Confession and the Eucharist

[HNA444]

I go to a bible study once a week usually and my priest told us all that not going to church on Sunday is a mortal sin. I never thought that missing church couple Sundays was a mortal sin, but ever since my priest said this, I planned to never miss another Sunday or Saturday evening mass. However, I did miss one Sunday. And, I have not taken eucharist because I know we are not supposed to take bread when we have a mortal sin on us. I have been skipping confession because I get very nervous about it. I plan on going though. But would it be OK to take bread, or should I confess first? Because, I feel like I should be taking bread. Advice? Thanks!!

 

[broconsul]

Go to confession if you want to receive the Eucharist! It’s that easy.

If you have a mortal sin on you conscience, you should definitely not “feel” like you should be receiving the Eucharist. Quite the opposite, actually. You’re under no obligation to receive at every Mass. I think it’s actually a minimum of once a year.

You might want to reconsider how you view the Eucharist. You wrote about “taking bread.” That brings to mind an image of going up there and snatching some Sunday brunch. You’re receiving the body of Christ. It’s serious business!

 

[HNA444]

Go to confession if you want to receive the Eucharist! It’s that easy.

If you have a mortal sin on you conscience, you should definitely not “feel” like you should be receiving the Eucharist. Quite the opposite, actually. You’re under no obligation to receive at every Mass. I think it’s actually a minimum of once a year.

You might want to reconsider how you view the Eucharist. You wrote about “taking bread.” That brings to mind an image of going up there and snatching some Sunday brunch. You’re receiving the body of Christ. It’s serious business!

I know that it’s serious business, I never said that it wasn’t… It was just the wording I used. everytime I ask a question on here someone always seems to twists my words into meaning something else. Thank you though, for the other information.

 

[Vince1022]

I go to a bible study once a week usually and my priest told us all that not going to church on Sunday is a mortal sin. I never thought that missing church couple Sundays was a mortal sin, but ever since my priest said this, I planned to never miss another Sunday or Saturday evening mass. However, I did miss one Sunday. And, I have not taken eucharist because I know we are not supposed to take bread when we have a mortal sin on us. I have been skipping confession because I get very nervous about it. I plan on going though. But would it be OK to take bread, or should I confess first? Because, I feel like I should be taking bread. Advice? Thanks!!

Whether it’s a mortal sin or not is debatable.

Being nervous about Confession is understandable. Skipping it due to being nervous is not.

If you are in doubt about receiving communion, better to receive than not.

 

[Brooklyn]

I go to a bible study once a week usually and my priest told us all that not going to church on Sunday is a mortal sin. I never thought that missing church couple Sundays was a mortal sin, but ever since my priest said this, I planned to never miss another Sunday or Saturday evening mass. However, I did miss one Sunday. And, I have not taken eucharist because I know we are not supposed to take bread when we have a mortal sin on us. I have been skipping confession because I get very nervous about it. I plan on going though. But would it be OK to take bread, or should I confess first? Because, I feel like I should be taking bread. Advice? Thanks!!

Your post is extremely troubling, because it shows that the state of catechisis is at an all time low. I cannot remember a time when I did not know that missing Mass on Sunday was a mortal sin. You also don’t seem to realize that mortal sin means not only that you cannot receive the sacraments, but that you are completely cut off from the grace of God and if you should die without confessing this sin, you will go to hell. Mortal sin means you are in the same spiritual state now as you were before baptism, when you were born in original sin and belonged to Satan. You are as separated from God as Satan is.

Because your of your ignorance, you may not actually be responsible and therefore not in mortal sin. And I commend you for your resolution not to miss any more Sunday Masses. But still, this is very serious. You should not waste one moment more in confessing this sin. Trust me, the priest will be as kind and compassionate as anyone can be, and he will absolve you of your sins and bring you back into communion with God and the Church. GO TO CONFESSION IMMEDIATELY.

Another very troubling part of your post is you refer to “taking bread.” Do you realize that the consecrated host is no longer bread, but that it is the body and blood of Jesus Christ? Do you know what transubstantiation means: “the doctrine holding that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, although their appearances remain the same.” This means that when the priest pronounces the words of consecration over the bread and wine, they actually cease to be bread and wine and become Jesus Christ himself. It is absolutely wrong to continue to refer to this as bread and wine. It is now the body and blood of Christ. When you take that consecrated host into your mouth, you are not receiving bread, you are receiving the great Lord of the Universe, the One who created you and who poured out his blood on the cross so that you can spend eternithy with him.

I am not blaming you for your lack of knowledge. Someone somewhere failed you along the way. Still, I could just sit down and cry. How many more million young Catcholics like you are out there? We older Catholics have a lot for which we must answer.

 

[HNA444]

Your post is extremely troubling, because it shows that the state of catechisis is at an all time low. I cannot remember a time when I did not know that missing Mass on Sunday was a mortal sin. You also don’t seem to realize that mortal sin means not only that you cannot receive the sacraments, but that you are completely cut off from the grace of God and if you should die without confessing this sin, you will go to hell. Mortal sin means you are in the same spiritual state now as you were before baptism, when you were born in original sin and belonged to Satan. You are as separated from God as Satan is.

