laypeople, as well as Breaking In The Habit with Fr. Casey Cole on YouTube are excellent sources for catechesis.

Ascension Presents: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVdGX3N-WIJ5nUvklBTNhAw

Breaking In The Habit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDcdVPVsJRxAVKq4vY0NYeg

 

[aroosi]

As others already pointed out (and you mentioned already in your post) receiving communion in a protestant church is not the same as receiving the Eucharist. If your health is making problematic to drive safely to the nearest Catholic parish maybe you should contact your priest and see if they can help you. They may be able to find somebody willing to drive you there or to arrange with a Minister to bring you Eucharist at home. Keeping you in my prayers. Don’t give up! :hugs:

 

[TomH1]

I think that you should speak to your Catholic priest about this. It seems to me you are in need of spiritual direction.

As a Catholic your obligation on a Sunday is to go to Mass not to receive Communion. If you are too ill to go to Mass then your obligation is abrogated, you are not under any obligation.

There are a range of alternatives to consider, especially when life returns to normal after his pandemic. Does any Catholic church within reasonable travelling distance offer Mass other than on Sunday morning? Perhaps Masses are available locally on Saturday evening or Sunday evening. You could go to one of those.

You specifically say you struggle to sleep on Saturday evenings. I wonder if you struggle to sleep every evening or just on Saturdays. If it is just Saturdays perhaps you need to think about what you do on Saturday evenings that you may need to change so you can sleep better.

On Sundays perhaps one of your family members would be kind enough to take you to your Catholic church and then come for you to take you home afterwards.

Do you know anybody who goes to your Catholic church who would be willing to give you a lift to church?

Your Catholic church may have a group of volunteers that collects and drives infirm people to Mass. You could look into this.

If you cannot go to Mass anytime on Sunday or on Saturday evening contact your priest and arrangements could be made for one of the clergy or an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion to visit you at home bringing Communion to you.

You could pray the Divine Office at home if you cannot get to Mass. Alternatively, or as well as, you could read the proper prayers and readings from the Missal from that Sunday. Another possibility is to listen to a Mass on the radio or an audio livestream on a computer or you may be able to watch a Mass audio visually livestreamed on a computer or a TV. It may be possible to watch later on Sunday a Mass that was recorded earlier that day.

I am sure others will come up with other suggestions.

 

[1ke]

Are there exceptions to participating in communion at non Catholic churches?

No.

I’m disabled both physically and surfer from severe mental illnesses. Severe nerve pain and PTSD are just 2 examples

I’m sorry to hear you have such struggles.
That must be very difficult particularly right now.

Sometimes when this happens I ride to my old church I was raised in with my family and take communion with them.

It is fine to attend with them. Refrain from communion.

I do this when I attend Protestant services with my dad’s side of the family. I remain in my seat during communion.

She was saying how you can’t be in communion with two churches, but mentioned before that it was just bread and juice.

She is correct about both. They do no have a valid Eucharist and you as a Catholic can not participate in it.

Under those circumstances is that really wrong?

Yes.

 

[Igiveup]

Thank you for your time and consideration in answering my question. I will definitely stop taking communion at my old church but will still likely attend their services with my family if I can’t find a ride to mass on Sunday mornings. I really don’t feel like I would be serving two masters in this case. I’m fully aware of the different emphasis placed on communion primarily based on what my old church teaches. Since my family started going there when I was a child they have grown from a congregation of 150 people to over 18,000. With that many people they usually have quite a few Catholics or people with Catholic backgrounds in attendance. Because of this they do series called Big C little c. With themselves being represented as the lower case latter small c ( Church). They highlight the key differences between them and only give praise to the Catholic Church and actually encourage their members to attend at least 1 mass so they can observe the beauty of it and tell them to check it out or even become Catholic if they feel God is calling them to do so. It’s a church with a huge heart toward God and people. They have a list of 11 core things they believe and teach. Number 1. is Love God. Number 2. is Love people. And that they certainly do without tying to enable non Christian behaviors or pushing left or right wing social agendas. Some Protestant churches call themselves Christian but unfortunately just attach that name in order to advance their own personal opinions, objectives and social politics from the pulpit. This church is far from that and refuses to accept small church politics that divide. ( this is common with Protestant churches). They are a church of unity, love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness, but their services feel mor like a Christian based event instead of church. In that way they don’t get really hung up on teaching their specific ways. Their hearts are in the right place and I don’t feel as if they are going to mislead me or change my mind about my Catholic Faith so I think I’ll be ok visiting on occasion if I can’t get to Mass on Sunday. As I was replying I remembered a service they offer through a program called Serve The City. This focuses on taking those living in poverty in the inner city whatever they need or are lacking, building relationships with families, hosting community events and sharing the love of Jesus with them. They also offer busses to transport people within those communities to any church of their choice. Maybe I could benefit from this. Not all churches are the same obviously, but I’m glad they do this. I will certainly try to make it to a Catholic mass on Sunday mornings and explore all my options to do that. Thank you kindly and God bless.

