Not being able to take Communion is killing me

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TrueLight

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This is an exercise in patience, ain’t it?

I am dying to line up along with the rest of the faithful and receive the Eucharist, but obviously I can’t since I have not been received into the Church and I’m not sure when that will ever happen since I have not even begun an RCIA program.

So, I just kneel and pray and try to focus on the blessing, but it is killing me.

How have those of you who spent a year in RCIA dealt with that? Any advice?
 
I know how you feel even though I only have to wait for 3 months (because I studied theology as an atheist. weird, I know 🙂 ). I always feel as an outsider in that moment.

My advice would be to either take someone with you you know (gives confidence) and maybe get to talk to the other people attending so they know why you don’t line up. Thus it will feel much less awkward.

Also think of it as a special preparation for your baptism! Think of how special the Communion will be for you! People born into the church will never experience that 😉
 
ThomasJC said:
I know how you feel even though I only have to wait for 3 months (because I studied theology as an atheist. weird, I know 🙂 ). I always feel as an outsider in that moment.

My advice would be to either take someone with you you know (gives confidence) and maybe get to talk to the other people attending so they know why you don’t line up. Thus it will feel much less awkward.

Also think of it as a special preparation for your baptism! Think of how special the Communion will be for you! People born into the church will never experience that 😉
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Thanks!

You only had to do three months because you know theology?

How do they determine if you should be fast-tracked?

Also, do most churches only receive new converts around Easter?
 
After three years of studying the Catholic faith…I decided to convert. It was Easter of 2007. I immediately stopped attending my episcopal church and started attending Mass…one whole year before I was received into the Church.

My dear, this will make your Faith stronger because you will forever be able to remember when you couldn’t receive.
 
TrueLight said:
This is an exercise in patience, ain’t it?

I am dying to line up along with the rest of the faithful and receive the Eucharist, but obviously I can’t since I have not been received into the Church and I’m not sure when that will ever happen since I have not even begun an RCIA program.

So, I just kneel and pray and try to focus on the blessing, but it is killing me.

How have those of you who spent a year in RCIA dealt with that? Any advice?
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I know the feeling, it kept me out of the Church.
 
TrueLight said:
Thanks!

You only had to do three months because you know theology?

How do they determine if you should be fast-tracked?

Also, do most churches only receive new converts around Easter?
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The usual time to receive converts into the church is the Easter Vigil, after proper instruction, etc.

However, there are exceptions to every rule, especially in cases where a person may be near death.
 
TrueLight said:
This is an exercise in patience, ain’t it?

I am dying to line up along with the rest of the faithful and receive the Eucharist, but obviously I can’t since I have not been received into the Church and I’m not sure when that will ever happen since I have not even begun an RCIA program.

So, I just kneel and pray and try to focus on the blessing, but it is killing me.

How have those of you who spent a year in RCIA dealt with that? Any advice?
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I am a revert back to the Church and I had to abstain from communion because my husband and I had not been married in the Church. I did not have to wait as long as you but my priest said to make a spiritual communion with Christ until I could receive.
When we receive we kneel and talk to Him so I did the same when I could not receive. I also have had to abstain due to sin once in a while and I make a spiritual communion at these times too.

I know that it is not the same as receiving the Eucharist and His sanctifying grace but at least we can tell Him thank you for the actual graces He has given us to come to this point in our life!
 
TrueLight said:
This is an exercise in patience, ain’t it?

I am dying to line up along with the rest of the faithful and receive the Eucharist, but obviously I can’t since I have not been received into the Church and I’m not sure when that will ever happen since I have not even begun an RCIA program.

So, I just kneel and pray and try to focus on the blessing, but it is killing me.

How have those of you who spent a year in RCIA dealt with that? Any advice?
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Let me ask, do you have a great thirst in your soul for the Holy Eucharist? If you do, then perhaps it is because you are thirsting for Jesus. Good!!! Be patient in your soul and as for an increase in the hunger and thirst for the bread of life!!! And join RCIA with haste. I found that as I got closer yes it took a great deal of patience, and the Lord increased my hunger for the Eucharist, but oh oh oh how precious to receive when Easter Vigil 2008 came. It will be worth it for you as it was for me.
Are you view the communion table as a “club”? it is not one. Begin then to spend time before mass kneeling in prayer and meditate on Christ and His presence in the Holy Sacrament. And still join the next RCIA.
 
