Is it OK to show up at communion on Sunday & leave right after if I attended Saturday evening mass the previous day?

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Marybeloved

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I’ve been told that the Saturday evening mass fulfills the Sunday obligation. Say I attend Saturday evening mass, can I just show up only for communion on Sunday and then leave, or is that wrong?
 
No. You sit through the readings of Mass to prepare yourself to receive our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. :rolleyes:
 
It wouldn’t be right to do that. Even on a human level you wouldn’t rush in some time after the family gathered, then eat and run. It is behavior that would give some scandal, and it ignores what the Eucharist actually is. Just rushing in for Communion seems self-indulgent. Much as we love the Lord, if we come to Mass we should do so with respect to all that the Mass, the Eucharist actually is.
I think you should speak to your priest about this. 🙂

The Mass isn’t simply a Communion service. Even a Communion service does not allow for people to come in, receive Communion, then leave.
 
Presumably you would have already received at the Saturday evening liturgy so this behavior would most likely be inappropriate. You can make a Spiritual Communion anytime and anywhere, however.
 
If you have participated fully at Mass on Saturday Evening, what would be the point of receiving communion and leaving?

Would you go to a Thanksgiving dinner with your family, and later that day pop in to grab a bite of turkey and dressing with gravy, just to have dinner with them again? Of course not.

So, why treat Jesus and your Christian family that way?
 
Marybeloved said:
I’ve been told that the Saturday evening mass fulfills the Sunday obligation. Say I attend Saturday evening mass, can I just show up only for communion on Sunday and then leave, or is that wrong?
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No, that would not be appropriate.
 
This is not something I would recommend, but I don’t think there is anything truly wrong with it. As Trishie mentioned, it could cause scandal for many who are confused about what you are doing, so if you do this it would be prudent and charitable to do so in a subtle way.

It really doesn’t matter whether you received communion on Saturday, but if you had previously received on Sunday, you would be prohibited by canon law from doing this.
Canon 917 One who has received the blessed Eucharist may receive it again on the same day only within a eucharistic celebration in which that person participates…
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We are called to fully participate in the sacrifice of the mass. This means full attendance and active participation, from the greeting to the concluding rite (“from blessing to blessing”). The mass is the Church’s greatest prayer and if we participate at all, we should participate fully and completely. I wonder: Do you have some question regarding the vigil mass fulfilling your obligation? Even if there is some problem with the vigil mass, it cannot be corrected by popping in at the Consecration on Sunday. This would not fulfill your obligation and, done knowingly, could constitute confessory material. Please talk to Father about this.
 
Here’s another angle. No matter how wonderful your intentions, there would be those who would see it in the opposite way.

Think for a moment on how that would seem to children going to Mass with their parents. They would see someone come in, receive, and then leave. The kids get restless and want to go almost as soon as the priest gets up front. I can almost hear one of mine saying “Daddy, he left. Why can’t we?”
 
Georgia said:
Here’s another angle. No matter how wonderful your intentions, there would be those who would see it in the opposite way.

Think for a moment on how that would seem to children going to Mass with their parents. They would see someone come in, receive, and then leave. The kids get restless and want to go almost as soon as the priest gets up front. I can almost hear one of mine saying “Daddy, he left. Why can’t we?”
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Scandal. Excellent point.
 
No this is not ok, unless it is some big emergency that you must leave. You should really stay for the whole Mass. If you just leave, it’s like saying “only part of the Mass is important and we can just disregard or not pay attention to the other part of the Mass.” It is just not right and common sense should tell you this. If His Holiness the Pope heard this question, what do you think his answer would be?
 
No, that is extremely rude. Of course you can do it.

Even then, though, the obligation is to attend mass, not receive the Eucharist. So there wouldn’t even be a point.
 
Hey people, cool down!! My question was very logical, flowing from what I have recently discovered to be true- that Saturday evening mass fulfills sunday obligation. I then wondered if after fulfilling the obligation, the other masses of the day become like weekday masses to the person, where I know for a fact that one can just receive the communion and leave. 🤷

Now sure, I know what the mass is- my point was that I’ve already attended the heavenly liturgy, but I may want to still receive the Eucharist on Sunday for strength that day, rather than go more than 36 hours without receiving our Lord.

I get the point about the scandal. In our church, many people tend to hang outside the church and only enter the building itself when taking the offering or receiving communion, so scandal really would not be an issue, IMO.

I’m curious about the person who mentioned the Canon on receiving the second time in a day only in a Eucharistic celebration. That’s the kind of answer I was looking for. If there is something wrong about receiving a second time in a liturgical day that carries obligation, when you already fulfilled that obligation. Mind expounding on that a bit more?

Thanks.
 
