Non-Catholics taking Communion?

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montanaman

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For some reason I’ve been thinking of this lately…

There are a lot of searching Protestants on these boards, and some of them have attended Mass. Some have non-Catholic spouses who attend Mass with them. I also know a lot of non-Catholics who church-shop every week. It’s not inconceivable that some would get a wild hair and go to a Catholic church one day.

My question is, do any of you non-Catholics receive Communion, or does anyone here know about non-Catholics who receive Communion in a Catholic church?
 
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montanaman:
My question is, do any of you non-Catholics receive Communion, or does anyone here know about non-Catholics who receive Communion in a Catholic church?
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I don’t (receive communion where I know that I’m not welcome to), but I know many who do. For what it’s worth, I try to discourage those folks from attending such Masses. I know we say that we aren’t worthy to receive Him during the Euch. prayer, but, let’s face it, some are less worthy then others.
 
Every now and then we would have a Protestant minister as a guest at Church and they would go with the Procession at the beginning and end of mass, and give a “guest homily.” Our Priest would interview them carefully before mass to go over their views of communion and if they were in accordance, would allow them to take communion. I would assume that is ok, but I (and he) could be wrong.

It’s a shame that Protestants feel so left out of mass because, as a general rule, they are excluded from communion. I know my friends have said that is somewhat frustrating, but then again we can’t ignore the warnings St. Paul put forth in 1 Corinthians 11. It’s definitely a dilemma. If only we were all united in thought (cf 1 Cor 1:13)😦
 
Montana- No, it’s probably not that common an occurance. But, to be on the safe side, it’s probably best to be sure that the rubrics are clear in the bulletin. Having some burly bouncers/eucharistic ministers, preferably with tear gas, wouldn’t hurt, either.
 
Zski- I believe that is a big no-no (having a Prot deliver the homily, let alone receive the Eucharist). Sounds like a good opportunity for everybody to end up in Hell.
 
Sounds like a good opportunity for everybody to end up in Hell.
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I know that’s not funny for so serious a topic, but for some reason it made me chuckle.

On a serious note, I want to be clear it’s not triumphalism or elitism that I’m concerned about this. It’s just that if you could take one single thing about the faith most worthy of defending, I think it would be that. A non-Catholic receiving the Eucharist with no particular sense of the sacredness of it–someone treating the Body of Christ as a mere symbol, a touch-feely cracker–is just appalling to me. What further kills me is how unenforcable it is. An obstinant person could perform this sacrilege over and over again.

Well, I guess it IS enforceable, eventually. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes on Judgement Day if they had even the slightest idea that they might be doing something wrong…
 
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montanaman:
I know that’s not funny for so serious a topic, but for some reason it made me chuckle…
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That was, ultimately, the point. Of course, many folks aren’t doing that to make you mad, or to make you chuckle, or to take a bit of bread and wine. They just don’t feel that your Church has the monopoly on Jesus, or the right to deny him to them. I reckon you do, or at least, I understand your right to think you do, and the obligation of others to understand that.
 
I’m not sure what you’re saying, mean. I have no desire to deny Jesus to anyone. But those who don’t believe it’s Jesus should respect “our” rules.

I have no first-hand proof that this is taking place, but it seems not only plausible, but highly likely.
 
Montanaman- if I was difficult, it was intentionally so. The point is, that some (tho few) protestants understand the Holy Eucharist more or less the same way that a Catholic is taught to understand it. It doesn’t matter whose rules it is; if you’re not a practicing Roman Catholic, you’re not invited. You’re either in the club, or not, correct? Again, I’m cool with that, but just explaining the origninal question.
 
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montanaman:
For some reason I’ve been thinking of this lately…

There are a lot of searching Protestants on these boards, and some of them have attended Mass. Some have non-Catholic spouses who attend Mass with them. I also know a lot of non-Catholics who church-shop every week. It’s not inconceivable that some would get a wild hair and go to a Catholic church one day.

My question is, do any of you non-Catholics receive Communion, or does anyone here know about non-Catholics who receive Communion in a Catholic church?
Click to expand...
Yes, my empoyee is catholic.periodically his wife goes to mass with him,and she does recieve communion. He refuses to tell her that it is wrong even though he knows the RCC rules. He says who am I to say that she should not recieve the Eucharist. Ive told him but he is in denial. If your going to be a practicing catholic you cannot sit on the fence. :eek:
 
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SPOKENWORD:
Yes, my empoyee is catholic.periodically his wife goes to mass with him,and she does recieve communion. He refuses to tell her that it is wrong even though he knows the RCC rules. He says who am I to say that she should not recieve the Eucharist. Ive told him but he is in denial. If your going to be a practicing catholic you cannot sit on the fence. :eek:
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My, my! 😦 :nope: :nope:
 
I’m hesitant to suggest this, because I haven’t submitted the patent yet, but anywho I have an idea about how to deal with the problem of non-Catholics taking communion:

put a bar code tatoo put on one’s forehead at confirmation and place a scanner at the front of the church. That way if a Protestant tries to take communion in a Catholic parish, some cool alarms would go off and the bouncers would come out and escort the perps off the property. The Orthodox could do the same thing to keep Catholics (as well as Prots) from defiling their sacrament, etc. I’m not sure how to deal with renegades. Maybe the tatoo could be temporary and be renewed after you tithe each week. (I guess an ID chip like they use on dogs could work too, but the tatoo really shows that you’re marked for Christ).

