Receiving Holy Communion in the STATE OF SIN

[leonardoquimson]

Hi! I just want to ask if it is wrong that we receive the Body of Christ even if we are in the state of sin? particularly if you commit masturbation? Some of my friends said that it is natural for men to commit masturbation. But I am still confused. Please help me. Thanks.

 

[fyrefly]

Hi Leonard, yes it is not right to receive communion in the state of serious sin. Masturbation is a serious sin, eventhough it is “natural” because it is a misuse of sexual pleasure—sexual pleasure is for married couples to share with each other. But that is a good question and hope this helps.

Confession and a good effort to change ( I guess you know…sorry if I am telling you something you know) will reconcile you with God, and you can receive Jesus in Communion.

 

[Nickkname]

Hi! I just want to ask if it is wrong that we receive the Body of Christ even if we are in the state of sin? particularly if you commit masturbation? Some of my friends said that it is natural for men to commit masturbation. But I am still confused. Please help me. Thanks.

Maturbation is a sin. Let me explain: The two ends of marriage are the pleasure of the spouses and the transmission of life. Sex is a marital act, and because it is a marital act it’s two ends are the pleasure of the spouses and the transmission of life. When sex or marriage is lacking one of the two ends, than it is sinful. Masturbation is a sin because it lacks the transmission of life.

The world dosen’t understand human sexuality, so it believes that masturbation is good. Because everywhere it is stated and heard that masturbation is natural for man, many people actually believe it is. But it’s not. Don’t let the world’s maxims confuse you; just stick with the Church’s teachings and you’ll be fine.

Receiving Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin is itself a mortal sin, the sin of sacrilege to be precise. The reason it is a mortal sin is because man murders Jesus when he received Him unworthily. You may receive the Lord in venial sin or in the state of grace, but not in mortal sin. Saint Paul spoke about this to the Church in Corith (1 Cor 11:23-29):

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

 

[leonardoquimson]

Maturbation is a sin. Let me explain: The two ends of marriage are the pleasure of the spouses and the transmission of life. Sex is a marital act, and because it is a marital act it’s two ends are the pleasure of the spouses and the transmission of life. When sex or marriage is lacking one of the two ends, than it is sinful. Masturbation is a sin because it lacks the transmission of life.

The world dosen’t understand human sexuality, so it believes that masturbation is good. Because everywhere it is stated and heard that masturbation is natural for man, many people actually believe it is. But it’s not. Don’t let the world’s maxims confuse you; just stick with the Church’s teachings and you’ll be fine.

Receiving Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin is itself a mortal sin, the sin of sacrilege to be precise. The reason it is a mortal sin is because man murders Jesus when he received Him unworthily. You may receive the Lord in venial sin or in the state of grace, but not in mortal sin. Saint Paul spoke about this to the Church in Corith (1 Cor 11:23-29):

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

Thanks a lot! But how I will I change this vice of mine? Even if I confessed already and promised to God that I will not do it anymore, still, after weeks of a month, I’m tempted again to do it. What do you think?

 

[LilyM]

Thanks a lot! But how I will I change this vice of mine? Even if I confessed already and promised to God that I will not do it anymore, still, after weeks of a month, I’m tempted again to do it. What do you think?

First - frequent prayer. Pray for the virtue of purity every single day without fail, pray about it several times a day, and not just when you’re tempted to sin either, although of course you will also pray at those times.

Combine your prayer, to make it more powerful, with fasting (either abstain from a particular food that you normally enjoy, skip a meal or abstain from some other unnecessary activity that you normally enjoy) and ‘almsgiving’ - either volunteer somewhere to help others or give a bit of money to a good cause.

Think of saints such as St Augustine, St Mary Magdalene or St Pelagia who successfully turned away from lives of sexual sin to become great saints - and pray to them especially for the grace to follow their example.

Second - frequent reception of the sacraments. Confess at least every two weeks (even if you have no mortal sins, you will certainly have some venial ones) and receive Communion as many days of the week as you can manage. These sacraments act as a preventative, and give you great graces to help avoid future sin.

Third, and very important - avoid, as much as humanly possible, any tv, music, movies or conversation, any internet content or writing, that is sexually suggestive in any way. If you can’t avoid it, at least pray before and/or afterwards to God to keep your mind and body pure and fit for His purposes. Remember that Jesus and all the saints have been tempted just as you are, and through God’s grace have managed not to fall into sin.

Finally - realise that holiness is a daily exercise and a daily effort. In other words, like anything worthwhile, sinlessness isn’t just going to magically happen for you overnight without you putting in any work.

Be prepared for the fact that, being human, you may well slip and fail. If you do, make a sincere Act of Perfect Contrition as soon as possible and get thee to the confessional as soon as you can afterwards.

Remember God doesn’t love you any the less for sometimes failing, and try to think of your failures as being just like the tumbles a child takes who is learning to walk or ride a bike, a necessary part of that learning.

