Persons not receiving Eucharist at Mass

[Phemie]

I thought about this topic yesterday and today when the parents of the baby who was baptized this morning attended both Masses.

Dad & godfather are Catholic, Mom & the Christian witness aren’t. Dad didn’t receive either yesterday or today and godfather didn’t receive today (he wasn’t there yesterday). It was hard to miss since they were in the first pew and folks were waiting for them to go in order to follow.

I don’t know whether it was out of indifference or out of a genuine feeling that they weren’t in a state of grace to do so but, while saddened that these men are never seen in Church, I was glad that they didn’t receive.

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

I never intended to make a judgement by asking another question. I can see how it could be misinterpreted. I want to know the efficacy of the Mass and Eucharist on not receiving communion for the stated reasons. This respects St Paul’s admonition not to receive the sacrament unworthily. There are plenty of criticisms of Catholic politicans who do receive communion because of their political stances contrary to Catholic doctrine. The point of my question is the conversion of heart to eventually receive the Eucharist after discernment. Can spiritual communion at Mass help like sitting before the Tabernacle and Blessed Sacrament of Adoration? Maybe my question implies a spiritual radiation of grace.

The reason it was misinterpreted was because of the way you asked the question.

[bold emphasis added]

What happens to persons attending Mass who do not receive the Eucharist for whatever reasons ie. spiritual communion only, discerning conversion, scrupulousity about confession, member of other Christian congregations, ignorance, lukewarmness, obliviousness, dutiful indifference, young children etc. Is grace operative on their minds, hearts and bodies?

Also, I do not see how asking the question can avoid any judgments so I do not ask the question.

Again, it is none of my business.

 

[RoyNeary2001]

The reason it was misinterpreted was because of the way you asked the question.

.

Does the Mass have any effect on persons who do not receive Communion?

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Does the Mass have any effect on persons who do not receive Communion?

Yes.

Another way you could phrase this question would be, “Does prayer have any effect on persons when that prayer is not a Mass?”

The answer there would be yes also.

Otherwise any prayer without the reception of the Eucharist would be useless.

 

[OriginalJS]

I feel that the most precious thing that was lost when the kneeling rail was removed was Reverence for the Holy Eucharist. This then leads (as in my former church) to people of all ages coming to Mass wearing jeans, t-shirts with slogans, shorts, people chattering away in the pews, and a generalized lack of belief that they are in the True Presence.

I agree with this. Too much of the solemnity has been taken away to suit me. I am not making an argument that the efficacy of communion has been lessened.

 

[Mickey_Finn]

Does the Mass have any effect on persons who do not receive Communion?

This is more like it. Clean and to the point as all questions should be.
Speaking for myself. I feel that I benefit from attending mass even though I don’t recieve holy communion.

 

[Cathryn]

I benefit when I participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass even when I do not receive Holy Communion. Just this last Thursday, I forgot and drank some juice before going to Mass. I live within 5 min of the Church and weekday Mass is much shorter than Sunday Mass. I realized I could not recieve Holy Communion and would have to make a Spiritual Communion instead. I still participated in the Sacrifice of the Mass however, and received Graces from doing so. I was still able to offer myself with the priest to God the Father. If I had just stayed home I would not have benefited in this way. The effect I got from that Mass was a closeness to God, even though I did not receive Jesus Christ’s Body and Blood.

 

[tinalewis]

I benefit when I participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass even when I do not receive Holy Communion. I still participated in the Sacrifice of the Mass however, and received Graces from doing so. I was still able to offer myself with the priest to God the Father. If I had just stayed home I would not have benefited in this way. The effect I got from that Mass was a closeness to God, even though I did not receive Jesus Christ’s Body and Blood.

Amen to this!

 

[ewahawaii]

Aloha!

I joined yesterday mostly because of the many interesting topics here. I decided post my first (name removed by moderator)ut in this thread.

My nephew and niece were lamenting about not being able to receive Holy Communion. They live with their respective girlfriend/boyfriend and they’re not married (yet). And yes they have children out of wedlock.

My dad said that in spite of this, they can STILL receive the Eucharist. Namely because:
a) The acknowledge what they’re doing is wrong.
b) When they do attend Sunday Mass, it includes two opportunities for us to repent of our sins. We say, “I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault…” Also, “Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but say the word and I shall be healed”,

Dad feels that God will forgive our sins right there. Then we can receive the Body of Christ. My feeling is that we must go to Confession first, and be absolved from our sins especially mortal sins. Hmmmm:

Again, looking forward to learning more about the catholic faith.

 

[JimG]

Don’t know how old you are but “not receiving” communion use to be the norm. I was an altar boy in the 1960’s and if memory services me correctly about half, or more, of the people in the pews did NOT go up for communion. Standing there with the priest, I was able to observe that pretty clearly.

Not only did less people go to communion but the confession lines were normally much longer back then as well. So let’s look at what we got … before people went to confession MORE and received communion LESS while today people receive communion MORE but go to confession LESS.