LauraDymphna said:
Let me ask, do you have a great thirst in your soul for the Holy Eucharist? If you do, then perhaps it is because you are thirsting for Jesus. Good!!! Be patient in your soul and as for an increase in the hunger and thirst for the bread of life!!! And join RCIA with haste. I found that as I got closer yes it took a great deal of patience, and the Lord increased my hunger for the Eucharist, but oh oh oh how precious to receive when Easter Vigil 2008 came. It will be worth it for you as it was for me.
Are you view the communion table as a “club”? it is not one. Begin then to spend time before mass kneeling in prayer and meditate on Christ and His presence in the Holy Sacrament. And still join the next RCIA.
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No,. I am not viewing it as a club LOL.

I just want to partake of everything fully.

I did like the church I visited today and they have the RCIA meeting schedule and phone number listed in the bulletin, so I will call the office, pronto tomorrow.
 
onmyknees said:
I am a revert back to the Church and I had to abstain from communion because my husband and I had not been married in the Church. I did not have to wait as long as you but my priest said to make a spiritual communion with Christ until I could receive.
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I don’t want to mislead. I have been exploring Catholicism for less than a month, and have attended about 8 masses. 🙂

I am very passionate about everything in my life, so it feels like forever.
 
There will also likely be times after when you cannot receive if you are a sinner like most of us are.

During this time and any other times you cannot receive the Blessed Sacrament make a spiritual act of communion.
 
TrueLight said:
This is an exercise in patience, ain’t it?

I am dying to line up along with the rest of the faithful and receive the Eucharist, but obviously I can’t since I have not been received into the Church and I’m not sure when that will ever happen since I have not even begun an RCIA program.

So, I just kneel and pray and try to focus on the blessing, but it is killing me.

How have those of you who spent a year in RCIA dealt with that? Any advice?
Click to expand...
I know what you mean. It can be tough at times. I’ve been attending my parish for over a year now and still can’t receive the Eucharist. But hopefully this Easter…! 👍

“…kneel and pray and try to focus on the blessing…” That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing.
 
Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.
 
Brendan_McCabe said:
Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen.
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That is beautiful. Thank you Brendan.
 
Here are some themes for meditation:
  • the world waited at least 3 millennium in the historical times waiting for the Salvation
  • until the 20th century people received their first communion at age 14 after the confirmation
  • until recently (Vatican II) most people received communion only once or twice a year, this was the norm
  • the waiting time increases the value of the fist communion.
 
When I converted, my confirmation got bumped from Easter all the way to September, and it wasn’t until nearly the end that I even knew why. It was horrible to wait. I was a daily Massgoer and still had to wait. But now, it means that I know and love the Eucharist like nothing else, and it sure is a good remedy for temptation! To think that I could risk my own access to Jesus through sin, after waiting and wanting for so long, it would just be ridiculous. One thing that helped me in the wait was when a supply priest gave a homily talking about how the Eucharist is a foreshadowing of the wedding supper of the lamb, and how the real fulfillment would come in heaven. It helped me to be reminded that everybody else was waiting, too.
 
My wife and I began attending Mass some time around June 2008…then we began RCIA together in August and were both Confirmed and received into full communion at the Easter Vigil in April 2009.

So for us, it was about ten months of Sunday Masses without being able to receive Christ in the Eucharist.

Like you, I longed for Christ. I understood why I was not able to receive, and agreed with the doctrine (and even defended it in conversation with ‘open communion’ Protestant family and friends)…but on some emotional level I hated sitting there in the pews while almost everybody else went up and received.

As others have pointed out, you can and should engage in a prayerful spiritual communion. I know this is a poor substitute for receiving Christ – body, blood, soul, and divinity – but it can still be very beneficial as you prepare to receive the Sacraments. Personally, my prayers during communion time helped strengthen my faith and my resolve to ‘go through with it’ no matter what my Protestant family and friends had to say :).

Each spiritual communion I made got me that much closer to a full, complete belief in the Real Presence, and made me that much more prepared to finally receive at the Easter Vigil.

I know it’s frustrating. Trust me, I’ve been there. The wait is worth it 🙂

God bless you!
 
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