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Paul_theApostle
Guest
If we are a smoker ,and leave church after having Holy communion,is it bad to have a smoke right after church?
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PumpkinSeed
Guest
Its no worse than smoking any other time. Your body is a temple, and smoking destroys it.
You are essentially slowly killing yourself by your free will & knowledge. Wouldn’t that make it a mortal sin? And even if not, I still would have a hard time believing that smoking cigarettes would ever be ok. I do not believe Jesus designed us just to destroy our own bodies.
You are essentially slowly killing yourself by your free will & knowledge. Wouldn’t that make it a mortal sin? And even if not, I still would have a hard time believing that smoking cigarettes would ever be ok. I do not believe Jesus designed us just to destroy our own bodies.
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Paul_theApostle
Guest
yeah i know all that
I wasnt asking about smoking itself but about smoking right after communion
I know smoking anytime is bad full stop,but if one is to smoke(as u know we are all sinners with different weaknesses) should they at least refrain from smoking right after Holy communion
I wasnt asking about smoking itself but about smoking right after communion
I know smoking anytime is bad full stop,but if one is to smoke(as u know we are all sinners with different weaknesses) should they at least refrain from smoking right after Holy communion
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King_Lazy
Guest
I don’t see any reason why. There is nothing inherently evil about tobacco smoke, much as there is nothing inherently evil about ethanol or, indeed, McDonald’s. All three things harm our bodies in some way but are not morally or objectively evil.
In the CCC, it is the intemperate use of tobacco, alcohol, and indeed food that militates against the virtue of temperance and is therefore wrong.
So inasmuch as it would not be wrong to go for a Big Mac or have a bottle of beer after Communion, so too do I see no reason as to why it could be wrong to smoke a cigarette. I cannot see why one might consider having a cigarette after Mass to be intemperate or excessive use either.
I therefore think anyone would be very hard-pressed to justify it as being “bad” in the moral sense. If a smoker feels the need to smoke and is in a situation where doing so would not be disrespectful (in the church building, in front of a pregnant woman, for example), then he may smoke.
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Fiasco
Guest
Ever heard of the effects of passive smoking? The fact remains that smoking is a health hazard: otherwise, why do cigarette packets have health warnings?
As much as i hate McDonalds, consuming their stuff`s probably not as dangerous as smoking.
Personally, unless feeling sick from lack of food, i prefer not to eat or drink anything for a fair while after receiving Holy Communion… respect for Him…
“Thou shalt not kill.” stands, regardless.
And give a bad example to any children who happen to see it.
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King_Lazy
Guest
I can see what you’re saying, but given that smoking about 20 cigarettes a day for 50 years is expected to shorten your life expectancy by, on average, about 7 years (some smokers might die 20 years earlier, but some might live up to the age of 100 and beyond), can you really say that a Big Mac is less harmful? If you were to eat 20 Big Macs a day, would you even live 50 years? If you ate 20 Big Macs a day, you almost certainly would not live to 100. And what about drinking 20 cans of beer a day? If you smoked 20 cigarettes a day, your chance of living to 100 would be reduced but not eliminated.
The harm caused by an individual cigarette is negligible and comparable to other mildly harmful things. That, however, is irrelevant. Even if it weren’t negligible, just because something is objectively harmful to the human body does not mean that it’s immoral, or otherwise ear-piercing, alcohol-drinking, circumcision and the taking of various painkilling medicines would be immoral.
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mom2em
Guest
Michelle Arnold has answered this question. I can manage to find it it, I will gladly post back. Until then, I will hold my opinion, because really, that’s all one is going to get on such matters.
Okay, the one I found or rather was thinking on, was about the one hour fast, but might be helpful all the same.
Does Smoking Break the One Hour Fast
Personally, I think, the hour that mass lasts, isn’t long enough that one needs a ‘break’ during it. But that’s me and who am I to judge another’s situation.
May God bless you. And if it really really bothers you/concerns you, do speak with your confessor. If anything he can for sure settle it for you and your situation.
Okay, the one I found or rather was thinking on, was about the one hour fast, but might be helpful all the same.
Does Smoking Break the One Hour Fast
Personally, I think, the hour that mass lasts, isn’t long enough that one needs a ‘break’ during it. But that’s me and who am I to judge another’s situation.
May God bless you. And if it really really bothers you/concerns you, do speak with your confessor. If anything he can for sure settle it for you and your situation.
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Adonia
Guest
How about refraining from smoking for at least 1 hour before and then 1 hour after? Try having at least this bit of respect for the sacred Sacrament. Then, this could be extended a few more hours each way, then perhaps for the entire day. Who knows, you might even be able to quit this nasty habit altogether.
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King_Lazy
Guest
Now, now, the 1 hour fast does not apply to smoking, and should Paul theApostle choose to refrain from smoking during this time, it would be an additional and very worthy sacrifice he would make for our Lord, much like somebody else choosing to fast 3 hours or 6 hours before the Mass. It would certainly be commendable, but it is not something that is strictly necessary.
