Non Catholic Takes Communion

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Look, if you want to be obtuse and obnoxious then I can’t stop you. But you know what’s going on, you’ve been here long enough. Communion is closed. Period.
 
There is nothing in anything Pope Francis said in that interview that even suggested Communion for those not in a state of grace, including other denominations.
 
Not only that, the Pope speaking off the cuff in a plane interview is not ‘changing doctrine’ or, most probably, not expressing what the writers imply he said in carefully snipped words to which the writers supply the ‘meanings’.
 
I had an Anglican friend who wanted to receive Holy Communion and I told her gently all the reasons this was not allowed. I didn’t want to alienate her, but she was adamant she was going to partake. Finally I explained that in the Catholic Church to receive your first Holy Communion one has to make one’s first Holy Confession. That Holy Mass wasn’t just some communal meal and that if we weren’t in a state of grace, yes, not even us Catholics could not receive until we had been to confession. With this, she accepted, joined us at Mass and didn’t receive the host. And we are still very good friends. Happy Christmas everyone and peace.
 
TC3033 said:
I can say the same thing…
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But, mine is not unique as I explained.

I have found it is one of a number of things members of non-Catholic Christian ecclesial communities hold against us.

The bottom line is not the reason why we have closed communion and it is not why some Catholics may be unable to state the reason. If I am a host it is my house and my rules apply. I need not explain them nor give a reason for them. Thus when a non-Catholic comes to a Catholic church they should respect our beliefs. Although we consider it wrong for men to wear a hat in church I would definitely cover my head if I went to a synagogue and they asked to cover my head. Similarly, I would take off my shoes if I were to go into a mosque.

I also know that non-Catholic Christians get upset when we Catholics will not take communion in their churches. I once had occasion to attend a Methodist Service. I did not even know they were doing communion because it was called ‘Evening Service’. They simply passed round a bowl of cubes of white leavened bread and then a metal rack with a handle holding individual glasses of red wine. I neither ate the bread nor drank the wine. They were most upset and it was perfectly clear that my beliefs did not matter one bit to them.
 
But I wish they’d stop it already with the attitude of entitlement and simply respect our ways! I get so irritated at their causing me anxiety and moral dilemmas right at the moment I had been eagerly awaiting receiving my Eucharistic Lord and then I’m debating in my head as to whether I should make some sort of attempt to stop them, which could escalate into an unhappy and embarrassing public scene for everyone.

I don’t go into synagogues or mosques or Buddhist temples or any other religious places and demand to be considered as one of the flock. If I went to those places I would be content with my visitor status and let them get on with their worship.

I have dealt with the disrespectful friends, including a former boyfriend. My patience with their assumptions and actions is worn out. So I just don’t even invite such people to go with me, unless they are willing to learn proper etiquette beforehand and stick with it. I can usually tell who would vs. who wouldn’t. I know we are sometimes encouraged to invite people to Mass, but I err on the side of caution now, for the reasons I’ve already given. I’d rather evangelize other ways, sharing apologetics and general information to answer people’s questions, and let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting.

My current roommate is Southern Baptist, and she totally gets it, God bless her. She has said to me that she wouldn’t want to be disrespectful. And since she has two brothers in law who are ministers and is very faithful to her own beliefs, and knows what we Catholics believe regarding the Real Presence, since she does not share that belief, she does not take it upon herself to decide to go up for Communion just because she wants it. I’m happy to have her attend Mass with me.
 
JMMJ said:
We used to go all the time, but she talked in a loud voice during the movie and disturbed me and all the people around us. She has no interest, for whatever reason, in modifying her behavior. We had several very clear discussions about this. She doesn’t believe she is disruptive.
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Didn’t everyone going “Shhhhhh” make an impact?
 
Exactly. Usually I was the first one to say “sssshhhhhhh!”. Who knows what motivates some people to be so obnoxious? The good news is that she is typically kind and considerate so I didn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. But now she is in her own bathwater by herself when it comes to the movies!!!
 
