I gave a Protestant the Eucharist...

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Newsy said:
I have received blessings from EMHC’s and Deacons, before I joined the Church. I was unaware that this was for Priests only. Do you have a reference for this?

Thanks
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Actually Deacons can and do give blessings…
 
ThatOneDudeAlex said:
…and I feel awful about it! I really don’t know what to think!

I’m an EMHC at my parish, and I attend a Catholic high school. The entire school had mass today, and I distributed communion.

A good friend of mine, a Baptist, approached me in the communion line. I started to just say a blessing, but he had his hands out. He didn’t move. I wasn’t in a position to talk with him about it, so I gave it to him, and moved on.

I’m really troubled with this. The Eucharist is supposed to be received by Catholics only, as it is the true body of Christ, as our faith states, correct? This has me thinking otherwise, (which I dislike :eek: ) If any person can come and receive it, what keeps it from simply being a symbolic cracker? This didn’t mean anything to him; he doesn’t believe in the real presence.

Thanks for any help…
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It’s important to only give Communion to Catholics. If you know that someone is a non Catholic, next time don’t give them Communion, because they’re not prepared by going to Confession so it’s actualy spiritually dangerous for them. I know your intention wasn’t bad though and you probably just didn’t know what to do. Next time, you could say something like “I’m sorry but the Church only allows Catholics in a state of grace to receive Communion”. Then later, you can talk to your friend. Or, if you know that a non Catholic friend is coming to Mass with you, you can talk to them ahead of time and clarify the Church’s teaching. It’s not to keep people out, but to prevent them from receiving unworthily, because preparations like Confession and the fast (and being Catholic) are needed. Since we all become united as the Church in the Eucharist, there needs to be agreement between all its members or we’re sinning against unity. That is why only Catholics are allowed to Communion.

Consider this quote by St Justin Martyr from as early as the 2nd century, and maybe you can show it to your friend 🙂
No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ.
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We do not consume the eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and drink, for we have been taught that as Jesus Christ our Savior became a man of flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food that our flesh and blood assimilates for its nourishment becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus by the power of his own words contained in the prayer of thanksgiving.
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The reason it’s not a symbol is because even if your friend does not believe in Christ’s Real Presence there, it does not change the objective reality that the Eucharist is His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. Our beliefs do not change what is objectively true. Our part is to receive worthily and with faith. 🙂

I also think that this is something to bring up in Confession with a priest.

God bless
 
lizaanne said:
He has been given a great responsibility. With great responsibility comes great accountability.

High school kids should not be EMHCs. Period. I don’t think they should be allowed in the first place, but that’s a discussion for another thread. In this case we have kids distributing Holy Communion - I think it’s wrong. Very wrong. I’m not going to go into this because I don’t want to beat Alex up over this. But this is absolutely NOT just a passing flippant issue.

~Liza
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I would have to agree… I don’t want to beat up Alex over this either, and I don’t doubt his intentions, but it’s strange that the school allowed this at all.
 
Monica4316 said:
I would have to agree… I don’t want to beat up Alex over this either, and I don’t doubt his intentions, but it’s strange that the school allowed this at all.
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It could be the logistics. The school could have a large number of students, there could have been other people present (maybe, the Mass I attended today was also our parish school Mass), and teachers, etc. may not always know or have fresh in their minds the list of students who are not Catholics. I find it incredibly feasible that a student could have gotten into the Communion line easily and no one would have given it a second thought - except the EMHC who knew he wasn’t Catholic.

I would say this is something to bring to Confession, absolutely - but you must also impress upon your friend that he did something seriously morally wrong and he put you in an awful position. I would bring it up with the person who trained you as an EMHC as well and ask if during future trainings the issue of what to do when someone non-Catholic comes up for Communion.

Prayers for you. DO NOT beat yourself up over this. Speak with a priest, listen to his counsel, and learn what you can from this - and move on. :hug1:
 
So you’ve learned your lesson. Go to confession and don’t do it again. Speak to your friend about it and explain the reasons why it is not right for him to take communion with a Church He is not in communion with. Maybe your friend was testing you to see what you’d do…
 
You knowingly gave communicated a non-Catholic? Well first get yourself into the confessional. This is a very grave and serious matter. After that you must resign from your position as an EMHC. You simply cannot be trusted to perform the function. What you did was aid the desecration of His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, with full knowledge of what was happening!

And nor should you have tried to give a blessing. Do not try and succeed your authority.
 
What you did was wrong, as you have acknowleged. It must have taken great courage having examined your conscience to articulate this on this forum. I think this is matter for yourself and your parish priest in the confessional. Pay no attention to the judgemental remarks made by others here: they have no authority. We are all sinners and should remember not to judge others lest we are judged ourselves. I hope that with penance you will find comfort in the fullness of time. God bless.
 
I think that the Good Lord perhaps had a reason for wanting him to receive communion from you. Perhaps he could be converted…

Just a thought. But go and speak to the priest about it, anyway, and have a chat to your friend. Don’t talk down to him about receiving the Eucharist with an unprepared heart, it was a mistake.
 
And…don’t worry about the judgemental comments from some. This is what makes people leave the Church.
 
Laudate_Dominum said:
You knowingly gave communicated a non-Catholic? Well first get yourself into the confessional. This is a very grave and serious matter. After that you must resign from your position as an EMHC. You simply cannot be trusted to perform the function. What you did was aid the desecration of His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, with full knowledge of what was happening!

And nor should you have tried to give a blessing. Do not try and succeed your authority.
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As I recall, Blessed JPII gave Holy Communion to Tony Blair in 1994, and Mr.Blair has converted to Catholicism now.
So maybe it has been in God’s plan for the Baptist friend to receive Eucharist.
 
