Communion fast

  • Thread starter Thread starter friendlyperson
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
F

friendlyperson

Guest
Hey guys. I’m my brother’s confirmation sponsor and so I feel a certain responsibility to instruct him in the faith. Anyway, he was eating some M&Ms about 15 minutes before mass began. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, but I reminded him of the one hour fast rule. We got to church, but the priest was a visiting priest, and he was one of those that moves through mass extremely quickly. Consequently, when it was time to go up to receive the Eucharist, it had been less than an hour since he had been eating. I alerted him of this fact, and when he tried to say it wasn’t important, I told him, “That’s the rule.” I told him I would stay back with him and I did. Did I handle this well? Did I do the right thing?
 
I think you did well by instructing him about the Fasting requirement. Maybe now you can schedule a time to go more deeply into the whats, whys, and wherefores of the Fast. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, and even Catholic.com, are well suited for this!

👍
 
friendlyperson said:
Hey guys. I’m my brother’s confirmation sponsor and so I feel a certain responsibility to instruct him in the faith. Anyway, he was eating some M&Ms about 15 minutes before mass began. This normally wouldn’t be a problem, but I reminded him of the one hour fast rule. We got to church, but the priest was a visiting priest, and he was one of those that moves through mass extremely quickly. Consequently, when it was time to go up to receive the Eucharist, it had been less than an hour since he had been eating. I alerted him of this fact, and when he tried to say it wasn’t important, I told him, “That’s the rule.” I told him I would stay back with him and I did. Did I handle this well? Did I do the right thing?
Click to expand...
Yes, you did the right thing as far as it went, but there is much more needed.

What is needed is an understanding why there is the rule. There are a whole lot of people who have abandoned the Church, because their perception of it is that it is a bunch of rules, which have no meaning or reason other than “because Father said so”, or the equivalent. And failure to teach the “why” of the rule(s) is to set up someone for the wrong path as to why we go to church, why we worship, and what our relationship with Christ and with God should be. Particularly with youth, the equivalent of “Because I (or Father, or the Church) said so” gets extremely little traction.

Our relationship with Christ needs to be one of love, and if the focus is not on that loving relationship with Him, but rather on a series of rules which seem to have no bearing on relationship, then a block to the development of that relationship gets larger and larger.

Any loving relationship has certain rules; and in many circumstances they may not be particularly well articulated; but there are rules none the less. We have very well articulated rules about our relationship with the Church and with Christ; we need to be extremely careful that they do not simply become ends in themselves. The Eucharist is not something we receive, just because that is “what you do at Mass”. It is at the heart of our relationship with Christ.
 
Sounds like someone needs to be taugh about mortal sins. Had he gone up to receive, objectively speaking, he would have committed a mortal sin, severed his relationship with God, and put himself under the dominion of Satan. That’s actually pretty important.
 
You did the right thing by informing him of one hour fasting…BUT…I have been taught that you NEVER miss an opportunity to receive Holy Communion (if in a state of grace). I forget the person’s name but he said you are to receive Holy Communion as if it were the last time you were to ever receive it.

This is just my opinion but I would not have missed the opportunity…it is too special and too meaningful to me.
 
brad90956 said:
.I have been taught that you NEVER miss an opportunity to receive Holy Communion (if in a state of grace). I forget the person’s name but he said you are to receive Holy Communion as if it were the last time you were to ever receive it.
Click to expand...
You receive and respect the sacrament when properly disposed. If you’re dying, then the rules of fasting may not apply.
 
I am not made to follow the fasting rule by any of the three priest at my parish because they know that I am a type 1 diabetic and if I start to feel low I will grab whatever snack that is in my purse and eat it. In fact one week when I had a low the priest went and got some orange juice from the kitchen and made sure I drank it before he gave me communion said he could see me shaking from where he was sitting.
 
thequeen said:
I am not made to follow the fasting rule by any of the three priest at my parish because they know that I am a type 1 diabetic and if I start to feel low I will grab whatever snack that is in my purse and eat it. In fact one week when I had a low the priest went and got some orange juice from the kitchen and made sure I drank it before he gave me communion said he could see me shaking from where he was sitting.
Click to expand...
here is always an exemption on health grounds.
 
You receive and respect the sacrament when properly disposed. If you’re dying, then the rules of fasting may not apply.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was referring to the poster not missing Holy Communion.
 
brad90956 said:
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was referring to the poster not missing Holy Communion.
Click to expand...
I think I know what you meant but people seem to be under too much pressure to receive these days as it is, whether they’re properly disposed or not. I don’t think they need to be encouraged further as that is probably why they attend Mass in the first place. Look at them running out of Church right after communion, if you don’t believe me.
 
brad90956 said:
I have been taught that you NEVER miss an opportunity to receive Holy Communion (if in a state of grace).
Click to expand...
That may have been what you were taught, but it is not what the Church teaches. In fact, the Church requires communion once a year during the Easter season. So, the Church does not expect us to “never” miss an opportunity to receive.

The Church expects us to be properly disposed to receive. And the OP stayed with is brother as an act of kindness and mercy so the brother would be less uncomfortable. That is perfectly fine.
 
brad90956 said:
You did the right thing by informing him of one hour fasting…BUT…I have been taught that you NEVER miss an opportunity to receive Holy Communion (if in a state of grace). I forget the person’s name but he said you are to receive Holy Communion as if it were the last time you were to ever receive it.

This is just my opinion but I would not have missed the opportunity…it is too special and too meaningful to me.
Click to expand...
Yes, we should never ordinarily miss an opportunity to receive the Lord when we are properly disposed - this is good advice. However, for the good of his brother it was right for him to remain in the pew to show good will otherwise the brother might have received the Lord sacrilegiously and then refused to listen when told of the importance of keeping the fast.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top