Receiving Communion by non-practicing Catholic

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heather913

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Hello all, I know this has been addressed her before but my situation is a little different. I recently took my daughter’s ex-boyfriend to mass with us. He has been baptised Catholic but is not practicing and has not received First Communion or any other sacrament besides Baptism. He’s 15. He wants to know more about his faith and so I volunteered to take him to mass. My daughter told him before we went to communion to either stay seated or to receive only a blessing from the UM by placing his hand on his heart (something I don’t really like because it can be so confusing). Well he went up there and the mass was really not organized that day and the UM’s were all over the place. Myown daughter missed the Eucharist because the lines were not right. Anyway, the kid follwed my daughter and took the Blood of Christ but not the Body. He said later that he didn’t know what to do and that he was only following what my daughter did. I kinda feel responsible because I didn’t talk to him prior to going to mass, I made my daughter do it because I thought it would show him that she is very serious about her faith. Was this a serious failure on my part? I’m thinking yes and will confess it anyway. But more importantly was this some major violation for him even though it was chaotic and he was really confused? He did apologize to me later after we explained to him what he did. He told me he was sorry and he really wanted to know how to properly do things so he could continue to go to mass with us.
 
He received communion sacrilegiously, which is serious. Given the circumstances, his moral culpability might have been reduced. Nevertheless, had he remained seated during communion, rather than get into the communion line, this would have been prevented. This is why blessings shouldn’t occur during communion. Blessings happen at the end of Mass for everyone.

I can’t tell you how responsible you are, but you were the one who told him to get in line. That’s something you should take up with your confessor.

You said he apologized and felt bad? Perhaps this is the time for him to become a practicing Catholic and talk to a priest about being able to go to Confession and receive Communion.
 
I think you should just relax and not worry about this. You can discuss it with your priest if you feel the need, but no one did anything intentionally wrong in this case. God judges by the heart. Be at peace.
 
If he wants to get serious, help him contact a priest. The priest can answer his questions and help him take the next step.
 
Well, now he’s received first communion! 😉

Don’t worry about it, it wasn’t something that was intended. Its probably best to tell him not to approach anyone giving out communion.
 
Lutgardis said:
I think you should just relax and not worry about this. You can discuss it with your priest if you feel the need, but no one did anything intentionally wrong in this case. God judges by the heart. Be at peace.
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Man I couldn’t agree more.🙂
 
Certainly hindsight is 20/20 and the boy could have benefitted from some more explicit direction, but it sounds like things were a bit chaotic and he was genuinely confused. Presumably, this chaos was not forseen on your part, which would make it difficult for you to have advised him properly in advance.

You can certainly talk it over with your priest to give you better (name removed by moderator)ut than any of us can give you (which I would recommend regardless so that he can give you some guidance on how best to help the boy in general). But from what you have said, it sounds like an honest mistake.
 
heather913 said:
Hello all, …
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I’ve seen worse. At a funeral mass, a middle age woman [obviously not a Catholic] went up for communion with everyone else. When she reached the head of the line, she reached in the chalice and picked up a host with her own fingers.
 
I also say “take it easy”. It is not your fault. Those things happen and he is Catholic in the end of the day anyway. You or your daughter did nothing wrong. You need to confess it,but I think it is not a bad thing at all. And remember what the Gospel say about blessings. Those who said “peace be with you” and did not deserve the peace did not get it. It returned to the Apostles. So sleep well. God loves you and He know you did your best and that is all He ask us to try,to do our best.
 
I live in the South. Our funerals are almost always attended by Protestants (You can tell them by the way they try to ‘finish’ the Our Father). I am sure they are not destined to eternal damnation if they simply follow the cue. They just don’t receive the same graces - supposedly. Then again, it’s all up to God.
 
As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t sweat it. It’s easy for the mass to become chaotic. When he comes next time, you’ll give him more direction. I don’t see the point of going to confession for this mix up. If he had deliberately taken it even though he was given specific instructions in what to do, then that would be a different story. Even then that would have been his decision. It gets to a point, you guide and then let the person make their own decision. The most important thing is to foster his interest in the church. You can look into some youth groups and other programs that are directed towards encouraging young people’s Catholic faith. There are some great books out there that you could always buy for him. A great beginner is “Why do Catholic Genuflect” by Al Kresta.
 
Lutgardis said:
I think you should just relax and not worry about this. You can discuss it with your priest if you feel the need, but no one did anything intentionally wrong in this case. God judges by the heart. Be at peace.
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well stated. ditto
 
I agree with lutgardis be at peace, it wasn’t intended. But the communion lines should be kept for communion, i think that is the best way of reducing such incidents. Peace.
Ubenedictus
 
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