If already going to hell due to mortal sin, why avoid communion?

[ZMystiCat]

you should also not take communion because you’ll… also go to hell.

That’s a gross oversimplification. Yes, taking the Eucharist when not in a state of grace is a mortal sin, and yes, in this case, it is a mortal sin compounded on top of another mortal sin. However, we also should avoid the Eucharist in such a case out of respect for God. We don’t want someone mocking and defaming God and the Eucharist by partaking of Christ’s body and blood when not in a state of grace. We should love Him enough to not let someone do that. We should also love the other person and not have them compound mortal sin upon mortal sin. Instead, we should be calling them to be reconciled with God through baptism or confession.

 

[Genesis315]

Abstaining is a fruit of contrition, acknowledging one has sinned. You have begun the path toward grace again, why turn back around?

Second, the degree or intensity of the torments of Hell are proportionate to ones sins since they are the cause of our suffering. Assuming you persevere to the end in impenitence, your torments in Hell will be worse with the sacrilege than without it. Here’s how the Catholic Encyclopedia explains it:

(1) The pains of hell differ in degree according to demerit. This holds true not only of the pain of sense, but also of the pain of loss. A more intense hatred of God, a more vivid consciousness of utter abandonment by Divine goodness, a more restless craving to satisfy the natural desire for beatitude with things external to God, a more acute sense of shame and confusion at the folly of having sought happiness in earthly enjoyment — all this implies as its correlation a more complete and more painful separation from God.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07207a.htm

 

[porthos11]

Canvas:

Here is the thing----you need to stop re-litigating this on the internet. You need to find a Priest you can trust and are comfortable with and explain your whole situation to him. Then, take all of your issues to him and him alone. He will be the Priest who hears your confessions, and he will have the details that other Priests might not be aware of. You will trust his judgment blindly.

Putting this out on an open internet forum to get answers from random people on the internet will not help. In fact, it can be quite harmful. Just like going to multiple Priests, but only worse. You will get a myriad of answers on this forum, some better than others, but none as good as a Confessor, trained, schooled and experienced in Sacramental and Moral Theology in theory and practice , who has gotten familiar with your situation.

This is exactly the right answer, and there doesn’t need to be further discussion on this, as it will only be more problematic for the OP.

And I agree that the OP needs to find someone–whether it is priest 1, or a new confessor with whom he can talk about the situation outside of confession and get some direction. The OP does display the kind of concentric thinking typical of scrupulosity and should seek the appropriate help for it.

-Fr ACEGC

And this should be the end of this thread.

 

[BaconSanwich]

That’s so incredibly sad, and makes me even more grateful that i have access to communion all throughout the year.

 

[BaconSanwich]

I’m contacting priest #1 to ask for his guidance. If he recommends I speak to my current priest, I’ll do that.

Thanks Father. Thanks everyone.

 

[StevenFrancis]

At the risk of being minimalistic here, having read your situation it seems to me, that you simply need to go to confession/reconciliation…receive absolution for your sins, (whether mortal or not…it’s kind of irrelevant if they are haunting you), and then, with a contrite heart, and invoking the intercession of Jesus and the blessed virgin, endeavor to not sin, and to avoid that which causes you to sin. It sounds like you know what sin IS. I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about the level of it, whether mortal or venial. Just pray for virtue, attend mass, go to confession, be absolved, take communion, then go out and be a light to the world. This, frankly, is all ANY of us can do. It’s the system that was set up by Jesus Christ, the Lord. If you have a habitual or addictive sin, I can recommend from personal experience that you find an accountability group like (AA, NA, OA,SAA, Courage, etc.) whatever is appropriate, get a sponsor, work the steps, while going to mass regularly, (including receiving the sanctifying grace offered in the Holy Eucharist), and have regular confession and absolution by a priest. Repeat this cycle until the end.

This is intended in all charity.
The Lord be with you. I have just prayed for you. Please pray for me as well.

 

[porthos11]

At the risk of being minimalistic here, having read your situation it seems to me, that you simply need to go to confession/reconciliation…receive absolution for your sins, (whether mortal or not…it’s kind of irrelevant if they are haunting you), and then, with a contrite heart, and invoking the intercession of Jesus and the blessed virgin, endeavor to not sin, and to avoid that which causes you to sin. It sounds like you know what sin IS. I wouldn’t spend too much time worrying about the level of it, whether mortal or venial. Just pray for virtue, attend mass, go to confession, be absolved, take communion, then go out and be a light to the world. This, frankly, is all ANY of us can do. It’s the system that was set up by Jesus Christ, the Lord. If you have a habitual or addictive sin, find an accountability group like AA, NA, OA,SAA, Courage, etc. whatever is appropriate, get a sponsor, work the steps, then go to mass regularly, (including the Eucharist), and have regular confession and absolution by a priest. Repeat this cycle until death, That’s the plan. It’s what hundreds of thousands of us do. The Lord be with you. I have just prayed for you. Please pray for me as well.

Yes, it’s minimalistic, and there is nothing “simply” here. Father Edward has already identified the OP as having issues consistent with scrupulosity.

The discussion should therefore end here.