E
everyoneshero
Guest
What is your opinion?
I enjoy mass even though I am not Catholic.
I enjoy mass even though I am not Catholic.
- Status
D
DebChris
Guest
Keep coming.
As a Catholic, I have also attended services with my non-Catholic brothers and sisters. We simply cannot share each others communion because to do so would imply a unity that is still incomplete.
Welcome.
As a Catholic, I have also attended services with my non-Catholic brothers and sisters. We simply cannot share each others communion because to do so would imply a unity that is still incomplete.
Welcome.
J
jmcrae
Guest
Welcome!!
Please also feel free to come to other events that take place at the parish, too. Make yourself at home!
As the previous poster indicated, you aren’t able to use the Sacraments of Holy Communion or Reconciliation - yet -
- but you are certainly welcome to pray with us and participate in the life of the parish. 
O
OneTrueCathApos
Guest
I couldn’t attend Mass without receiving the Eucharist. I wonder how others can do this…
M
MarcoPolo
Guest
I know of a number of non-Catholics who attend regularly with Catholic spouses. It’s a good show of unity for those families. I am sure it works with Catholics going to their churches too.
J
jmcrae
Guest
What do you do if you haven’t been fasting, or if you didn’t get to go to Confession when you needed to?
O
OneTrueCathApos
Guest
What does this mean? I do my confession, but if I couldn’t get out of bed, I would summon a priest or Eucharistic minister to bring it to me, and to hear my confession. I do not miss fasting days.
J
jmcrae
Guest
I meant the fasting before Mass. What do you do if for some reason you ate something before coming to Mass?
D
DebChris
Guest
1 hour from all food and drink except water and medicine.
Thanks,
Jon
C
Cat
Guest
There are lots of reasons why non-Catholics would attend Roman Catholic mass.
My husband and I started attending Saturday vigil mass because of our daughters’ figure skating.
They were selected for an elite synchronized skating team in the Big City (65 miles away), and practices went from 5:30 A.M. until 1:00 P.M. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were no Protestant churches in our city offering Sat. evening services. (Now there are–maybe they got wise!)
So my husband and I were not attending Sunday church, and we didn’t like this much.
So one Saturday, I said, “I’m going to the Catholic church down the road from us. They’re Christians. And the Bible says that we shouldn’t neglect fellowship with other Christians.”
We checked out the time, and went to a 6:00 P.M. Mass.
We had no idea whatsoever what was going on. (We were involved with Pentecostal/Evangelical Protestant churches from our childhood.)
We thought it was quite beautiful, reverent, and very old-fashioned. We didn’t know this at the time, but it was a contemporary OF of the Mass, and many people on this board would consider it abominable because of the Haugen music and all the other “modern” practices! But compared to what we were used to at our Evangelical Free church, we felt that we had stepped back into the Middle Ages! It was absolutely ancient to us.
We made an appointment with one of the priests, and asked him to describe what exactly was going on in the Mass, and what we could and couldn’t participate in, and where to find all the recitations (that’s what we called them). He was very helpful, and recommended the parish Apologetics Class, which we joined and loved.
Anyway, that’s why WE were attending Mass as non-Catholics–figure skating!
I know of people who attend Catholic masses because they are reverent, traditional, and quiet compared to what they are used to at their Protestant churches. I’m talking OF Mass here, everyone! But you have to understand that many Protestant churches are totally bizarre nowadays in how they “do” a worship service.
At the megachurch down the street from us (10,000 people in attendance every Sunday), the people sit at tables sipping coffee drinks and eating pastries while they watch the sermon and the music on large video screens.
So perhaps you can see why some Protestants flee this kind of stuff and try to find some vestige of tradition and pretty music. (To an evangelical Protestant, Haugen, Haas, et. are very peaceful and thought-provoking.)
My husband and I started attending Saturday vigil mass because of our daughters’ figure skating.
They were selected for an elite synchronized skating team in the Big City (65 miles away), and practices went from 5:30 A.M. until 1:00 P.M. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were no Protestant churches in our city offering Sat. evening services. (Now there are–maybe they got wise!)
So my husband and I were not attending Sunday church, and we didn’t like this much.
