Intoxicated homeless man behind me in the Communion line

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Cricket2 said:
Being openly drunk is not a good reason for someone to determine one’s worthiness to receive the Lord. I have to wonder how many sober folks are going up to receive that are guilty of mortal sin and no one gives it a second thought seeming them at the altar.

You nor I don’t know a persons interior state. The man was allowed to receive apparently and that is what should have happened. And I wonder how many folks go up as intoxicated as this man appeared to be, but are dressed nice enough that no one gives it any notice.
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This - oh this! When I started exploring the Church, an acquaintance of mine, who holds herself out to be a fairly dedicated/devout Catholic offered her help. She really wasn’t very available, and that’s a good thing, because, as it turns out she was carrying on a long-term affair and making plans to divorce her husband and break up their family. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover, and perhaps the Eucharist is what is sustaining that man - spiritually and physically.
 
Cricket2 said:
Being openly drunk is not a good reason for someone to determine one’s worthiness to receive the Lord. I have to wonder how many sober folks are going up to receive that are guilty of mortal sin and no one gives it a second thought seeming them at the altar.

You nor I don’t know a persons interior state. The man was allowed to receive apparently and that is what should have happened. And I wonder how many folks go up as intoxicated as this man appeared to be, but are dressed nice enough that no one gives it any notice.
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Being in the state of serious sin is a good reason not to receive Our Lord. Do we have so little respect for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament !! Doesn’t the Bible and the Church teach not to receive the Eucharist unworrthly. We can’t read someones heart or mind, but we can try to help someone that obviously needs our help. God BLess, Memaw
 
Memaw said:
Being in the state of serious sin is a good reason not to receive Our Lord. Do we have so little respect for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament !! Doesn’t the Bible and the Church teach not to receive the Eucharist unworrthly. We can’t read someones heart or mind, but we can try to help someone that obviously needs our help. God BLess, Memaw
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We do not know the state of another’s soul.
 
If the man is an alcoholic, his choice to drink or not, as a moral option, may be limited. So we have no way of knowing his interior state as regards “worthiness” to receive the host.

As someone said-this may be the only thing that sustains him.

It is not up to us to be the communion police, judging the interior state of another in the communion line.
despite the fact that he is an alcoholic, and was quite possibly the least responsible father in the world, and despite the fact that I am an atheist, the idea of someone giving him a dirty look when he is honestly doing the best he can to live up to the rules of the faith he’s been practicing for 60+ years makes me angry
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This ^^^

“Thank you Lord, that I am not like that tax collector.”
 
blaskoman said:
My feeling that this individual was unworthy to receive was the fact that he was not observing the required fast before communion.
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😦 … respectfully, you know nothing …
you “see” with the eyes of man… God sees our hearts.
(Post#21 - First reading of the Mass today (2014-03-30) 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a)

my late step-father (let perpetual light shine upon him ) was an alcoholic.
He would drink, and pass out in the chair. Often I would help him to bed.
In the morning, he would still smell of alcohol - he had drank that much, so much in fact that I’m surprised he didn’t die of alcohol poisoning some evenings… the things we ask our military to do and the ghosts the persue them because of it - sometimes, when he was drunk, he’d tell me about them - I still cry to think about what they asked/made him (to) do, and what he had to do to keep himself and his ship alive.

Sober, he was the best of people, drunk, well, angy to start with, angier he became, good mood to start with, the happier he was…

😦 you “see” with the eyes of man… God sees our hearts.
(Post#21 - First reading of the Mass today (2014-03-30) 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a)
 
pnewton said:
This is not judging the disposition to receive communion. This is judging the one act of sacrilege. I note that the usher did not deny the person the right to consume the host, only to carry it out.
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You misunderstood. She is the one that told him to consume it (rather than carry it out) and when the usher came up and asked what the problem was, the man threw it down and walked out. The usher wasn’t aware yet what was going on. Maybe the man was afraid to consume the host, who knows what his intentions were!!! God Bless, Memaw
 
TerryJT said:
If the man is an alcoholic, his choice to drink or not, as a moral option, may be limited. So we have no way of knowing his interior state as regards “worthiness” to receive the host.

As someone said-this may be the only thing that sustains him.

It is not up to us to be the communion police, judging the interior state of another in the communion line.

This ^^^

“Thank you Lord, that I am not like that tax collector.”
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The man clearly needed help but no one stepped up. My father was an alcholic too most of his life, started when he was very young. A priest started working with him and got him to go “for the cure” as they called it then and he quit and never drank again for the last 30+ years of his life. He was really a good man under all that alcholol. God Bless, Memaw
 
Memaw said:
The man clearly needed help but no one stepped up. My father was an alcholic too most of his life, started when he was very young. A priest started working with him and got him to go “for the cure” as they called it then and he quit and never drank again for the last 30+ years of his life. He was really a good man under all that alcholol. God Bless, Memaw
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The OP did not say the man was “drunk” but that he smelled of alcohol. As has been pointed out a couple of times already, it may be because he was, indeed, drunk, or was just coming off a ‘bender’ or…, we just don’t know.