 

[mdgspencer]

Protestants don’t believe it is the body and blood of Christ. You could ask the minister to see if this is so,
I feel sorry for you and will pray for you. Good for you for stopping to go to communion there.

 

[Igiveup]

Hi and thank you so much for your time and consideration in answering my question. That was an extremely helpful answer and God bless you for the prayers. I struggled with type 1 diabetes most of my life. About 34 years now and was in really bad shape around the time of my confirmation. My Kidneys were failing, I was getting diabetic retinopathy in my eyes and on the way to going blind, Nerve damage throughout most of my body including nerves that control my pulse, blood pressure, body temperature, GI tract and bladder. I was in the process of dying shortly after my confirmation. My blood pressure was 28/10 my pulse was racing, my lungs failed, my kidneys failed, and my heart was in the process of collapsing. Fortunately I didn’t pass right away but was in critical condition and placed in intensive care at Saint Joseph Hospital in my area. My parish priest came to bring me communion. He gave it to my family members too ( Mom, Dad, Grandmother and Grandfather ). My Grandfather was an elder at my old Church I mentioned in my post, however they aren’t Catholic. Before this my Parish Priest had me confess my sins, in front of everyone. I did. We all received the Eucharist. My priest anointed my head with oil, put his hand on top of my head had my family place their hands on me. He then said said a prayer over me. A couple weeks later I left the hospital not only alive and well, but in better health than I had been in. My Kidneys were not only working again, they were functioning perfectly ( I had stage III kidney disease ), my heart recovered and Didn’t collapse and I was free of a heart condition called aortic stenosis that leaves one with an average life span of 2 years after diagnosis, the autonomic neuropathy affecting the nerves controlling all those internal functions were healthy functioning again, my lungs recovered, The hemorrhages in my eyes are no longer showing up either. The Doctors only explanation was that it was a genuine miracle and told me I was very sick, but also very lucky to even be alive. Some other doctors in the hospital actually came to meet me after this. I still have nerve pain in my arms and legs, the type 1 diabetes, and am afflicted with some severe mental heath problems, but overall much better than I was. God has really blessed me and I’m so grateful for his blessings. I believe in the power of the Holy Eucharist and Roman Catholic Church and I will try to be obedient. I take receiving communion very seriously and usually go to confession 2-3 times a month and I don’t intentionally try to do anything disrespectful when it pertains to receiving it. Thank you for your guidance and advice. I thought I would take the time to share this with you, since you did such a wonderful job answering my question. Thank You, God bless you and Happy Easter to you.

 

[Igiveup]

They don’t believe it is the actual body or blood of Christ, but do believe it is spiritually powerful and should be done frequently. Thank you for your support and prayers brother. I have my struggles like everyone, but have been extremely blessed. God bless and happy Easter.

 

[Igiveup]

Thank you very much for your answers and your prayers. I am very grateful. I’ve gotten some really good and helpful responses here. One thing is abundantly clear. I shouldn’t take communion at a non Catholic Church. I thought as long as it wasn’t blessed or taken literally as the body and blood of Christ it was ok. Now I know better. Thanks friend. God Bless and Happy Easter.

