How to prperly expain why a Non-Catholic can't receive Eucharist?

[pumpkinbeast]

A friend who is non-Christian, non-Catholic and un-baptized will be coming with me to Mass on Sunday, because he’s interested in learning about the Church. I also have another friend who is becoming Christian and trying to figure out what denomination of Christian she wants to be and will be coming with me in two weeks… the question is: how do I properly and charitably explain to them why they can’t receive the Eucharist? I have no problem giving them the straight-up on what the Church believes, that it’s really the Body and Blood of Jesus, etc, but I want to make sure I can explain properly why they can’t receive Him unless they are Catholic.

 

[wannabee]

A simple explanation would be the best .

Do they belong to any clubs ?

Are there Rules for the members of those clubs ?

Do member have to abide by the Rules ?

The answer will be yes - so you just kindly say that the Church has it’s Rules and one of them is that only Catholics may receive Communion in the Church

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Actually, only Catholics in a state of grace should receive the Eucharist, but that’s another thread (sadly).

I would also tell your friend that the Eucharist, to a Catholic, means the Real Presence–Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, not just a memorial, not just a symbol- and that reception would mean that he or she would not only have to totally believe that teaching, but all other Catholic teachings as well, and thus of course that would mean he or she would need to start the RCIA process to become Catholic if he or she truly does believe in the Real Presence, since certainly then he or she would also then be bound by St. Paul’s exhortation that one not only receive ‘worthily’ but be bound to the authority and the rules of the Catholic Church.

IOW, if they believe what we believe about the Eucharist, then for their own sake they need to become Catholic in order to receive because they obviously recognize the truth of the Catholic faith.

If they don’t believe, then reason alone should preclude them from ‘taking’ something which they themselves do not believe in; certainly good manners would likewise dictate that if Catholics say the Eucharist is one thing, and these people are in a Catholic Church at a Catholic service, then to blithely bypass the Catholics and ‘take’ because, hey, in my church it’s something else, so I don’t care what **you people ** believe" would be astonishingly ignorant and rude. . .

Gracious, I wonder how they would feel if a nonChristian came up and stomped and tore their Bibles because, “Hey, in my belief system this is a nasty, bigoted piece of fiction that we trash–so while I’m at your church I’ll treat this book exactly the way I would outside of your church.” I don’t think they would be very happy. . .

 

[puzzleannie]

the Eucharist is both a sign and reality of the unity Christ demanded of his disciples and which he creates in the act of the priest’s confection of the Eucharist. Since non-Catholics, as well as Catholics in a state of mortal sin, have sadly rejected that unity, they may not participate in the sign. We all join in praying for the restoration of that unity.

 

[tee_eff_em]

If you don’t mind borrowing a page from your neighbors to the south, how about the USCCB:

We welcome our fellow Christians to this celebration of the Eucharist as our brothers and sisters. We pray that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit in this Eucharist will draw us closer to one another and begin to dispel the sad divisions which separate us. We pray that these will lessen and finally disappear, in keeping with Christ’s prayer for us “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21).

Because Catholics believe that the celebration of the Eucharist is a sign of the reality of the oneness of faith, life, and worship, members of those churches with whom we are not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion. Eucharistic sharing in exceptional circumstances by other Christians requires permission according to the directives of the diocesan bishop and the provisions of canon law (canon 844 § 4).

tee

 

[RachelB]

It’s not so hard, really.

“Taking the Eucharist means that you want to make a statement that you know, submit to, and agree with everything that the Catholic Church teaches.”

That should be enough - most people who aren’t Catholic won’t want to make a statement that they agree with everything about the Church.

If it doesn’t happen to be enough, then you can go into the fact that there are preparation classes and rites to make sure a person is able to make such a statement.

 

[John_Hiner]

Depending on how they are likely to respond, you might tell them that it is for their own protection.

“For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” 1 Corinthians 11:29 (RSVCE)

This refers both to discerning the Real Presence and to recognizing the true Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. If your friends are not able to discern both of these, then taking communion will constitute a grave sin. (St. Paul equates it with murdering Jesus himself. See, 1 Cor 11:27.)

Pax Christi vobiscum.

John Hiner

 

[John_Lilburne]

Perhaps try explaining that receiving Holy Communion is like baptism, part of the process of joining the Church.

When adults are baptised they are also confirmed and receive the Eucharist. Before the Church does the rites of initiation it teaches people what they are, prepares them through instruction. Then talk about the RCIA classes the parish hopefully has. (RCIA is the Rite of Christian Initation of Adults).

From the Compendium of the Catholic Church:
“251. How is Christian initiation brought about? …
Christian initiation is accomplished by means of the sacraments which establish the foundations of Christian life. The faithful born anew by Baptism are strengthened by Confirmation and are then nourished by the Eucharist.”

Pope Benedict wrote recently:
“17. … It must never be forgotten that our reception of Baptism and Confirmation is ordered to the Eucharist. Accordingly, our pastoral practice should reflect a more unitary understanding of the process of Christian initiation. The sacrament of Baptism, by which we were conformed to Christ, incorporated in the Church and made children of God, is the portal to all the sacraments. It makes us part of the one Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:13), a priestly people. Still, it is our participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice which perfects within us the gifts given to us at Baptism.”
2007 Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis_en.html .