Unless human nature has become a lot less sinful, this implies to me that either people before were too scrupulous or people today are not scrupulous enough or perhaps a combination of the two. What do others think?

Yes, that was my recollection as well. Another thing was that, at communion time, the ushers did not bring communicants out row by row. (In my view, this tends to put a little pressure on those who are not going to receive.) People simply got up and went to communion if they wanted to, or stayed in place if they didn’t.

Attending Mass every Sunday is an obligation. Receiving communion every Sunday is not.

Attending Mass is beneficial to us, whether we receive communion or not.

 

[Beachcomber]

Mass sure is beneficial even without receiving communion. I was away from the church about 30 years and when I began to think about returning, I decided to see how I felt attending Mass.

So I sat near the back, watched, and prayed, but I didn’t receive Communion. I hadn’t gone to confession, of course, and also I wasn’t sure about returning to the Church. But, it was great. Over time, I grew to really miss receiving Communion and I rekindled my love of the Eucharist and finally went to confession and returned to the Church.

God works in all sorts of ways to bring us back to Him.

 

[benedictgal]

Aloha!

I joined yesterday mostly because of the many interesting topics here. I decided post my first (name removed by moderator)ut in this thread.

My nephew and niece were lamenting about not being able to receive Holy Communion. They live with their respective girlfriend/boyfriend and they’re not married (yet). And yes they have children out of wedlock.

My dad said that in spite of this, they can STILL receive the Eucharist. Namely because:
a) The acknowledge what they’re doing is wrong.
b) When they do attend Sunday Mass, it includes two opportunities for us to repent of our sins. We say, “I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault…” Also, “Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but say the word and I shall be healed”,

Dad feels that God will forgive our sins right there. Then we can receive the Body of Christ. My feeling is that we must go to Confession first, and be absolved from our sins especially mortal sins. Hmmmm:

Again, looking forward to learning more about the catholic faith.

Welome to the forums!

With all due respect, I believe that your dad’s line of thinking is wrong. What he is suggesting and supporting is making a bad situation even worse because he is compounding another mortal sin on top of another and encouraging them to, as I see it, unworthily consume the Body of Christ and bring judgment upon themselves.

The Penitential Rite is not meant to substitute confesssion of mortal sins, which, unfortunately, is what your relatives are engaging in because they are living in a manner that violates the commandments and the precepts of the Church.

In order for your relatives to receive Holy Communion they need to go to Confession. But, even before that, they need to resolve their particular situations. This means that they either need to get married or separate. They also need to sit down and have a long talk with the priest. Their present situation does not absolve them from their obligation to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. However, assisting at Mass does not give anyone the right to receive Holy Communion. My late, beloved Grandmother, lived in an invalid marriage with my step-grandfather for about 30-40 years and could not receive Holy Communion. However, she assisted at Mass every Sunday and raised my dad to be a practicing Catholic. In fact, she taught me how to love the Mass and to have a special regard for the Paschal Triduum. It was not until I graduated from Catholic school (8th grade) that she was finally able to receive Holy Communion because her annulment came through and her marriage was convalidated.

What complicates the situation is that there are children involved. If the parents are not living up to the norms of the Faith, how can they expect to be good examples to the children they are rearing? Are these children even baptized?

I do not mean to sound rude, but, these are the facts. The truth of the matter is that sacramental Confession is needed, but, along with that, the living arrangments need to be settled. They need to have a very long and serious talk with a priest.

 

[ewahawaii]

Welome to the forums!

Thank you!

QUOTE=benedictgal;5378735In order for your relatives to receive Holy Communion they need to go to Confession. But, even before that, they need to resolve their particular situations. This means that they either need to get married or separate. They also need to sit down and have a long talk with the priest. Their present situation does not absolve them from their obligation to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

I definitely agree!! I’m gonna make the effort to have my dad talk to the priest.

QUOTE=benedictgal;5378735What complicates the situation is that there are children involved. If the parents are not living up to the norms of the Faith, how can they expect to be good examples to the children they are rearing? Are these children even baptized?

Yes all the children are baptized. Our family continues to pray that they will get married soon.

QUOTE=benedictgal;5378735I do not mean to sound rude, but, these are the facts. The truth of the matter is that sacramental Confession is needed, but, along with that, the living arrangments need to be settled. They need to have a very long and serious talk with a priest.

Nope. You’re not being rude at all. I thank you again for your response!!

 

[Sir_Knight]

You may want to share this with your father …

On November 14, 1996, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops approved the following guidelines on the reception of communion. The guidelines seek to remind all those who may attend Catholic liturgies of the present discipline of the Church with regard to the sharing of Eucharistic communion:We fully participate in the celebration of the Eucharist when we receive Holy Communion. We are encouraged to receive Communion devoutly and frequently. In order to be properly disposed to receive Communion, participants should not be conscious of grave sin and normally should have fasted for one hour. A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord without prior sacramental confession except for a grave reason where there is no opportunity for confession. In this case, the person is to be mindful of the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, including the intention of confessing as soon as possible (canon 916). A frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is encouraged for all.