As someone has also dealt with alcoholism and substance abuse, both personally and with family & friends, I also know that only when ad addict is ready to stop, will they.

To be honest, I find some of the lack of compassion for the least of God’s people on this thread to be very disturbing. I will again suggest reading and meditating on Matthew 25:31-46.
 
blaskoman said:
It happened during Mass a few days ago. The man reeked of alcohol. The only thing I did was turn around and give him a stare. Should have approached him after Mass but didn’t have the guts. He received Communion. Not to say that he was unworthy-- I don’t know the guy. However, its highly likely he shouldn’t have received given his intoxication. What would you do in this situation?
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Pray - and mind your own business.
 
Oneofthewomen said:
The OP did not say the man was “drunk” but that he smelled of alcohol. As has been pointed out a couple of times already, it may be because he was, indeed, drunk, or was just coming off a ‘bender’ or…, we just don’t know.

As someone has also dealt with alcoholism and substance abuse, both personally and with family & friends, I also know that only when ad addict is ready to stop, will they.

To be honest, I find some of the lack of compassion for the least of God’s people on this thread to be very disturbing. I will again suggest reading and meditating on Matthew 25:31-46.
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OP did say he was intoxicated, which indicates more than just a smell. Kinda reminds me of the parable of the man who fell victim to robbers and two passed him by. Its much easier to stare than to help. Even the OP realized he should have done something but didn’'t have the “guts”. God Bless, Memaw
 
I think the op was sincerely looking for advice. I feel bad the poster is being attacked for merely making an observation.
The catholic church is strict about who can receive the eucharist.
Non-catholics are not allowed receive the eucharist. I thought you should be in a state of grace to receive the eucharist. If we shouldn’t judge who is in line then we should open the doors to everyone to enter the church and receive the eucharist.
 
7_Sorrows said:
I think the op was sincerely looking for advice. I feel bad the poster is being attacked for merely making an observation.
The catholic church is strict about who can receive the eucharist.
Non-catholics are not allowed receive the eucharist. I thought you should be in a state of grace to receive the eucharist. If we shouldn’t judge who is in line then we should open the doors to everyone to enter the church and receive the eucharist.
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The Church relies firstly upon the integrity of each person to refrain from receiving if he is not properly disposed.

We rely secondly on the judgment of the priest.

The Church does not rely on the congregants to judge the people in line.
 
MtnDwellar said:
The Church relies firstly upon the integrity of each person to refrain from receiving if he is not properly disposed.

We rely secondly on the judgment of the priest.

The Church does not rely on the congregants to judge the people in line.
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First of all, the integrity of the man was severly unreliable at the time. The one who gave him Communion may not have even been a priest and yes the Church does definatly rely on us lay folks to help each other in every way possible. That is not judging the mans soul to protect the Eucharist from being recieved unworthly. If a person is drunk then that is unworthily no matter what state his soul is in. Don’t we have any respect for OUR LORD, or just human respect!!! I have a feeling if a priest would have been the one, he would have intervened. A lay person giving Communion may not feel they have the authority to do anything. God Bless, Memaw
 
Memaw said:
And I trust that you had good intentions with yours. Being openly drunk is a good reason for not receiving Our Lord. The man needed help and maybe someone could have helped him, who knows. Aren’t we supposed to help each other??? God Bless, Memaw
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Yes, we are called to help him. Telling him, or indicating that he should not receive Communion is not our role as layman and is highly offensive and unchristian behavior.
 
Memaw said:
Being in the state of serious sin is a good reason not to receive Our Lord. Do we have so little respect for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament !! Doesn’t the Bible and the Church teach not to receive the Eucharist unworrthly. We can’t read someones heart or mind, but we can try to help someone that obviously needs our help. God BLess, Memaw
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And this doesn’t include policing the Communion line.
 
Memaw said:
First of all, the integrity of the man was severly unreliable at the time. The one who gave him Communion may not have even been a priest and yes the Church does definatly rely on us lay folks to help each other in every way possible. That is not judging the mans soul to protect the Eucharist from being recieved unworthly. If a person is drunk then that is unworthily no matter what state his soul is in. Don’t we have any respect for OUR LORD, or just human respect!!! I have a feeling if a priest would have been the one, he would have intervened. A lay person giving Communion may not feel they have the authority to do anything. God Bless, Memaw
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👍
 
I can see both sides of the situation: we care about the sanctity of the Eucharist and we care about the possibility of someone receiving unworthily.
 
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