Pet Peeve! Non-Catholics Whining about Catholic Closed Communion

[WhiteDove]

For the life of me, I don’t understand why some Protestants feel so insulted and left out by not being allowed to take Communion in a Catholic Church. What is it with this modern need to feel included in everything, even things you don’t agree with? Why do some Protestants feel they can march into a Catholic Church and go up for Communion, all the while having disdain for the Pope, the hierachy, tradition, doctrine and dogma.

It seems that they have the need to express their disagreement with everything Catholic by disrespectfully disregarding it’s precepts about the most holy aspect of the faith. If anyone tells them otherwise, they say that the Church is intolerant and not interested in Christian unity.

Anyways, I just felt like getting this off my chest.

 

[John_Higgins]

WhiteDove:

Why do some Protestants feel they can march into a Catholic Church and go up for Communion, all the while having disdain for the Pope, the hierachy, tradition, doctrine and dogma.

Good question. This might just be a wise remark, but maybe the answer is because some Catholics do too.

John

 

[Bud_Stewart]

Not all protestant churches have a history of “open communion”.

As evidence to support my statement please refer to the “Communion Tokens” that the Reformed, particularly Presbyterian, churches issued to members deemed worthy of participating in the church’s communion. John Calvin recommended the use of these tokens to ensure that only those found worthy to receive would be able to partake in communion. To qualify for a token, which was your ticket to participate in the ceremony, you had to attend classes. Only after you were determined worthy were you entitled to obtain a token. All of Protestant Western Europe and much of North America has at one time practiced this selective communion. The issuance of these tokens has been documented from 1560 to the mid-Twentieth Century.

 

[kaygee]

Sometimes, it’s confusion. At weddings, funerals, and in other contexts, non-Catholics are told by friends, even priests and religious that it’s OK, sometimes it can come as a shock to find out it’s not OK. And the Protestant is left with the impression that it’s based on the personal preference of the celebrant or his bishop.

 

[space_ghost]

WhiteDove:

For the life of me, I don’t understand why some Protestants feel so insulted and left out by not being allowed to take Communion in a Catholic Church. What is it with this modern need to feel included in everything, even things you don’t agree with? Why do some Protestants feel they can march into a Catholic Church and go up for Communion, all the while having disdain for the Pope, the hierachy, tradition, doctrine and dogma.

It seems that they have the need to express their disagreement with everything Catholic by disrespectfully disregarding it’s precepts about the most holy aspect of the faith. If anyone tells them otherwise, they say that the Church is intolerant and not interested in Christian unity.

Anyways, I just felt like getting this off my chest.

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

If you are Canadian, 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)…

 

[T.A.Stobie_SFO]

I think it comes down to a matter of belief.

Many protestants feel that communion is just a symbol for being in Jesus. If this was true, there would be no reason to deny communion to them.

The Catholic Church believes a lot more to the Eucharist. He (the Eucharist) is not just a symbol. For Catholics, it is the real presence of Jesus united with His Church in totally unity.

Thus to Catholics to deny the Eucharist to those who are not in full union with us is an act of love in preventing sacrilege against Jesus Himself.

Those Protestants who really get upset about it, usually do not understand why it is done.

 

[Sugabee43]

As a convert to the Catholic faith, the story of my wedding may lend a different view. I chose to become Catholic (and would have whether I’d become engaged or not) after becoming disheartened with my cradle denomination, the Episcopal church. I became engaged at 32. My father was an Episcopalian priest at the time, and very conservative. He believed wholeheartedly in the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus at the Eucharist, and believed the Episcopal church to be ‘part’ of the Catholic communion (along with the Orthodox churches). My fiance’ and I were committed to having Mass at our wedding celebration, and since my father would be in his clerics for the ceremony, our priest (rightfully so) felt he must deny my parents the sacrament. This was a very painful and embarrassing time for my parents, and me. I felt I couldn’t deny the Mass at my own wedding, and yet my parents were more devout than some of the Catholics that would be attending! We haven’t discussed the issue since that time, and I know we hurt them deeply, but in reality, they were not in communion with the teachings of the Catholic Church - even though they thought so! It’s a very touchy thing that needs to be done with love but must be enforced.