 

[CroatCatholic]

When it comes to just attending the service and watching, I don’t know whether it is a sin or not. But, personally, I wouldn’t attend a Protestant service for any reason.
I’ll just leave a quote from St. Pius X here, and again, I do not want you to sever your relationship with friends or family, far from that, but that you, with love and patience, stand firmly in the faith and evangelize.

“The primary duty of charity does not lie in the toleration of false ideas.”
~Pope Saint Pius X

 

[TomH1]

Protestants don’t believe it is the body and blood of Christ. You could ask the minister to see if this is so,
I feel sorry for you and will pray for you. Good for you for stopping to go to communion there.

I think you have clicked on Reply to me but wrote what you have for someone else. I assume this because your above quoted post is marked as a reply to me but its content is not at all relevant to me.

 

[Margaret_Ann]

NO. (10 char)

 

[TC3033]

I converted to Catholicism for my ex girlfriend who I hoped to marry but it didn’t work out mainly because I still wanted to go to the Church of my youth with my entire family every now and then.

Wait…she had a stipulation that you couldn’t go to Church with your family once in a while…?

Do not attend Protestant worship/liturgy, even kf they are your best friends or family,

Why not? When we go to visit my parents we go to the church I grew up in and my Catholic wife and kids attend with no issue. You’re putting a stipulation on someone that doesn’t exist.

Protestants don’t believe it is the body and blood of Christ.

You can’t make that wide of a remark. Some non-Catholic churches in do believe.

I don’t know whether it is a sin or not.

It’s not

But, personally, I wouldn’t attend a Protestant service for any reason.

Your call, but like I said (and @1ke), Catholics attend non-Catholic services with family and friends all the time. It’s not that big of deal.

 

[CroatCatholic]

Hey.
I understand your response, but I still think that we should keep it as minimal as possible, but, as long it is just spectation, maybe it is just personal preferences. The Lord forgive me If I have exaggarated or advised wrongly.

 

[Igiveup]

Hey sorry about that my friend. I don’t even have a Facebook account so I’m not really good at online chat. I was just replying that I do not they believe it is the actual body and blood of Christ. They ask that only baptized believers take it, and instruct those with severe sins on their heart not to take it unless they have repented of those sins, asked Gods forgiveness and genuinely plan on turning from those sins. Sometimes they have prayer before and after, and they ask those who have taken it to join hands with those next to them while the pastor prays. Usually it was just a quiet time to reflect on the life and the death of Jesus and his body that was broken and his blood that was spilled for forgiveness for our sins. They believe it does invite Jesus Christ into our bodies and wipes the slate clean. So some of its effects are similar to our beliefs, except that it is literally and physically the actual body and blood of Christ. So it is a lot more than just crackers and juice to them. Take Care and God bless.

 

[Maximian]

Im a convert. When my parents were very old I would take them to Anglican communion. I would not take communion and after taking them home I would go to Mass and take communion.

This prompted a number of discussions about the Church and I believe may have contributed to my father’s deathbed reception into the Catholic Church.

 

[Igiveup]

I’m not church hopping to receive communion. Lol. Maybe reread my original post. I’m attending my old church with my family on occasion out of necessity not by 1st choice. That or nothing but the TV screen. I’m disabled and since I’m the only Catholic in my social circle that goes to church I catch a ride with them every now and then on mornings I don’t feel well enough or have enough fuel or money to buy more of it to make the 15 mile drive to my home parish. I’m in Kentucky so Catholic Churches are few and far in between. You sound oddly familiar to many of my Southern Baptist small church Kentucky friends with that Church Hopping bit though. Lol. They call me a church hopper if I go to church with another friend who asks me or even tell them how beautiful a different Catholic Church was that visited. This actually happens. I’m not making this up. That’s one of the deciding factors in becoming a Catholic for me. No small church politics I said. To be hands down by far the largest Christian Church on the globe we Catholics sure seem to have some small church ways. Stubborn to boot it seems. Thanks for your reply. God bless you and keep you brother. Take care.