Have you ever gone to mass and didn't receive communion ? Because you might have sinned?

[PetraG]

I see what you mean. I think the nuance here is that sometimes confession is not available when we need it to ask, or because the Holy Spirit may be nudging us about some defect, so we abstain to stay safe.

Yes–the “norm” or the “standard of care” is that we avoid Holy Communion when we are aware of being in mortal sin. We don’t make excuses for ourselves and commit a sacriledge. That is compounding the injury to our soul and to our seriously wounded relationship with God.

Having said that, if our confessor were to tell us we are being scrupulous and that we are avoiding that very thing that is meant to bring about our healing, we need to trust that, as well. The Church does teach that receiving Holy Communion is itself a weapon against sin. We are not going to be held culpable for trusting that our confessor is giving us sound guidance. We may need to find a different confessor sometimes for our own welfare overall, but we do not need to be afraid we will be held to account for believing a confessor who tells us when we should NOT avoid Holy Communion, too.

Another reason besides not having fasted properly or being conscious of a mortal sin might be avoiding Holy Communion because one realizes that one is poorly disposed to receive Holy Communion with the appropriate reverence. I would be careful about that, as well. We have to be very very careful that we don’t start thinking that Holy Communion is a “reward” we can have when we are “good enough.” Our Lord praised the prayer of the tax collector and not the Pharisee because the tax collector had a realistic understanding of his poverty and neediness before God. As we grow in understanding of ourselves, we are going to become more and more impressed of our poverty. That is not a reason to need Holy Communion less! It is a reason to see we need it very much!!

 

[Et_Unitas]

I do all the time! If I feel that I have committed a grave offense against God, I will stay in the pew. Though Christ certainly intends for us to partake in the Most Holy Sacrament as often as possible, the humbling feeling of exile that comes from watching your Catholic brothers and sisters partake can be a blessing: it fosters a resolve to amend your life and return to unity within Christ. That said, if confession is available before mass, I will always attend—never knowingly deprive yourself of such a divine gift as the Eucharist.

Also, the muted language of some on here is disturbing. Partaking in the Eucharist while you are in a state of mortal sin is the highest sacrilege and the gravest offense against God—you are defiling His body and, indeed, His very being.

 

[JoeShlabotnik]

Unfortunately yes. I dislike going to Mass and knowing that I cannot receive the sacrament because I need sin absolution.
But it always makes the next Mass more fulfilling.
My biggest fear is receiving communion and then remembering afterward a sin that I need to confess. I have done this before and that makes me feel horrible.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

More often than I’d like, but it’s my only choice when I’ve committed a mortal sin and not made it to confession. To take communion would just compound my sin.

 

[PetraG]

Also, the muted language of some on here is disturbing. Partaking in the Eucharist while you are in a state of mortal sin is the highest sacrilege and the gravest offense against God—you are defiling His body and, indeed, His very being.

Well, technically, that is not the sin against the Holy Spirit, which is the gravest offense. Having said that, the truth that Our Lord offers Himself to us in full understanding of our profound need and unworthiness does not mean that we could ever take a state of mortal sin lightly.

The problem, of course, is that those afflicted with scrupulosity can have a very difficult time believing that it is OK to receive Holy Communion before they have reached the perfection Our Lord grants to those who have reached the Beatific Vision. It is hard to accept that Our Lord would come to us Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity when we are clearly not saints and so clearly not worthy. We have to accept, though, that we can’t be saved unless we submit to being saved while we are unworthy of it.

This is why it is a both-and problem. We both need Holy Communion as a weapon against sin, as Our Lord intends to give Himself to us in order to heal and sanctify us, and yet we sin gravely if we approach Him in Holy Communion having knowingly made a grave refusal of moral law that makes our sanctification temporarily impossible.

 

[stpurl]

Wait, ‘answer wrong’? You mean according to whom?

 

[stpurl]

So you have wanted to ask your family these questions but they don’t want to answer --and you’re going to trust strangers to answer-- but you must already know the answer if you know what a ‘wrong answer’ is.

Do you mean you want to hear from others how often they do actions which may or may not be wrong which you observe in your family so you get an idea of how common these wrongs are?

I don’t think really it’s going to help unless you have a worry that somebody in your family is scrupulous or something. . .in which case the person you really should be seeking out is your priest, I would think.