 

[space_ghost]

Sugabee43:

As a convert to the Catholic faith, the story of my wedding may lend a different view. I chose to become Catholic (and would have whether I’d become engaged or not) after becoming disheartened with my cradle denomination, the Episcopal church. I became engaged at 32. My father was an Episcopalian priest at the time, and very conservative. He believed wholeheartedly in the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus at the Eucharist, and believed the Episcopal church to be ‘part’ of the Catholic communion (along with the Orthodox churches). My fiance’ and I were committed to having Mass at our wedding celebration, and since my father would be in his clerics for the ceremony, our priest (rightfully so) felt he must deny my parents the sacrament. This was a very painful and embarrassing time for my parents, and me. I felt I couldn’t deny the Mass at my own wedding, and yet my parents were more devout than some of the Catholics that would be attending! We haven’t discussed the issue since that time, and I know we hurt them deeply, but in reality, they were not in communion with the teachings of the Catholic Church - even though they thought so! It’s a very touchy thing that needs to be done with love but must be enforced.

I wish to personally thank you for your story, and as you said that must have been a painful time for all… i admire your strength, courage and wisdom… post such as these give all stamina to carry on… believing!

May the love of God, the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ and the strength of the Holy Ghost be with you and your family…

 

[loyola_rambler]

Frankly, if the Kennedy’s of Hyannisport are allowed to go to Communion, I can’t for the life of me believe we’re keeping away Lutherans and Episcopalians

 

[Tanais]

I am as well aggravated by the constant complaining I hear about the exclusiveness of closed communion. the Eucharists is the sacrament of unity. By partaking of it you are proclaiming full agreement with Rome. It seems however our modern sensibilities tell us that we should all be united, even if it is only a superficial “oneness” which doesn’t exist but in name only. We talk of unity in spirit yet treat doctrines and such as non essential. The question is, what is essential? We essentially disagree on what the essentials are. Catholics mean by unity in a complete accordance with doctrines, i.e. truth.

 

[Curious]

lol…I must be your embodiment of the pet peeve then cause when I went to Christmas Eve mass this past year, I loved it and got all disgruntled because I wanted to participate by taking communion too. So I muttered about it a bit (to myself)…but do you know what really helped? The very nice bit of writing on the inside cover of the missal explaining in love about the Eucharist and why they didn’t want non-Catholic Christians partaking. I may not like it, I may not agree with it, but it mollified me. You sure don’t see many Protestant churches addressing their Catholic brethren and sistren in such a nice way (or any way at all) in any of THEIR books.

 

[Prometheum_x]

Another reason why some people get upset about closed communion, whether that of Catholics or other denominations, is that for them Communion is a sign of unity of faith. Since they don’t think that any one denomination is necessarily right, they don’t see adherence to any one denomination as being necessary either. Consequently, the primary question for them is whether people have faith in Jesus; if so, they should be able to express that unity by participating in it.

 

[Bushwhacker]

loyola rambler:

Frankly, if the Kennedy’s of Hyannisport are allowed to go to Communion, I can’t for the life of me believe we’re keeping away Lutherans and Episcopalians

Good point! But Kennedy, Kerry, Pelosi, et.al., have no business presenting themselves for communion, and no priest should administer it to them. These abuses will continue until the Pope and Bishops take action, not just words! I can conceive of no “pastoral considerations” that can justify murder, nor is it a case of “poorly formed consciences.” These people know EXACTLY what they are doing. They are openly defiant, and expect the Church to change its stance and condone their sin. Just my humble opinion…

 

[space_ghost]

Curious:

lol…I must be your embodiment of the pet peeve then cause when I went to Christmas Eve mass this past year, I loved it and got all disgruntled because I wanted to participate by taking communion too. So I muttered about it a bit (to myself)…but do you know what really helped? The very nice bit of writing on the inside cover of the missal explaining in love about the Eucharist and why they didn’t want non-Catholic Christians partaking. I may not like it, I may not agree with it, but it mollified me. You sure don’t see many Protestant churches addressing their Catholic brethren and sistren in such a nice way (or any way at all) in any of THEIR books.

Thanks for relating that… i have seen that on the inside cover of the last page and i have always wondered if anyone ever saw it…

Hopefully one day you will join us… Peace…

 

[theMutant]

T.A.Stobie:

I think it comes down to a matter of belief.

Many protestants feel that communion is just a symbol for being in Jesus. If this was true, there would be no reason to deny communion to them.

The Catholic Church believes a lot more to the Eucharist. He (the Eucharist) is not just a symbol. For Catholics, it is the real presence of Jesus united with His Church in totally unity.

