Question about the Eucharist

[Irish_Eyes_826]

I’m a bit confused about the Eucharist. I believe it is the greatest gift Christ gave us, but I feel like the Church almost uses as something to hold over our heads. Jesus wants everyone to come to him, just as we are, even with all our sins and burdens, so that we can eventually become more like Him. But the Church tells us to we can’t receive Him unless we are in a state of grace. Wouldn’t receiving Christ in our sinful state help us to overcome sin. I believe going to confession is important, but nothing is quite as powerful as Christ himself.

 

[LaFleurDeLis]

I’m a bit confused about the Eucharist. I believe it is the greatest gift Christ gave us, but I feel like the Church almost uses as something to hold over our heads. Jesus wants everyone to come to him, just as we are, even with all our sins and burdens, so that we can eventually become more like Him. But the Church tells us to we can’t receive Him unless we are in a state of grace. Wouldn’t receiving Christ in our sinful state help us to overcome sin. I believe going to confession is important, but nothing is quite as powerful as Christ himself.

This is true, but wouldn’t you want to be in God’s grace when you recieve the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus?

 

[Irish_Eyes_826]

Of course, but confession is not always available to me. Why can’t I receive Christ in order to sustain me until I am able to go to confession?

 

[Spirithound]

I’m a bit confused about the Eucharist. I believe it is the greatest gift Christ gave us, but I feel like the Church almost uses as something to hold over our heads. Jesus wants everyone to come to him, just as we are, even with all our sins and burdens, so that we can eventually become more like Him. But the Church tells us to we can’t receive Him unless we are in a state of grace. Wouldn’t receiving Christ in our sinful state help us to overcome sin. I believe going to confession is important, but nothing is quite as powerful as Christ himself.

When you make a sacramental confession, you ARE speaking to Christ Himself!

St. Paul tells us not to consume the Body and Blood unworthily. This means we must be in a state of grace.

 

[Irish_Eyes_826]

But aren’t we always unworthy? We say it every mass

 

[ConstantineTG]

Communion, the very meaning of the word, means becoming one with Christ. We become a part of His body. Would Christ have any part of his body as sinful? Do we dare taint Christ?

That is why we need to be in a state of grace. Because to become part of the one body of Christ, we must be “prefect as the Father in heaven is perfect”.

 

[JRKH]

I’m a bit confused about the Eucharist. I believe it is the greatest gift Christ gave us, but I feel like the Church almost uses as something to hold over our heads. Jesus wants everyone to come to him, just as we are, even with all our sins and burdens, so that we can eventually become more like Him. But the Church tells us to we can’t receive Him unless we are in a state of grace. Wouldn’t receiving Christ in our sinful state help us to overcome sin. I believe going to confession is important, but nothing is quite as powerful as Christ himself.

At the beginning of every mass is the confetior and general absolution. This means that, for catholics in good standing, any venial sins are forgiven and you are quite worthy to receive. Therefore, unless you have a mortal sin on your soul, you aren’t receiving in a sinful state.
So the trick is to NOT sin and if you do sin make sure they are NOT mortal sins.

Peace
James

 

[LaSainte]

Communion, the very meaning of the word, means becoming one with Christ. We become a part of His body. Would Christ have any part of his body as sinful? Do we dare taint Christ?

That is why we need to be in a state of grace. Because to become part of the one body of Christ, we must be “prefect as the Father in heaven is perfect”.

You speak as if it would be possible to taint Christ.

 

[puzzleannie]

I. Jesus wants everyone to come to him, just as we are, even with all our sins and burdens, so that we can eventually become more like Him. But the Church tells us to we can’t receive Him unless we are in a state of grace.

no, Jesus wants us to come to him in a state of grace which is why when he healed he began by first forgiving sin. The Church requires us to be in a state of grace to receive communion because Christ requires it. We do not come to him soiled in order to remain in his presence in our tattered condition, but so that he may return us to the pristine state. Recall the parable of the wedding feast in Luke’s gospel, and those who are not admitted because they are not wearing wedding garments.

 

[ConstantineTG]

You speak as if it would be possible to taint Christ.

No, but that fact that we’re attempting to is sin.

 

[Tiberius1701]

no, Jesus wants us to come to him in a state of grace which is why when he healed he began by first forgiving sin. The Church requires us to be in a state of grace to receive communion because Christ requires it. We do not come to him soiled in order to remain in his presence in our tattered condition, but so that he may return us to the pristine state. Recall the parable of the wedding feast in Luke’s gospel, and those who are not admitted because they are not wearing wedding garments.

puzzleannie is right. Look at the end of the parable in Matthew 22:8-14.
"Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’For many are called, but few are chosen.’”
Even though the king had invited everyone, the man who entered without exchanging his filthy clothes for clean wedding clothes was cast out. As Paul says, “Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (I Cor. 11:28-30).