Marybeloved said:
I’m curious about the person who mentioned the Canon on receiving the second time in a day only in a Eucharistic celebration. That’s the kind of answer I was looking for…Mind expounding on that a bit more?
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Happy to oblige.
If there is something wrong about receiving a second time in a liturgical day that carries obligation, when you already fulfilled that obligation.
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First off, the rule is part of canon law, so by my reading we are talking about a canonical day (midnight to midnight) not a liturgical day (Sundays and holy days start the evening before).

Second, the canon isn’t restricted to days of obligation. Any day of the week, you are free to receive communion a second time. But that second time must be during a mass that you participate in.
 
Marybeloved said:
I then wondered if after fulfilling the obligation, the other masses of the day become like weekday masses to the person, where I know for a fact that one can just receive the communion and leave. 🤷
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How does one time that? Mass could be only 15 minutes long on a week day(yes I have sat through that). It needs to be shorter than that? How little time does one want to spend with the family of God?
 
Marybeloved said:
I’m curious about the person who mentioned the Canon on receiving the second time in a day only in a Eucharistic celebration. That’s the kind of answer I was looking for. If there is something wrong about receiving a second time in a liturgical day that carries obligation, when you already fulfilled that obligation. Mind expounding on that a bit more?

Thanks.
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A person can receive Communion twice on a given day, so long as the second time is at Mass.

Let’s say you are at home, caring for an elderly relative. The priest comes by in the morning to bring Communion to the relative. You can also receive at that time. If you go to Mass later in that same day, you can also receive Communion at Mass.

On the other hand, if you go to Mass in the morning, and receive Communion, then when the priest comes by for the visit in the afternoon, you aren’t eligible to receive Communion; because the second time is not at a Mass.

Go to 2 Masses in one day? You can receive at both.
 
Marybeloved said:
Hey people, cool down!! My question was very logical, flowing from what I have recently discovered to be true- that Saturday evening mass fulfills sunday obligation. I then wondered if after fulfilling the obligation, the other masses of the day become like weekday masses to the person, where I know for a fact that one can just receive the communion and leave. 🤷
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I’m a bit concerned about this. On the one hand, yes it is possible to come to Mass only for the Communion rite, receive Communion and then leave; this is not a recommended practice. I can imagine some unusual circumstances when this might happen and it would be legitimate (indeed, not just imagine but have experienced them), but it’s not something which should be done intentionally.

What concerns me is that by reading your post, I come away with the impression that someone has told you that it’s “normal” to just show up at Mass and receive. Is that true, or am I misinterpreting what you’re saying?

All of the Masses of Sunday are still Sunday Masses. This doesn’t change because one is attending a second Mass on that same day. So, Sunday Masses don’t become like weekday Masses.

All of the Masses from Saturday evening through Sunday night are completely Sunday Masses. There is no distinction made between Saturday night, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, etc. They are all the same Masses and all the same day. We might see some distinctions from one to the other (like Eucharistic Prayer III at one Mass and Eucharistic Prayer I at another), but there are no differences which count.
 
Marybeloved said:
Hey people, cool down!! My question was very logical, flowing from what I have recently discovered to be true- that Saturday evening mass fulfills sunday obligation.
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Can you please explain the logic where fulfilling one’s Sunday obligation on Saturday evening then means on a Sunday you could just pop in to a church shortly before communion, take communion, and then leave?
Marybeloved said:
I then wondered if after fulfilling the obligation, the other masses of the day become like weekday masses to the person, where I know for a fact that one can just receive the communion and leave. 🤷
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Where have you got the idea from that on a weekday it is alright to just pop in to Mass to take communion.

When we go to Mass we should arrive before the Mass begins and remain at Mass until the entire liturgy has finished. There are many examples where demonstrating similar behaviour in regards to work, social life, etc. would be regarded as unacceptable. Why then do many people often seem to think that the Mass should be treated in such a way?
Marybeloved said:
Now sure, I know what the mass is- my point was that I’ve already attended the heavenly liturgy, but I may want to still receive the Eucharist on Sunday for strength that day, rather than go more than 36 hours without receiving our Lord.
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You should attend the entire Mass. It isn’t just about you receiving communion. Mass is about the worship of God.
 
Sunday Mass is still Sunday Mass, even if you’ve been to Mass before.

Those who attend daily Mass, shouldn’t be dropping in just to receive communion without the preparation of the rest of the Mass. Certainly *some *folks may need to leave early to get back to work, or possibly be late arriving. But no one should intentionally plan to just be there for communion because you can’t be bothered to attend the rest of Mass.
 
No, you are supposed to prepare yourself to receive Holy Communion. 😉

Edit: I think it would also cause scandal to other Catholics
 
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