Smoking may be offensive to some on the grounds that it is harmful to health, but it is not morally evil, and that which is not evil does not offend God. He would do no disrespect to the Blessed Sacrament if he chose to smoke in normal circumstances before or after Mass.
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Catholic90
Guest
If you leave immediately after receiving and skip the last part of mass cuz you “just can’t wait”, then you have to take a serious look at your addiction!
I do hope any smokers are at least smoking in their own vehicles and not immediately outside the entrance doors.
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PumpkinSeed
Guest
Why would you smoke after communion though? Don’t you have the rest of mass to sit through?
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underacloud
Guest
If one has a smoking habit that they find hard to break, then smoking after mass might not be a problem. BUT, I’d suggest that it needs to be done in a way that would not encourage any others towards this bad habit, by which I mean don’t do it where others, especially children, can see.
As to those who think smoking is no different than alcohol or fast food, consider that alcohol and fast food in moderation are not necessarily adversive to health, whereas there is NO safe level of smoking…all levels of smoking, including passive smoking, lead to negative health outcomes.
So, while the Church tells us that excessive smoking may be sinful…
“2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine.”
…it could be argued that ANY level of smoking should be considered excessive given what we now know about it medically.
As to those who think smoking is no different than alcohol or fast food, consider that alcohol and fast food in moderation are not necessarily adversive to health, whereas there is NO safe level of smoking…all levels of smoking, including passive smoking, lead to negative health outcomes.
So, while the Church tells us that excessive smoking may be sinful…
“2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine.”
…it could be argued that ANY level of smoking should be considered excessive given what we now know about it medically.
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Paul_theApostle
Guest
I am talking about smoking after Mass where you have taken Communion
…not leaving the church right after Communion time to have a smoke…
and in the car also not on the church grounds…
…not leaving the church right after Communion time to have a smoke…
and in the car also not on the church grounds…
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triumphguy
Guest
I’ve seen a good few priests light up outside the Church right after saying mass.
Not recently though.
Not recently though.
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grandfather
Guest
Should you smoke when you are praying?
Should you pray when you are smoking?
Should you pray when you are smoking?
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ceefo
Guest
It is always bad to smoke, if you accept the idea that we are made in the image of God, and that we should respect the temple which is our bodies. If you believe this, then you should not smoke at any time.
If someone thinks that the body should be defiled and poisoned, and that money which could be used more positively should be thrown away to do this, then they may puff away.
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grandfather
Guest
Very true, but we should be more worried about defiling our souls.
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King_Lazy
Guest
No, I am sorry, but that is just not true. Any level of alcohol consumption increases the risk of oral cancer. Any level of charred food consumption increases the risk of cancer in general. Paracetamol and other analgesic chemicals too tend to have negative effects when used chronically.
And smoking in moderation doesn’t necessarily lead to adverse effects. We all instinctively know that and can see it all around us, despite the secular health cultists screaming and shouting and thumping their feet insisting otherwise. Most ex-smokers and indeed some smokers who have smoked for many decades are in good health. Most who stop smoking can significantly reverse the risks.
If that’s true, then it could be argued that anybody who does not strictly follow all the precepts of the secular cult of health defiles himself. Don’t eat char-grilled chicken. It can cause cancer. Don’t drink beer. It can cause cancer. Don’t take health supplements. They can cause cancer.
Let’s all just live in a bubble and be fed intravenously then, shall we?
And while we’re at it, shall we just start hissing and booing at people who aren’t perfectly thin because they inadvertently eat a bit too much? And what about anybody who doesn’t drive a hybrid car and who forces children to breathe in their car exhaust fumes by expelling them into the atmosphere?
The original question was whether it was okay for a smoker to smoke right after church. It had nothing to do with whether it was okay to be a smoker.
God and the Church have nothing against the smoker, much like they have nothing against the gum-chewer. the monkey brain eater, the char-grilled chicken eater, the moderate beer drinker, or the person who takes a pill for their headache.
Some people find smoking, gum-chewing, monkey brain eating, char-grilled chicken eating, moderate beer drinking and pill-taking distasteful because it somehow appears unpleasant or unhealthy. That’s okay. But they cannot speak for God, for they do not make the moral law, but He does. No matter how much someone might not like the fact that God is fine with people eating monkey brains, it changes nothing.
And so our opinions be they against tobacco smoking or in favour of contraception or vice versa do nothing to change what God’s opinion, expressed by the Church, on these matters is.
So many people focused on the cigarette in Paul theApostle’s mouth, that they failed to see that he had God at heart when asking his question. So let’s stop being legalistic and let’s look at what’s in people’s hearts. not in their mouths.
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Edmundus1581
Guest
I once heard of a saying from the seminaries in the days when smoking was normal amongst seminarians “We can pray while we are smoking, but not smoke while we are praying”.
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