This is all from someone who in the past has been very addicted to this particular sin and with God’s help and the above advice is no longer, so it is possible. God bless.

 

[Nickkname]

Thanks a lot! But how I will I change this vice of mine? Even if I confessed already and promised to God that I will not do it anymore, still, after weeks of a month, I’m tempted again to do it. What do you think?

You are putting too much trust in yourself, acting as if you have the power to overcome something yourself. You can’t. But with God, anything is possible. You have done 1/2 of your part already in overcoming sin, namely, confession and contrition; now you must do the other 1/2 of your part in overcoming sin: Unite yourself with Jesus. Your temptations are from the devil, who most surly wants you to fall back into sin and to despair because of your weaknesses and sinfulness, but never fear - unite yourself to Jesus.

By that I mean the following: Pray as much as possible, do penance, frequent the sacraments, and avoid occassions of sin.

Prayer is communion with God and with God anything is possible, even that which is impossible for man; commune with Jesus, thank Him for all the graces and trials He’s given, ask Him to give you Himself ever more, and ask for the intercession of Mary, the great Mother of God, and of all the angels and saints.

Penance is what keeps the body under control of the spirit, and it dosen’t have to be anything hard or big; it can be something small and ordinanry, such as not watching TV or visiting Jesus in the Tabernacle for ten minutes or even waiting a few minutes more to quench your thirst; offer your little sacrifices to God, uniting them with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass celebrated throughout the world, and in virtue of their union with Jesus’ Sacrifice the little sacrifices will beome big sacrifices.

Frequent reception of the sacraments means going to Confession and the Eucharist frequently, perhaps twice a week, perhaps even daily, whatever the Holy Spirit inspires you to do; by frequent reception of Confession and Holy Communion you will, in virtue of the fruits of the sacraments, destroy sin in your heart, become holy, that is, become like God; in the Holy Eucharist you will find the Friend of your heart, Jesus.

Avoiding occassions of sin means avoiding those things which tempt you to sin, such as TV shows, websites, places, people, and all things which will tempt you to commit the sin of lust and of masturbation. To avoid these things is a Christians duty because it is to avoid those things which hinder you from becoming like God and uniting yourself with Jesus in prayer and penance and the sacraments.

This all may seem overwhelming or confusing or too hard to accomplish, but it is not. First, just trust in God. Trust in Him completely. Trust in God, let Him take care of you, don’t think you can do anything apart from Him. He loves you and wants you to do well. A book that inspires trust in Jesus is the diary of Saint Faustina: saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS1.shtml

 

[japhy]

But how I will I change this vice of mine? Even if I confessed already and promised to God that I will not do it anymore, still, after weeks of a month, I’m tempted again to do it.

Avoid the occasion of the sin. If it’s pornography that leads you to it, delete whatever bookmarks you have, or stop visiting the web sites that link to it, or throw away the magazines or DVDs or whatever.

When you feel the urge to do it, don’t fight it helplessly, on your own… read Scripture, start praying, or sing a hymn (even quietly to yourself if need be).

Spend time with the Blessed Sacrament whenever you can, praying in the midst of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ for continued strength and resolve against the sin.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Hi! I just want to ask if it is wrong that we receive the Body of Christ even if we are in the state of sin? particularly if you commit masturbation? Some of my friends said that it is natural for men to commit masturbation. But I am still confused. Please help me. Thanks.

It is best to discuss this in the Sacrament of Confession. Because of force of habit or other factors, masturbation can be either a Venial sin or Mortal sin if it involves free will and/or pornography etc.

 

[hilde_the_dog]

If it is a habit realize that success at overcoming it will require effort diligence and will likely involve failure. But the effort will be worth it and pleasing to God.

 

[leonardoquimson]

Thank you everyone who gave me advices about my problem. I think it’s time for me to go to confession and ask God’s forgiveness. I am responsible for what I am doing and in everytime I commit sin, I already nailed Christ on the cross again and again. Thanks to all of you for this enlightenment.

 

[NTOT]

Hi! I just want to ask if it is wrong that we receive the Body of Christ even if we are in the state of sin?

This sin falls in the order of the Ten Commandments under the very first one. To eat or drink of Christ’s Body unworthily breaks this first and most important commandment. It is one of the most greivous offenses one can possibly make. It is a sin against the very Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of God. The very God who you are asking to help you overcome your addictions is last of Whom you should profane and desecrate by unworthy reception. This is so important that one should never, ever, no matter what the reason, or what anybody might think or believe about your intentions, receive Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin. In fact God will bless you profoundly for your humility if people tend to think ill of you for not receiving on a particular day. They need to remember there are many reasons for why people don’t go to Communion and it is not their place to judge. One may be in sin, one may have already receivied the maximum of twice that particular day, one may have not fasted the required time beforehand, etc., etc. Those who judge will be judged also.