This is not something the Church invented to twist Christ’s welcoming nature into something unwelcoming. This is exactly as Christ explains it to us, both in His own words and through Paul’s. The Church merely tells us that same message out of love for us, because, like Christ, His Bride does not want any of us to be weak, will, or dead because of our disregard for the warnings of Christ on this matter.

 

[Barbkw]

But the Church tells us to we can’t receive Him unless we are in a state of grace.

The Church uses Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition established by the Apostles.

St. Paul in particular told this to Christ’s Church at Corinth; that they must be free of sin prior to receiving Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

1 Corinthians 11:27

Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.

Hebrews 10:29

How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

 

[ConstantineTG]

You speak as if it would be possible to taint Christ.

Let me just add to what I said. If I said, “Christ cannot be tainted,” which is a very true statement, then naturally the response would be, “so it doesn’t matter if I receive Communion even in a state of mortal sin because Christ cannot be tainted.” Thats besides the point. The fact that we attempt to do so is what is sin. Why did God command that we do not take his name in vain? In the past, people believed that you can command the false gods if you command them by their name. Can we command the one, true and living God? Of course not! But the fact that we try to do it is wrong.

 

[lizaanne]

This may be extremely helpful in understanding the need for Sacramental Confession:
Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned

~Liza

 

[bethanysamuel]

I didn’t receive the Eucharist last night because even though i hadn’t done anything mortal, i had mortal thoughts[anger] and did not feel in the right condition the receive. I cried nearly the whole way through Mass because i felt disconnected from God and that’s the worst feeling in the world for me. I had also been feeling despair a lot which is a sin.

I want to get back to God but don’t know how. I suffer from depression and control it to the best of my ability but sometimes it’s just too much.

I’m still praying but if i go to Confession i’m scared the priest will tell me i’m being scrupulous as it’s only a week since my last Confession.

Any advice? Thanks

 

[JRKH]

I didn’t receive the Eucharist last night because even though i hadn’t done anything mortal, i had mortal thoughts[anger] and did not feel in the right condition the receive. I cried nearly the whole way through Mass because i felt disconnected from God and that’s the worst feeling in the world for me. I had also been feeling despair a lot which is a sin.

I want to get back to God but don’t know how. I suffer from depression and control it to the best of my ability but sometimes it’s just too much.

I’m still praying but if i go to Confession i’m scared the priest will tell me i’m being scrupulous as it’s only a week since my last Confession.

Any advice? Thanks

BE not afraid!!
Go to confession anyway. If your confessor DOES tell you that you are being too scrupulous, he will be doing so for your advantage and not as a put down.
After all, if you have a councilor or psychologist that you see and they told you that you were being scupulous, it would be in order to try and help you work through it. Right?
The priest will likewise try to see your place, offer advice, and bring you peace through absolution.

Peace
James

 

[Barbkw]

I didn’t receive the Eucharist last night because even though i hadn’t done anything mortal, i had mortal thoughts[anger] and did not feel in the right condition the receive.

An angry thought is not a mortal sin. At the most, if it met all three conditions, it may be a venial sin.

At Mass, reciting the Confiteor prayer removes venial sins.

You shouldn’t be putting yourself through this guilt process or excluding yourself from the Eucharist.

 

[bethanysamuel]

Thanks for the advice, yeah i guess the priest would only have my best interests at heart, and maybe i wasn’t in mortal sin i just didn’t feel in a state of grace; i didn’t feel able to receive the Lord as i was[and still am] so angry with him, even though i don’t know whether he has possibly arranged my current situation as a chance for growth as it’s a real test.

I think i will go to Confession and confess my anger and despair and current lack of trust in God. I hate this feeling because my faith means absolutely everything to me.

Thanks for the kind replies.

 

[puzzleannie]

Of course, but confession is not always available to me. Why can’t I receive Christ in order to sustain me until I am able to go to confession?

you can get to church for Mass but not for confession?
the obvious solution is to rely on the grace of confession to overcome whatever sin is preventing you from receiving the Eucharist, and reorder your priorities so you can get there. Notice how your complaint has moved from a general one as in your IOP, to the specific “my sin is keeping me away from communion”.

The fact remains Jesus never tells anyone come as you are, he tells them over and over repentance, forgiveness and conversion are necessary to enter into union with him.

 

[Spirithound]

I didn’t receive the Eucharist last night because even though i hadn’t done anything mortal, i had mortal thoughts[anger] and did not feel in the right condition the receive. I cried nearly the whole way through Mass because i felt disconnected from God and that’s the worst feeling in the world for me. I had also been feeling despair a lot which is a sin.

I want to get back to God but don’t know how. I suffer from depression and control it to the best of my ability but sometimes it’s just too much.

I’m still praying but if i go to Confession i’m scared the priest will tell me i’m being scrupulous as it’s only a week since my last Confession.

Any advice? Thanks

Dear Sister, you probably are being scrupulous. Please do not be afraid of your condition. Once a condition has been identified, it can be treated. Have you seen the doctor about your depression? God bless you