Planning to sin - receive communion?

[slyboots1]

I would avoid communion if I was planning to sin even if I had been to confession. Still go to Mass though. Something about eating and drinking unworthily.

 

[FloridaCatholic]

I still don’t think drinking weekly is so terrible. Do you mean getting drunk or just going out for a few drinks?

 

[twf]

The definition of drunkenness, which the Church condemns as a grave sin, that I’ve seen, is to drink to the point that one can no longer discern right from wrong. Getting tipsy is not grave matter (unless you’re planning to drive, etc.).

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Do most people plan to commit mortal sins or do these actions just happen?

@hyacinth
No. People who take anything with any grain of seriousness, or have any desire for a relationship with God, or who respect themselves or others do not plan to sin. Period. That’s absurd.

We fall into sin. It’s a slip up; a mistake. It’s not supposed to be a planned, intentional event. You need a serious look in the mirror and conversation with a priest if you think it’s ok to plan a sin to commit.

 

[Edmundus1581]

JackMcCoy:

Do most people plan to commit mortal sins or do these actions just happen?

@hyacinth
No. People who take anything with any grain of seriousness, or have any desire for a relationship with God, or who respect themselves or others do not plan to sin. Period. That’s absurd.

We fall into sin. It’s a slip up; a mistake. It’s not supposed to be a planned, intentional event. You need a serious look in the mirror and conversation with a priest if you think it’s ok to plan a sin to commit.

You have taken the OP’s question in its worst possible light, but if you read it in a positive light you will see she is planning some enjoyment, not to commit a sin. The enjoyment she intends may be quite legitimate, a venial sin, or (very unlikely) a mortal sin.

Although the OPs words say they were planning to commit a sin, that is not what she actually meant.

Nor is it the case that good people only “fall into” sin. While that is what we struggle with mostly, sometimes it happens that a sin takes place over a longer period and with more deliberation. Consider a businessmen who is engaged in a contract which involves some deceit, or a wife who is in a circumstance where she is seeing too much of a man she is attracted to, or a priest who is overlooking a serious problem in his parish. Must all refrain from communion until they have rectified the situation?

We cannot say that “planning to sin” is necessarily worse than simply “falling”. It may or may not be, depending on the circumstances.

 

[Greenfields]

If you know drinking till you’re drunk is going to make you vulnerable to mortal sin then that’s a great reason to limit it and keep your wits about you .

 

[Gertabelle]

Tis_Bearself:

Also, I’m not sure that getting drunk at a party constitutes a mortal sin. I guess it depends on how drunk you get and whether you do something else sinful when drunk, like drive drunk or commit illicit acts with a Chippendales dancer.

So just getting drunk is not a sin in itself?

St Thomas Aquinas said getting drunk is a mortal sin.
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3150.htm

By getting drunk, one is giving up one’s reason and free will to the effects of alcohol. I’m not sure how that could be seen as anything less than at least a venial sin.

St Paul was definitely against drunkenness, even placing it in direct contrast to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5
19 It is easy to see what effects proceed from corrupt nature; they are such things as adultery, impurity, incontinence, luxury, 20 idolatry, witchcraft, feuds, quarrels, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, dissensions, factions, 21 spite, murder, drunkenness, and debauchery. I warn you, as I have warned you before, that those who live in such a way will not inherit God’s kingdom**. 22** Whereas the spirit yields a harvest of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, forbearance, 23 gentleness, faith, courtesy, temperateness, purity. No law can touch lives such as these; 24 those who belong to Christ have crucified nature, with all its passions, all its impulses. 25 Since we live by the spirit, let the spirit be our rule of life; 26 we must not indulge vain ambitions, envying one another and provoking one another to envy.

 

[kgmlg]

This is where CAF confuses me a bit. Back in the day when I was being taught catechesis, yes, almost everything we do is a sin (I think the nuns in my school were a fan of Pet Shop Boys LOL), we think unkindly…yep sin, we eat when we are not hungry…yep sin, and so on and so forth. Very discouraging.

However, what I was taught was that mortal sin, was quite difficult to do (especially for us seven year olds being taught this ). You had to reeeeaaaalllllyyyyyyy hurt somebody for it to be mortal.

So every time I see “I committed a mortal sin because……”, I got drunk, I copied in school, accidentally saw porn, gossiped, lied to, etc. etc. etc. just kinda throws me off. Getting drunk, for me, is in no way close to murder for example…unless you drive drunk.

And yes, I know the “intention” to get drunk is a sin…not saying it isn’t, but mortal, I doubt.

Picture this scenario (which has happened to me a few times). You get a call from a friend who is “destroyed” wife left him for another man, or worst yet, another woman. Got kicked out of the house…life is so bad, the call is about “please accompany me, I am getting absolutely smashed so I can forget life for a bit”.