Thus to Catholics to deny the Eucharist to those who are not in full union with us is an act of love in preventing sacrilege against Jesus Himself.

Those Protestants who really get upset about it, usually do not understand why it is done.

I think that this explanation fits most Protestants with whom I have discussed this matter. I once went with friends to a Promise Keepers convention. Knowing that I was Catholic, I believe that at least some of them were hoping that I would leave the Church when the time came for the altar call. They also had a “communion service” and the speaker went into a long explanation that it represented a common belief in Christ and a common belief in what we are called to do in the Last Supper (symbolically remember Him).

One man was truly taken aback by the fact that I did not partake of their communion. I tried to explain that my doing so would have been a form of lie because, while I share a belief in Christ with them, I do not necessarily believe the same things about Christ and what He did as they do. I also pointed out that I believe that the entire act of communion patterned after the Last Supper is something VERY different than what they believe and that sharing in their communion would have been a kind of testimony that I shared their belief about what communion is; which would also be a form of lie.

He just couldn’t understand this. I could tell that he was hurt and confused by what I said and that he really didn’t understand it.

 

[ATexasCatholic]

I had a priest who was from New Mexico come to my parish to do a retreat and said he freely gives the Eucharist to non-Catholics, because he was told (rumor) that the Pope John Paul II gave the Eucharist to Tony Blare (not Catholic) and his wife (Catholic) during a private mass. When he was pressed on the issue and could not say for sure that it happened or that it was even a consecrated host that was given to Blare. He said that he would continue even if his Bishop told him to stop. This example is what bugs me too high end. He knows better and yet does not care, at least for the Protestants one could possible say they do not know better for they are not believers in the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. I feel priest like him should be thrown out of the priesthood.

 

[Sugabee43]

space ghost:

I wish to personally thank you for your story, and as you said that must have been a painful time for all… i admire your strength, courage and wisdom… post such as these give all stamina to carry on… believing!

May the love of God, the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ and the strength of the Holy Ghost be with you and your family…

Thank you for encouraging me. My own computer is out of commission at this time, so it takes me a while to reply! Oh, the lengths we go to, to carry on a conversation!!!

 

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Curious:

lol…I must be your embodiment of the pet peeve then cause when I went to Christmas Eve mass this past year, I loved it and got all disgruntled because I wanted to participate by taking communion too.

Please, do you notice that you referred to Holy Communion as something to be “taken.” Real Catholics recognize it as something to be received. Perhaps a symbolic piece of bread could be “taken,” but the picture of the recipient actively taking the Body of the Lord is not a pretty one. It conveys an attitude of entitlement.

(Occasionally sophisticated, Catholics who wish to be considered on the cutting edge of things will also use that expression. Juvenile. )

Peace,

Anna

 

[Anna_Elizabeth]

WhiteDove:

For the life of me, I don’t understand why some Protestants feel so insulted and left out by not being allowed to take Communion in a Catholic Church.
.

Perhaps one reason is that you are referring to our reception of Holy Communion as something to be “taken.” Since that’s the way they look at the pieces of bread that they take, the whole thing being symbolic anyway, why should they be left out?

When we treat the Host as it should be treated others will begin to have a better understanding of what is going on. The thought of “taking” the Lord is offensive. :tsktsk:

Peace,

Anna

 

[Melonie]

For Protestants who realize what it truly means, that one is receiving the body, blood, soul, and divinity of the Christ – then it is hard to explain to them why they are denied the Holy Eucharist, since who on Earth has the power to deny anyone desirous the body and blood, the real presence, of Jesus?

If it is true that whoever eats of His flesh and drinks His blood has life in him, then the Church would appear to be denying these Protestants life.

I believe that it should be demonstrated first that the Protestant in question understands the true nature of the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist – that it is not “bread and grape juice, symbolic of our Lord’s sacrifice” but actually the Sacrifice. But perhaps it should be more readily available to the Protestant, sooner, after such a realization. After all, he eats and drinks judgment upon himself, who receives communion unworthily. Can the Church be faulted for the impropriety of a convert who doesn’t completely understand? But She certainly might be faulted for standing between the Lord and those who earnestly seek His True Church. They are like little children who wish to come unto Him. If a single soul is lost because he never tasted the flesh and blood of the Christ, not due to his own error, but to the prevention of the Church, then who must account for his loss?