Rau said:
Didn’t everyone going “Shhhhhh” make an impact?
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I would not at all be surprised if it made no impact.

In my experience people are becoming more selfish, do exactly what they want and when and have no respect for other people.

I notice this with the students I teach. They’re always demanding their rights. I spend a lot of time explaining to them that rights come with responsibilities.

My wife and I went to the theatre and in the row in front of us were three women who arrived very late during the first act, made a lot of fuss getting into their seats, were quite clearly intoxicated with alcohol and preceded to make a lot of noise during the entire performance. At the interval we complained to theatre staff. We were not going to speak to the women directly as nothing good ever comes of challenging the inebriated. The theatre staff simply told us there was nothing they could do.
 
This sort of confirms why I said the if the OP did not go up for communion, and explained why (need for confession first), without criticizing her friend for going up, it may cause a little light bulb to illuminate in her head and make her realize that even for Catholics, it isn’t “open communion”.
 
You are correct, a light bulb certainly did go on. The beauty of the Catholic faith is it always has a firm, but gentle answer to all our questions. But, the answers must always be given with love.

On a side note, I was never a great contributor to these CAF forums, but have certainly enjoyed them over the years and have tempered me well. I will miss them.
 
Irishmom2 said:
More like nothing they were willing to do.
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I agree wholeheartedly. I was simply reporting what they said. It was very obvious they did not want to do anything. Long gone are the days when an usherette would shine her torch at you and tell you to be quiet.
 
That is awesome that your roomate understands…and im thankful you understand my own predicament!
 
Thx…I already shared my own personal strictness her…she is very devoted to her position…a pretty orthodox/conservative priest i spoke with said i would not be in sin if I did go to Mass with her and she received…since I already made Church teaching as clear as I could…she is a wonderful God loving person but she just doesn’t grasp the teaching!
 
stpurl said:
And say, “Well, yeah, that’s what YOU believe but I’m not buying it. You say you have Jesus and now you’re trying to keep it from me, even though I believe in Jesus too. We have this same ceremony with bread and wine in our church and all are invited to partake as a sign of our Christian brotherhood and sisterhood and YOU CATHOLICS are as welcome to take in OUR CHURCH as anybody else. Your attitude is wrong and unfair and ours is right and just, and we will abide by our attitude since it IS right and just’.
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Well put, and colourful!

As a former Protestant (Anglican) with Protestant family and friends, I have encountered this issue several times in my life, and with the dispute (sic) being pushed to heated limits by some non-Catholics who demand to receive in the Catholic church, and both your posts correlate with my experience. These people do understand the Catholic position, but simply won’t accept it and hold to their own opinion, which I’ll sum up as “We are all Christians. You can receive in my church, so I can receive in yours. The Catholic church is wrong (evil, even) to put these barriers between Christians. This is so unloving, and causing so much hurt to The Body 😭”.

The last sentence is word-for-word from 80’s jargon I heard. The non-Catholics (and Catholics too!) I knew then who were most indignant about this issue, and most vocal in the then ecumenical vision (“One Body”), have all since lapsed into either leaving the Church altogether, or following other latest fads (SSM, women’s ordination, arbitrary divorce and remarriage). The latter have now become the “intolerant” ones, and are quite happy to force their woke Christianity onto others.

Those who expect to receive in the Catholic church often think they are “more Catholic than the Catholics” because they are more devout, better informed, believe more fervently in the real presence, etc, than the average Catholic in the pew.

We mustn’t forget that there are also Catholics who reject the Church teaching on this, and freely receive in other churches and encourage non-Catholics to receive when visiting us.
TomH1 said:
They have decided the Catholic Church is wrong and they are not going to change their minds. I’ve also lost count of the number of times some people think we’re not even Christians!
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Agreed. I’ve also seen this from people who will one day be very anti-Catholic, and then the next day say that we are all Christians.
TomH1 said:
What I will say in their favour is despite their indignance they do not take communion in a Catholic Church on the rare occasion they find themselves there.
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Good for them! Thanks for that positive observation.
 
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