Granting a good Christian would preach the holy gospel to somebody in this situation….he wont listen to you by the way, not in this state. So I go and accompany him, maybe even get a little tipsy in the process. Make sure he gets home alright….maybe even offer shelter for the night….but I will not stop him if he believes he needs this “forgetting for a bit”. And nope….I do not believe this is a mortal sin, what’s more…I will keep accompanying anybody in this situation. If I cannot stop them, then I will make sure they are alright.

(apologies for the long post…guess I was in a writing mood today )

 

[SeriousQuestion]

I would be wary of making mortal sin some sort of impossible thing to do.

 

[kgmlg]

No, impossible to do no. But not easy either, for (hopefully) most of us Christians anyway (thank the Lord God in heaven!). Maybe adultery is the “easiest” mortal sin to commit? In my list of absolutely terrible things to do anyway….

Ill just make a small edit here. I have stopped receiving holy communion several times in my life prior to going to confession, you know, just in case one of my sins was mortal. And each and every time I have confessed, I have been told none of the sins I had committed which I thought were heinous was actually mortal. (Yes, going out to get drunk on purpose included. So maybe each confessor has their own criteria?)

 

[LaughingBoy1503]

So just getting drunk is not a sin in itself?

Kinda buzzed at a celebration is not a sin so long as one still can think reasonably and not start doing things they would not normally do, like sin. I have seen a priest drink maybe 3 or 4 beers at a party and be obviously more “happy” because of it lol. However drunk is drunk and it is grave matter whether it is only done once a year or every day of the year. There is no such thing as “Well, I only get drunk maybe once a year and its at a party so I do not think it counts” although I think this way of thinking is quite common. It is not correct however.

Getting drunk is not necessarily always “Mortal sin” because all the conditions may not be met to constitute a mortal sin. Same with every other sin that is grave matter. However getting drunk is ALWAYS grave matter and if done intentionally knowing that it is grave matter then yes, it becomes a mortal sin.

I am not “Anti alcohol” either. Nobody loves a cold beer more than me. I would drink it all day if it would not get me drunk, thus causing me to sin gravely lol. True story.

 

[MaryT777]

I personally believe you already know the answer to this. If you have some sort of alcohol addiction your culpability may be diminished; keep in mind the three conditions for mortal sin.

 

[Ryan1]

It could be a near occasion of sin, couldn’t it? Getting “tipsy?”

 

[lilypadrees]

My advice would be to refrain from going to the event where you’re planning on sinning.

And if you’re planning on sinning mortally, don’t receive Holy Communion.

 

[Ryan1]

Yes, drunkenness is always a grave sin.

 

[Brendan_64]

So just getting drunk is not a sin in itself?

I would think that intentionally getting drunk to the point of losing proper control over words, actions, or physical behaviour could well be gravely sinful. Unintentionally having one too many at a meal with friends etc is, in my opinion, probably a venial sin.

 

[Ardent_Fire]

I would think taking communion even though you plan on committing mortal sin, or planning to commit the mortal sin with the idea that you can just confess it is the sin of presumption of God’s mercy.

If you’re really serious about not committing mortal sin, you don’t just “plan” on doing it. You try to avoid it at all costs.

I’m actually more concerned about what may go on at the bachelorette party. Going out for some drinks with friends is fine as long as you’re responsible and use moderation. But generally at bachelorette parties everyone is encouraged to get plastered drunk and usually the entertainment is pretty raunchy.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I didn’t say it was terrible. I gave my personal opinion. YMMV.

I have friends who drink weekly. They have a social and life environment that allows it (no kids or the kids are grown ). I personally wouldn’t want to drink as much as they do, so I don’t. It wouldn’t be good for my physical or mental health to do that. I let others make their own decisions. If you’re cool with your drinking then you shouldn’t care what anyone else says about it (unless it’s your spouse or your parent or your best friend expressing concern for you personally). I know I don’t care what people say about the drinking I do.

 

[Gertabelle]

If you have tentative plans to sin mortally—for example, you’re going to a bachelorette party and wanting to get drunk, even though you might not get drunk in the end—should you abstain from communion? In other words, is it a mortal sin to receive communion if you have not yet committed a mortal sin but are planning on it?

To get back to the original premise of the OP, let’s take the drunkenness question – it drunkenness a sin or not? – out of the situation and replace it with some other sin of grave matter.

“If you have tentative plans to sin mortally—for example, you’re going to meet with your boyfriend and wanting to finally have sex with him that night, even if you end up not having sex—should you abstain from communion if you have not yet committed a mortal sin but are planning on it?”

If someone is planning on committing a mortal sin – grave matter, full knowledge, and full consent – they absolutely should refrain, unless they are receiving Our Lord in the hopes of strengthening their virtue so they turn away from their intentions.

 

[TheLittleLady]

We are so blessed to have a quick reference like the current Catechism!!

CCC 2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess : the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air.