Because your of your ignorance, you may not actually be responsible and therefore not in mortal sin. And I commend you for your resolution not to miss any more Sunday Masses. But still, this is very serious. You should not waste one moment more in confessing this sin. Trust me, the priest will be as kind and compassionate as anyone can be, and he will absolve you of your sins and bring you back into communion with God and the Church. GO TO CONFESSION IMMEDIATELY.

Another very troubling part of your post is you refer to “taking bread.” Do you realize that the consecrated host is no longer bread, but that it is the body and blood of Jesus Christ? Do you know what transubstantiation means: “the doctrine holding that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, although their appearances remain the same.” This means that when the priest pronounces the words of consecration over the bread and wine, they actually cease to be bread and wine and become Jesus Christ himself. It is absolutely wrong to continue to refer to this as bread and wine. It is now the body and blood of Christ. When you take that consecrated host into your mouth, you are not receiving bread, you are receiving the great Lord of the Universe, the One who created you and who poured out his blood on the cross so that you can spend eternithy with him.

I am not blaming you for your lack of knowledge. Someone somewhere failed you along the way. Still, I could just sit down and cry. How many more million young Catcholics like you are out there? We older Catholics have a lot for which we must answer.

Um sit down and cry for what? Did i do something that horrible because I missed one Sunday ? I don’t appreciate your comments at all… I find them very offending. You are not God to tell me that I am going to go to hell. If you know more than me that’;s great, but don’t sit here and tell me that I’m going to hell or I’m a bad person and doing wrong things. You don’t know what type of person I am, and my wording of “taking bread” might have been the wrong way to word it, but don’t tell me that i’m troubled or going to hell.

 

[broconsul]

Um sit down and cry for what? Did i do something that horrible because I missed one Sunday ? I don’t appreciate your comments at all… I find them very offending. You are not God to tell me that I am going to go to Hell. If you know more than me that’;s great, but don’t sit here and tell me that I’m going to Hell or I’m a bad person and doing wrong things. You don’t know what type of person I am, and my wording of “taking bread” might have been the wrong way to word it, but don’t tell me that i’m troubled or going to Hell.

He or she is upset by the perception that you may not know your faith, as stated in the first sentence of that post.

 

[HNA444]

He or she is upset by the perception that you may not know your faith, as stated in the first sentence of that post.

I do know my faith, so for him or her to say that is not right. I said I didn’t know it was a “mortal sin” to miss a couple Sundays… so that all of a sudden means I don’t know my faith?

 

[Corki]

I do know my faith, so for him or her to say that is not right. I said I didn’t know it was a “mortal sin” to miss a couple Sundays… so that all of a sudden means I don’t know my faith?

Take a breath, I am sure no offense was meant.

Many of the people who post here on CAF are active in teaching the faith, whether it be to kids in CCE or to RCIA classes or in other faith formation settings. In formal religious education, two things that you didn’t know would have been covered in most first grade classes. 1) That missing Mass is a mortal sin and 2) That having a mortal sin, even one, when you die means you don’t go to Heaven.

I don’t mean this as a put down but I think that there are many people out there who have learned their faith in a patchwork or swiss cheese fashion. You might have deep knowledge in some areas but serious gaps in what are generally considered “the basics”. As Brooklyn mentioned, it’s not your fault. Someone skimped on your Religious education. That’s what makes many of us sad.

 

[Brooklyn]

Um sit down and cry for what? Did i do something that horrible because I missed one Sunday ? I don’t appreciate your comments at all… I find them very offending. You are not God to tell me that I am going to go to hell. If you know more than me that’;s great, but don’t sit here and tell me that I’m going to hell or I’m a bad person and doing wrong things. You don’t know what type of person I am, and my wording of “taking bread” might have been the wrong way to word it, but don’t tell me that i’m troubled or going to hell.

I am not blaming you at all. I am saying that along the way, you were not taught, through no fault of your own, some very basic teachings of the Catholic church. It is absolutely not your fault that you didn’t know it was a mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday. It is also not your fault that you don’t appear to have a complete understanding of the Eucharist.

I want to sit down and cry for the state of our Church and the sloppy, haphazard way in which we have passed our faith to our children. I don’t know you at all except for your posting in which you stated that until you were just recently told by a priest, you did not know some basic and fundamental teachings. I’m also NOT saying you are going to hell. But I am passing onto you the teaching of the Catholic church that if you are in a state of mortal sin, you are in danger of hell.

Now, to commit mortal sin, there are 3 conditions which must be fulfilled:

1, It must be Grievous matter (deliberately missing Mass on Sunday is grievous)
2. Sufficient reflection
2. Full consent of the will

You obviously did not fulfill these conditions until you were informed by your priest. But once you knew it was a mortal sin to miss Mass, you were responsible. Therefore, it is imperative you go to confession as soon as you can.

I am not your enemy. I commended you in my first post and I commend you now for wanting to follow your faith. Those who should have and did not teach you in the first place are the ones who will have much to answer for.

