Oops, I reached for the host

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leamar3

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Hi all. I am newly Catholic as of this year, and I’ve only received communion 3 times. I’m trying to clean up my sloppy, sinful self, and haven’t gone to confession as much as I should, so that’s why I’ve only received 3 times in nearly 4 months. That being said, I’m not in a “routine” so to speak, and I still get nervous when I go up for communion.

Today, I was brave and went to confession and I was so ready to be able to receive Jesus, that in my excitement/nervousness, I forgot to let the Eucharistic minister place the host in my hand. He held it up and I reached for it when he was about halfway to my hands. Immediately, I was like “epic fail!”

What I’d like to know is how bad is what I did? I was feeling pretty good about going to confession and feeling determined to do better in my life and now I feel like I messed it up. :blush What do you think?
 
It sounds like you were filled with love for God and desired to receive Him in the sacrament. Thank God for giving you this love! Preserve this burning desire, but simply express it with your interior faculties, that’s where you are always free to reach out for Our Lord 😃 .

Don’t beat yourself up about this, you are learning and it doesn’t sound like you desecrated a host or anything serious. The Real Presence is so amazing especially when you first learn that it exists! It might be easier to let your hands rest at your sides and receive Our Lord on the tongue, just a thought though.

Also, while this wasn’t your question, be sure to inform the priest in confession that you have not been going to communion to make sure that you are correctly judging yourself as lacking the state of grace when you attend Mass. He will help you make sure you aren’t being too harsh in your judgement. If you’re trying to overcome sin, Holy Communion (always while in the State of Grace) is a big help you do not want to unfairly deprive yourself of.

Never lose your excitement at receiving communion!!
 
leamar3 said:
Hi all. I am newly Catholic as of this year, and I’ve only received communion 3 times. I’m trying to clean up my sloppy, sinful self, and haven’t gone to confession as much as I should, so that’s why I’ve only received 3 times in nearly 4 months. That being said, I’m not in a “routine” so to speak, and I still get nervous when I go up for communion.

Today, I was brave and went to confession and I was so ready to be able to receive Jesus, that in my excitement/nervousness, I forgot to let the Eucharistic minister place the host in my hand. He held it up and I reached for it when he was about halfway to my hands. Immediately, I was like “epic fail!”

What I’d like to know is how bad is what I did? I was feeling pretty good about going to confession and feeling determined to do better in my life and now I feel like I messed it up. :blush What do you think?
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It wasn’t bad at all. You did not commit any sins, you did not have an “epic fail”, you did not “mess it up”.

If you are so convinced you are committing major sins that you’ve been refraining from communion and are in constant need of confession, then I suggest you talk to your pastor for some spiritual direction because you may be tending towards scruples in your new-found faith.
 
If you had done it on purpose because you wanted to flout the Church’s rules about the reception of communion, it would be pretty bad.

If you had done it on purpose because you were just impatient, it would be a little bad.

However, since you did it by accident out of your fervor for the Eucharist, it was just a mistake. It fails on two of the three necessary qualifications of mortal sin: it was not (IMO, of course) grave matter, and it did not have full consent of the will. It is not possible to commit any mortal sin by accident.

So, try not to do it again, but don’t beat yourself up about it.

Welcome! Remember to feel the joy of the sacraments, and not just the holy fear. 🙂

–Jen
 
Your excitement got the best of you and you reached for the Host by mistake. You didn’t do anything intentionally wrong, don’t worry about it.
 
Thank you all so much for easing my mind! I also appreciate the concern that I’m dealing with scrupulosity. However, I really have been sinful. I have issues with something that has been stated explicitly by the Church as such. I do find that I question myself often as to whether or not I’ve been engaged in something sinful though. Such as my original reason for posting. I hope it’s just that because I’m newly Catholic and never really examined the way I live before, that I’m just doing a lot of questioning as I learn what’s OK and what’s not. Thanks again!
 
leamar3 said:
Thank you all so much for easing my mind! I also appreciate the concern that I’m dealing with scrupulosity. However, I really have been sinful. I have issues with something that has been stated explicitly by the Church as such. I do find that I question myself often as to whether or not I’ve been engaged in something sinful though. Such as my original reason for posting. I hope it’s just that because I’m newly Catholic and never really examined the way I live before, that I’m just doing a lot of questioning as I learn what’s OK and what’s not. Thanks again!
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People are somewhat quick to accuse others of scrupulosity when it may be that the person just has a lot of sins to overcome. If you find a Priest who is very solid in the confessional, he will let you know if you are starting to fall into scrupulosity.

Also, there is no need to wait around until you’ve sinned mortally in order to go to confession. Our priest says “Go before you need to go so that you never need to go.” You can confess venial sins, and say “for these and all of my sins, especially my past sin of ________, I am heartily sorry.” This will give you more grace to stay away from the sins of your past.

You’ll be a Saint in no time!
 
leamar3 said:
Thank you all so much for easing my mind! I also appreciate the concern that I’m dealing with scrupulosity. However, I really have been sinful. I have issues with something that has been stated explicitly by the Church as such. I do find that I question myself often as to whether or not I’ve been engaged in something sinful though. Such as my original reason for posting. I hope it’s just that because I’m newly Catholic and never really examined the way I live before, that I’m just doing a lot of questioning as I learn what’s OK and what’s not. Thanks again!
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You’re still developing your conscience. It’s once you start to have a lot of anxiety and start seeing sin where there is no sin that you should start to get help from a priest for scrupulosity. Converts & reverts are especially susceptible to scrupulosity, but from what I can tell, you aren’t scrupulous, you’re just learning. If you are ever unsure about whether something was a sin or not, just ask the priest in Confession and he will help you.
 
LordHaveMercy said:
People are somewhat quick to accuse others of scrupulosity
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It’s not an accusation. It’s a suggestion that the OP may need some outside, objective counsel from his pastor to help him properly form his conscience.
 
Accidents happen. But this is one of the reasons why I dislike the practice of communion in the hand. Kneeling and receiving on the tongue should be the norm.
 
thephilosopher6 said:
Accidents happen. But this is one of the reasons why I dislike the practice of communion in the hand. Kneeling and receiving on the tongue should be the norm.
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Kneeling and receiving on the tongue is the universal norm, and reception in the hand is by indult.

It also is a practice which existed in the Church for centuries, and according to Br. JR, was subsequently allowed within Franciscan communities. It is a privilege which the Church grants us; and one is free to not exercise the privilege.
 
Another rookie “mistake” is to say thank you instead of amen.

Either way, God is happy to have you.
 
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