So one Saturday, I said, “I’m going to the Catholic church down the road from us. They’re Christians. And the Bible says that we shouldn’t neglect fellowship with other Christians.”
We checked out the time, and went to a 6:00 P.M. Mass.
We had no idea whatsoever what was going on. (We were involved with Pentecostal/Evangelical Protestant churches from our childhood.)
We thought it was quite beautiful, reverent, and very old-fashioned. We didn’t know this at the time, but it was a contemporary OF of the Mass, and many people on this board would consider it abominable because of the Haugen music and all the other “modern” practices! But compared to what we were used to at our Evangelical Free church, we felt that we had stepped back into the Middle Ages! It was absolutely ancient to us.
We made an appointment with one of the priests, and asked him to describe what exactly was going on in the Mass, and what we could and couldn’t participate in, and where to find all the recitations (that’s what we called them). He was very helpful, and recommended the parish Apologetics Class, which we joined and loved.
Anyway, that’s why WE were attending Mass as non-Catholics–figure skating!
I know of people who attend Catholic masses because they are reverent, traditional, and quiet compared to what they are used to at their Protestant churches. I’m talking OF Mass here, everyone! But you have to understand that many Protestant churches are totally bizarre nowadays in how they “do” a worship service.
At the megachurch down the street from us (10,000 people in attendance every Sunday), the people sit at tables sipping coffee drinks and eating pastries while they watch the sermon and the music on large video screens.
So perhaps you can see why some Protestants flee this kind of stuff and try to find some vestige of tradition and pretty music. (To an evangelical Protestant, Haugen, Haas, et. are very peaceful and thought-provoking.)
O
OneTrueCathApos
Guest
I never eat, but occasionally I have and I ask God to forgive me. This small sacrifice is all that I ask God to forgive me for. With others, I simply go to confession.
B
Blade_and_Blood
Guest
If someone likes mass whether Catholic or not, it’s cool.
I’ve definitely heard of people going to different churches for the heck of it-- for pleasure or observing… a hideous few sometimes go for the sake of seeing the “error.” 
Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood
E
emeraldcoast
Guest
Our children attend a Catholic School. I do my best to attend the weekly school Mass with our children.
God Bless!
God Bless!
R
RobHom
Guest
I would hope that many many non-Catholics would take the time to go to a Catholic Mass!! I can’t think of any way for people to better learn about the Catholic Church and get to know what we are about and the the Catholic Church is really all about Jesus Christ.
And if you are ever in Punta Gorda, FL… please join with us in worshiping Christ in our new church that was just dedicated this past week… Hurricane Charlie damaged much of the original and it had to be rebuilt… As our Pastor, Father Jerry Kaywell says: All are welcome, regardless of race creed or denomination!
Here is the homepage of the Sacred Heart Parish… sacredheartfl.org/
The image of Christ that is above and behind the altar…is absolutely beautiful and moving!!
And if you are ever in Punta Gorda, FL… please join with us in worshiping Christ in our new church that was just dedicated this past week… Hurricane Charlie damaged much of the original and it had to be rebuilt… As our Pastor, Father Jerry Kaywell says: All are welcome, regardless of race creed or denomination!
Here is the homepage of the Sacred Heart Parish… sacredheartfl.org/
The image of Christ that is above and behind the altar…is absolutely beautiful and moving!!
V
Vanquisher
Guest
You know, up until the reign of Pope St. Pius X, most Catholics did not receive the Eucharist at Mass, even if they were in a state of grace. And until about the mid-1960s (gee, wonder what happened then cough cough*) Catholics did not always go to Communion during Mass because they were either not in a state of grace or because they had not fasted since midnight the previous day. I attended Mass today without receiving Communion, because I wasn’t able to make a confession before Mass.
O
OneTrueCathApos
Guest
**Rob, that church with the picture of Christ in the Sacred Heart is simply breathtaking! It’s beautiful!
**
O
OneTrueCathApos
Guest
Vanquisher, confession can be made now just once a year. Although I go much more often, that’s the rule today. It is harder to know you are conscious of sin, rather than not knowing you have sinned.
R
reteeks21
Guest
As a protestant would I be in “trouble” if I did take communion at a rcc?
- Status