Whaddya think?
 
While reading this thread I thought I was going to cry. My husband is not a Catholic and he attends Mass with me a few times a year. When he attends he knows he can not receive communion. This has always been a sore spot for him because he also knows that Catholics who are not in a “State of Grace” shouldn’t be receiving either. (I am not accusing anyone here, been there, done that, never going to do that again however.)He and I have had numerous discussions about this topic over the 24 years we have been married and he just feels plain insulted.

But I have told him that if we trully “love” someone then we wouldn’t want them to do anything that would put their mortal soul in danger. I told him if he believes Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and is willing to step out and delare that he believes and will follow all** of the church teachings** then he needs to go to RCIA. In RCIA he will learn and be catechised the way the Apostles required everyone to learn who wanted to be admitted to the Church and in particular the Eucharistic celebration.

We need to be very careful here because no matter what anyone says we are not in Communion with each other. For a protestant to receive communion is for him to “lie” as he is receiving it. He doesn’t believe or even desire to believe the teachings of the Church that Jesus Christ himself founded. He is a protestant which means “one who protests” the teachings of Jesus.

Because I really Love my husband and want to be with him in heaven someday I would never allow him to receive the Lord without him being in Communion with the Church he gave us.
When I say this I am not judging the worthiness or unworthiness of my husband’s soul. But because he has never had the opportunity for sacramental confession he may not even know the state of his soul. I don’t think we should be playing Russian Roulette here with others souls. We need to be very firm about this. It is very important. Our Lord loves all of these people, and it is our responsibility and we had better take it more seriously to protect these separated sheep from the serious sin of sacriledge.
St. Paul is very clear about eating and drinking of the body and blood of Jesus unworthily…all of our separated brothers and sisters should respect this believe of ours with “fear and trembling”.

Perhaps we need a link in here about Eucharistic Miracles. What is God telling us here!

When I go to other churches, i.e. a wedding or something and they invite everyone up to their communion …I never go or allow the children to go. We would be telling a lie. We don’t believe that Jesus is trully present in their Eucharist. We would also be saying that we don’t believe that he is present on our altar and we would be disrespecting him if we did receive. All of this takes great courage sometimes because people are always misunderstanding our actions and are mad at us. But that’s what Jesus told us would happen to us.

God bless everyone who reads this post and I pray that if you are Protestant you will respect our beliefs. We do not keep you from communion for any other reason than that we really love you. Please also respect our beliefs and realize that when we are present in your churches for celebrations and do not take communion we mean no insult and we ask only your respect even though you may not understand.
 
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elgom:
While reading this thread I thought I was going to cry. My husband is not a Catholic and he attends Mass with me a few times a year. When he attends he knows he can not receive communion. This has always been a sore spot for him because he also knows that Catholics who are not in a “State of Grace” shouldn’t be receiving either. (I am not accusing anyone here, been there, done that, never going to do that again however.)He and I have had numerous discussions about this topic over the 24 years we have been married and he just feels plain insulted.

But I have told him that if we trully “love” someone then we wouldn’t want them to do anything that would put their mortal soul in danger. I told him if he believes Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and is willing to step out and delare that he believes and will follow all** of the church teachings** then he needs to go to RCIA. In RCIA he will learn and be catechised the way the Apostles required everyone to learn who wanted to be admitted to the Church and in particular the Eucharistic celebration.

We need to be very careful here because no matter what anyone says we are not in Communion with each other. For a protestant to receive communion is for him to “lie” as he is receiving it. He doesn’t believe or even desire to believe the teachings of the Church that Jesus Christ himself founded. He is a protestant which means “one who protests” the teachings of Jesus.

Because I really Love my husband and want to be with him in heaven someday I would never allow him to receive the Lord without him being in Communion with the Church he gave us.
When I say this I am not judging the worthiness or unworthiness of my husband’s soul. But because he has never had the opportunity for sacramental confession he may not even know the state of his soul. I don’t think we should be playing Russian Roulette here with others souls. We need to be very firm about this. It is very important. Our Lord loves all of these people, and it is our responsibility and we had better take it more seriously to protect these separated sheep from the serious sin of sacriledge.
St. Paul is very clear about eating and drinking of the body and blood of Jesus unworthily…all of our separated brothers and sisters should respect this believe of ours with “fear and trembling”.

Perhaps we need a link in here about Eucharistic Miracles. What is God telling us here!

When I go to other churches, i.e. a wedding or something and they invite everyone up to their communion …I never go or allow the children to go. We would be telling a lie. We don’t believe that Jesus is trully present in their Eucharist. We would also be saying that we don’t believe that he is present on our altar and we would be disrespecting him if we did receive. All of this takes great courage sometimes because people are always misunderstanding our actions and are mad at us. But that’s what Jesus told us would happen to us.

