B
Ben_Sinner
Guest
Is it?
Is it a sin to eat/drink an hour before communion if you don't plan to receive communion in the first place?
- Status
P
Phemie
Guest
You fast for an hour in order to receive Communion. If you’re not going to receive Communion there is no requirement to fast, therefore no sin if you don’t.
E
Easter_Joey
Guest
Why would it be?? 
Don’t be scrupulous.
Don’t be scrupulous.
8
808Catholic
Guest
The Mass is the high point of our spiritual week and reception of the Holy Eucharist is the high point of Mass. Eucharist is translated as “thanksgiving” meaning we give thanks to the God of Creation for sending us His Only Son so that we might have salvation. Why would you NOT receive Holy Communion when you have the chance? What’s your intent of going to Mass if you’re planning on NOT receiving into your body Jesus Christ?
T
TheDoctor
Guest
He may be in a state of mortal sin and has not yet had the chance to go to confession thus he should not receive.
Remember that we are required to attend Mass, not to receive. Reception of the Eucharist is encouraged but is not mandatory every time you go to Mass.
T
tee_eff_em
Guest
:twocents:
There are any number of reasons why a person might choose (or be required!) to not receive at any particular celebration, none of which are anyone’s business except the (non)communicant’s. :tsktsk:
:twocents:
Here is an innocent example: If a person has cause to attend 3 or more Masses in one day, and has already received twice, he ought not receive at any subsequent Masses.
tee
S
SuscipeMeDomine
Guest
It’s actually the other way around. One of the reasons for not receiving communion is that you haven’t properly fasted beforehand. That’s probably less common with a one-hour fast than it was in the past when the fast was longer, but it still applies. If it were a sin to eat within an hour of Mass the Church would say so.
N
Neofight
Guest
Why would you NOT receive Holy Communion when you have the chance? What’s your intent of going to Mass if you’re planning on NOT receiving into your body Jesus Christ?
That’s a loaded question that perhaps far too many people have. At any given mass there is likely to be many receiving the Eucharist who are not properly disposed, but think “I might as well since I’m here”
Fasting is probably the least of the issues. Far more likely are not having gone to confession in over a year, use of contraception, fornication, etc.
Everyone should go to mass; not everyone should receive the Eucharist.
That’s a loaded question that perhaps far too many people have. At any given mass there is likely to be many receiving the Eucharist who are not properly disposed, but think “I might as well since I’m here”
Fasting is probably the least of the issues. Far more likely are not having gone to confession in over a year, use of contraception, fornication, etc.
Everyone should go to mass; not everyone should receive the Eucharist.
J
jmr_1985
Guest
It is a sin to skip Mass but receiving Holy Communion is never required except once per year at Eastertide. We should never receive unless we are ready. *See *1 Corinthians 11:27 ("(W)hosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.") Prior to the 1960s, at any given Mass, 50% might not receive or more. In countries outside the United States, it is still common for many not to receive on a given Sunday.
The OP’s reasons for not receiving are between him and Our Lord. Nobody should ever be pressured to receive Communion except from a qualified spiritual director or a Priest.
JMR
S
SuscipeMeDomine
Guest
To add on to what Neofight said, the Church requires people to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days. In her wisdom, she only requires people to receive communion annually. There can be many reasons for receiving or not receiving, but simply being at Mass isn’t the criterion.
B
Brendan_64
Guest
If a person doesn’t feel properly disposed to receiving Communion, even if they are in a state of grace, then that is sufficient reason for them to decide not to receive. Indeed, no reason at all is needed if a person does not feel they ought to receive Communion.
The purpose of going to Mass is not to receive Communion, but to witness the unbloody recreation of the Holy Sacrifice of Calvary. The Consecration, not the receiving of Communion is the high point of the Mass.
J
Joan_M
Guest
Someone might be in a state of grace, and also, be properly disposed and still not receive Communion.
The person may be attending an early Mass before going to a Lab for fasting blood tests, or to a hospital or medical center for a surgical procedure that requires fasting.
There are many reasons why someone might not receive Communion other than being in a state of mortal sin…
It is simply none of our business why the person is not receiving.
The person may be attending an early Mass before going to a Lab for fasting blood tests, or to a hospital or medical center for a surgical procedure that requires fasting.
There are many reasons why someone might not receive Communion other than being in a state of mortal sin…
It is simply none of our business why the person is not receiving.
Not unless you deliberately go to communion anyways (after eating within an hour of receiving because you hadn’t planned on going to communion.)
T
TimothyH
Guest
I go to Mass to worship God. Whether I receive communion or not is a separate issue from worship. I worship whether I receive communion or not.
-Tim-
P
ProVobis
Guest
Maybe he’s one of those individuals who only goes to communion after confession? In fact some Orthodox called communion without confession a “decadent” practice in the West.
orthodoxengland.org.uk/confessio.htm
8
808Catholic
Guest
I must respectfully disagree with you that we are called only to witness and not partake. I may be wrong but I cannot imagine at this point that physically joining with Our Lord is NOT the high point of the Mass.
8
808Catholic
Guest
CCC 1388 “It is in keeping with the very meaning of the Eucharist that the faithful, if they have the required dispositions, receive communion each time they participate in the Mass. As the Second Vatican Council says: 'That more perfect form of participation in the Mass whereby the faithful, after the priest’s communion, receive the Lord’s Body from the same sacrifice, is warmly recommended.”
P
Phemie
Guest
But that’s not a mandate, it’s a recommendation. As you can see in the posts above, there are any number of reasons why one might decide not to receive Communion at a particular Mass.
P
ProVobis
Guest
I think this was written because in the pre-Vatican II days, very few received. In fact, that’s why they had to add once-a-year requirement as a precept of the Church. Nowadays as virtually everyone receives in the English Masses almost perfunctorily, what’s there to recommend?
T
TimothyH
Guest
The answer to the OP’s question about eating or drinking an hour before Mass if you don’t plan on receiving is no, it is not a sin.
I did not receive this past Sunday. If you ask me why I’ll politely suggest that it is none of your business. Whether anyone besides ourselves and our children receive and why is not our concern.
We go to Mass whether we plan on receiving or not because “It is right and just.”
-Tim-
I did not receive this past Sunday. If you ask me why I’ll politely suggest that it is none of your business. Whether anyone besides ourselves and our children receive and why is not our concern.
We go to Mass whether we plan on receiving or not because “It is right and just.”
-Tim-
- Status