As an EMHC, your task is to administer the Eucharist, not to make judgements. If someone approaches you for Holy Communion, it is not within your brief to refuse it. If their reception of the Eucharist is sinful, it is their sin not yours.
 
Newsy said:
I have received blessings from EMHC’s and Deacons, before I joined the Church. I was unaware that this was for Priests only. Do you have a reference for this?

Thanks
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Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion cannot bestow blessings, as that is beyond their scope during the Mass. Consider the words in Sancrosanctum Concilium:
  1. In liturgical celebrations each person, minister or layman, who has an office to perform, should do all of, but only, those parts which pertain to his office by the nature of the rite and the principles of liturgy.
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The purpose of the Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion is only to distribute the Eucharist. Something else to note is that blessing persons during reception of Holy Communion is an innovation and a liturgical abuse.

Sanrosanctum Concilium also highlights that under its General Norms:
  1. Therefore no other person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority.
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There are instances during the Order of the Mass when priest will bless the gathered community, but at Eucharistic reception is not one of them. This only compounds the situation when one looks at an EMHC because if a priest is not supposed to bless at this time, then an EMHC has no business doing this at all.

Fr. Z had spoken about this sometime back, and you can read his response here: wdtprs.com/blog/2009/08/why-a-priest-wont-give-communion-blessings/
 
take it up with your priest, if you feel it necessary, go to confession and move on. Jesus has big shoulders and can handle it.
 
FAB said:
Dear DudeAlex,
TO your friend is probebly doesn’t mean anything, but for him to recieve to body of Christ does not harm. As a deacon at funerals and weddings, I know protestants will recieve. It is something that happens because they don’t understand the signifcants ot the body and blood of Christ, and look at it as a act of rememberance.
Talk to your friend in a good mannor. Explainn to him the meaning of the Eucharist, and that he put you in a bad spot. It could prove to be a good chance for evangelization, a possible turning point in his life the look at Catholism as his faith.

Peace,
Dcn. FAB
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At the Catholic funerals I have attended the priest has always explained at the beginning of the Mass that only Catholics (in good standing) are to receive.

He recommends that those who will not be receiving stay in the pew and pray.
 
jimrob said:
As an EMHC, your task is to administer the Eucharist, not to make judgements. If someone approaches you for Holy Communion, it is not within your brief to refuse it. If their reception of the Eucharist is sinful, it is their sin not yours.
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I was taught that the communion line is no place for a struggle. You tried to get him to not receive…but you can’t have a full on argument about it right there. It would be a good idea to talk to your priest about it.
 
Miriam1947 said:
At the Catholic funerals I have attended the priest has always explained at the beginning of the Mass that only Catholics (in good standing) are to receive.

He recommends that those who will not be receiving stay in the pew and pray.
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It’s a shame that this wasn’t done at this young EM’s Mass. He would have been spared the the bad situation he was put into.
 
Dcn FAB
As a deacon at funerals and weddings, I know protestants will recieve. It is something that happens because they don’t understand the signifcants ot the body and blood of Christ, and look at it as a act of rememberance.
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Quite frankly I’m shocked :eek: that you take this so lightly. Yes, we know that at funerals and weddings many non-Catholics will attend but this is our Precious Lord that we are talking about and not just “something that happens”. It is the duty of the priest AND the deacon to assure that this is something that DOES NOT happen. You know very well that many non-Catholics attend funerals and weddings so it needs to be mentioned that only Catholics in the state of grace approach to receive our Lord. You can’t, as a deacon say, “Oh, its something that happens”.

The situation with Alex was neither a wedding nor a funeral but a Mass at a Catholic high school. I would have to question the teachers at this school who must make sure ALL the students are properly instructed as to what to do during Mass, especially those that are non-Catholics. Also there is a lack of catechesis concerning the Eucharist. This is apparent by Alex’s comment “If any person can come and receive it, what keeps it from simply being a symbolic cracker?”. It appears that this school has failed in properly teaching about the Eucharist.

But listen Alex my young friend. It appears you have learned something very valuable here and it takes guts to come to this forum and tell what you did wrong. I know you are troubled, but you seem to be contrite. You knew that your Baptist friend should not have received communion, he apparently insisted and you were put in an awkward situation and at a young age didn’t act too wisely. But I firmly believe that you ARE very wise beyond you years and have gained much wisdom from this experience. Otherwise you would not have come here asking for advise. Hey, we all fall. We are not perfect. St. Peter denied Our Lord three times but look at what Jesus had in store for him. If anybody here judges you for what you did, let them take out the plank in their eye.

As it has been suggested, confess to a priest, learn from your mistakes, get up and continue forward on your journey with Jesus. He has great plans for you. You will now be able to instructs others, maybe some older than you. Rejoice that God’s mercy and love are greater than all our sins.

Peace to you and God Bless you Alex…
 
To be honest with everyone, I don’t know how (logistically) this young man was to refrain from giving the host to his friend. I know it is true that it shouldn’t be done, but HOW is it not done (if the person remains standing there, insistently). Should the EM walk away, or nod “no”? What should be done in a situation like this? Even I, as an adult, do not know.
This is something that needs to be covered in EM training.

What an awkward situation! My heart goes out to him.
 
Alex - one more thing: I suggest you search this forum and other Catholic sites regarding the Eucharist. You must understand that the Holy Eucharist is the center of our Catholic Faith. Search for miracles concerning the Eucharist such as Lanciano, Bolsena-Orvieto, Amsterdam, Holland in the 1300’s etc., and you will understand why the Eucharist is so important in our lives.

God Bless…
 
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