God bless everyone who reads this post and I pray that if you are Protestant you will respect our beliefs. We do not keep you from communion for any other reason than that we really love you. Please also respect our beliefs and realize that when we are present in your churches for celebrations and do not take communion we mean no insult and we ask only your respect even though you may not understand.
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you tell him for me… it’s not a question of worthyness… he is as worthy as anyone… he just doesn’t believe all the church teaches and professes (i assume, or he would be catholic)… I wish you peace and happiness… and i hope one day he joins us in communion as well as prayer… 👍
 
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mean_owen:
I’m hesitant to suggest this, because I haven’t submitted the patent yet, but anywho I have an idea about how to deal with the problem of non-Catholics taking communion:

put a bar code tatoo put on one’s forehead at confirmation and place a scanner at the front of the church. That way if a Protestant tries to take communion in a Catholic parish, some cool alarms would go off and the bouncers would come out and escort the perps off the property. The Orthodox could do the same thing to keep Catholics (as well as Prots) from defiling their sacrament, etc. I’m not sure how to deal with renegades. Maybe the tatoo could be temporary and be renewed after you tithe each week. (I guess an ID chip like they use on dogs could work too, but the tatoo really shows that you’re marked for Christ).

Whaddya think?
Click to expand...
hehe… the funniness aside, I think if we do this, the Prots will have a field day preaching quoting “the mark of the beast” thingy… like what they’ve done with the chip implant thingies… :rolleyes:
 
i used this in an earlier post, maybe this will help explain just a little…

this is the best way i know to explain why they can’t…

If you are Canadian, you obtain a visa and you move to the US, you work, live, eat, play, attend worship service of your choice, you shop, recreate, build and income, buy a house, and even retire and live until the day you die or return to Canada… no one will stand in your way… Now, you decide you want to vote in a national election… you can if you become a US citizen… but thats the only way… you have to agree with, join and yes take an oath to the United States of America… you have to believe in the truths she espouses to become a citizen… IT’S NOT A QUESTION OF YOUR BEING WORTHY… It’s just a question of Do You Believe!

we just hope you become citizens of the catholic church and join us in the celebration of the vote…(Eucharist)…
 
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elgom:
While reading this thread I thought I was going to cry. My husband is not a Catholic and he attends Mass with me a few times a year. When he attends he knows he can not receive communion. This has always been a sore spot for him because he also knows that Catholics who are not in a “State of Grace” shouldn’t be receiving either. (I am not accusing anyone here, been there, done that, never going to do that again however.)He and I have had numerous discussions about this topic over the 24 years we have been married and he just feels plain insulted.

But I have told him that if we trully “love” someone then we wouldn’t want them to do anything that would put their mortal soul in danger. I told him if he believes Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and is willing to step out and delare that he believes and will follow all** of the church teachings** then he needs to go to RCIA. In RCIA he will learn and be catechised the way the Apostles required everyone to learn who wanted to be admitted to the Church and in particular the Eucharistic celebration.

We need to be very careful here because no matter what anyone says we are not in Communion with each other. For a protestant to receive communion is for him to “lie” as he is receiving it. He doesn’t believe or even desire to believe the teachings of the Church that Jesus Christ himself founded. He is a protestant which means “one who protests” the teachings of Jesus.

Because I really Love my husband and want to be with him in heaven someday I would never allow him to receive the Lord without him being in Communion with the Church he gave us.
When I say this I am not judging the worthiness or unworthiness of my husband’s soul. But because he has never had the opportunity for sacramental confession he may not even know the state of his soul. I don’t think we should be playing Russian Roulette here with others souls. We need to be very firm about this. It is very important. Our Lord loves all of these people, and it is our responsibility and we had better take it more seriously to protect these separated sheep from the serious sin of sacriledge.
St. Paul is very clear about eating and drinking of the body and blood of Jesus unworthily…all of our separated brothers and sisters should respect this believe of ours with “fear and trembling”.

Perhaps we need a link in here about Eucharistic Miracles. What is God telling us here!

When I go to other churches, i.e. a wedding or something and they invite everyone up to their communion …I never go or allow the children to go. We would be telling a lie. We don’t believe that Jesus is trully present in their Eucharist. We would also be saying that we don’t believe that he is present on our altar and we would be disrespecting him if we did receive. All of this takes great courage sometimes because people are always misunderstanding our actions and are mad at us. But that’s what Jesus told us would happen to us.

God bless everyone who reads this post and I pray that if you are Protestant you will respect our beliefs. We do not keep you from communion for any other reason than that we really love you. Please also respect our beliefs and realize that when we are present in your churches for celebrations and do not take communion we mean no insult and we ask only your respect even though you may not understand.
Click to expand...
Please remember salvation is for all. Jesus came to save all because he loves us. Only Christ knows the state of our souls. 👍
 
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