I am sorry you were offended by my post, but if you carefully re-read it, you will see that it was not my intent at all to attack you in any way.

God bless you on your spiritual journey.

BTW, I’m a “she.”

 

[underacloud]

Now, to commit mortal sin, there are 3 conditions which must be fulfilled:

1, It must be Grievous matter (deliberately missing Mass on Sunday is grievous)
2. Sufficient reflection
2. Full consent of the will

You obviously did not fulfill these conditions until you were informed by your priest. But once you knew it was a mortal sin to miss Mass, you were responsible. Therefore, it is imperative you go to confession as soon as you can.

I may be misunderstanding what you intended to say, but…

If the OP did not meet the three conditions at the time of the sin, it was not a mortal sin. Being informed after the event by a priest does not turn the sin into a mortal sin. Based on what the OP has told us so far, I’d be stunned if they were in a state of mortal sin by missing a couple of Sunday masses when they did not realise it was a serious sin.

Also, the OP has not stated why they missed mass. There are a number of valid reasons why we may not be able to attend mass on a Sunday (eg caring for kids, being away from our parish and not able to find a mass to attend). Missing mass is not always a sin, and certainly not always a mortal sin.

To the OP I’d say not to sweat too much that you missed Sunday masses before you understood there to be an obligation. But now that you understand that there is an obligation, make an effort to be at mass every week and to participate actively/mentally/spiritually in the mass. We are obligated to attend mass because God wants to see us there, not because the church wants to impose arbitrary rules, so try to be pleased that you can meet Him there each Sunday.

 

[underacloud]

Now, to commit mortal sin, there are 3 conditions which must be fulfilled:

1, It must be Grievous matter (deliberately missing Mass on Sunday is grievous)
2. Sufficient reflection
2. Full consent of the will

You obviously did not fulfill these conditions until you were informed by your priest. But once you knew it was a mortal sin to miss Mass, you were responsible. Therefore, it is imperative you go to confession as soon as you can.

Given that the idea of Sunday obligation is new to the OP, I think the suggestion that missing a mass meets the criteria for mortal sin is presumptuous. Sufficient reflection involves an awareness of consequences of sin and why God and the church may consider particular sins to be grave. I think the OP should endevour to understand the Sunday obligation better, but it’s not our job to accuse them of mortal sin based on what the OP has told us so far.

Also, the OP has not stated why they missed mass. There are a number of valid reasons why we may not be able to attend mass on a Sunday (eg sickness, caring for kids, being away from our parish and not able to find a mass to attend). Missing mass is not always a sin, and certainly not always a mortal sin.

To the OP I’d say not to sweat too much that you missed Sunday masses before you properly understood your obligation. But now that you understand that there is an obligation, make an effort to be at mass every week and to participate actively/mentally/spiritually in the mass. We are obligated to attend mass because God wants to see us there, not because the church wants to impose arbitrary rules, so try to be pleased that you can meet Him there each Sunday.

 

[HNA444]

Given that the idea of Sunday obligation is new to the OP, I think the suggestion that missing a mass meets the criteria for mortal sin is presumptuous. Sufficient reflection involves an awareness of consequences of sin and why God and the church may consider particular sins to be grave. I think the OP should endevour to understand the Sunday obligation better, but it’s not our job to accuse them of mortal sin based on what the OP has told us so far.

Also, the OP has not stated why they missed mass. There are a number of valid reasons why we may not be able to attend mass on a Sunday (eg sickness, caring for kids, being away from our parish and not able to find a mass to attend). Missing mass is not always a sin, and certainly not always a mortal sin.

To the OP I’d say not to sweat too much that you missed Sunday masses before you properly understood your obligation. But now that you understand that there is an obligation, make an effort to be at mass every week and to participate actively/mentally/spiritually in the mass. We are obligated to attend mass because God wants to see us there, not because the church wants to impose arbitrary rules, so try to be pleased that you can meet Him there each Sunday.

Thank you! I will confess missing mass after understanding it was a mortal sin. Sorry Brooklyn if I was being rude , I just got a little sensitive but thanks for your explanation, God bless you as well.

 

[cviolette]

Your post is extremely troubling, because it shows that the state of catechisis is at an all time low. I cannot remember a time when I did not know that missing Mass on Sunday was a mortal sin. You also don’t seem to realize that mortal sin means not only that you cannot receive the sacraments, but that you are completely cut off from the grace of God and if you should die without confessing this sin, you will go to hell. Mortal sin means you are in the same spiritual state now as you were before baptism, when you were born in original sin and belonged to Satan. You are as separated from God as Satan is.

I am not blaming you for your lack of knowledge. Someone somewhere failed you along the way. Still, I could just sit down and cry. How many more million young Catcholics like you are out there? We older Catholics have a lot for which we must answer.

I just wanted to comment that this post was very helpful. I have committed a mortal sin and was thinking about waiting a couple of weeks to go to confession because it has only been a week since my last confession. Now I realize I need to go to confession right away. Thanks for the push that I needed.

I am 43 years old and that my religious education was also lacking. But I am now taking the responsibility for my religious education. There is no excuse at my age.