Receiving the Eucharist while extremely late for Mass

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blaskoman

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I was exceeding late for daily Mass today. I arrived about 18 minutes into the typical 30 minute Mass. I prayed and participated for about 5 minutes prior to the distribution of the Eucharist. Before arriving I felt that I shouldnt receive given my tardiness. However, I felt the urging to receive when distribution began, so I entered the line and received. Was this wrong on my part? (I had not anticipated traffic would be as bad as it turned out…even if traffic wasnt as bad, I still would have been about 10 minutes late)
 
I had the same thing happen to me on Wednesday. It took me 20 minutes to go 2 miles. I arrived during the homily. I figured God was happier to see me late than not at all.

I think that technically you could walk in during the distribution of communion and still receive if one was in a state of grace.

For what it’s worth - I received, as well.
 
there is no requirement that one attend Mass on a weekday, so what time you arrived has no bearing, and you may receive on a weekday even outside Mass, so that also has no bearing. You may receive on Sunday outside Mass for that matter, as long as you fulfill your Mass obligation some time during the day.
 
no, i do not think it is wrong to receive communion even if you are extremely late. However, it is a sin to intentionally rock up late for mass. I say late meaning - past the gospel/readings. well…thats my limit. but i agree with the post above - God is happy to see you, better late than not at all.
 
blaskoman said:
I was exceeding late for daily Mass today. I arrived about 18 minutes into the typical 30 minute Mass. I prayed and participated for about 5 minutes prior to the distribution of the Eucharist. Before arriving I felt that I shouldnt receive given my tardiness. However, I felt the urging to receive when distribution began, so I entered the line and received. Was this wrong on my part? (I had not anticipated traffic would be as bad as it turned out…even if traffic wasnt as bad, I still would have been about 10 minutes late)
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No, you made an honest attempt to get tehre at time, but outside reasons prevented it. You are just fine.
 
Somewhere along the way, Fr. Brendan (in his youth) and I (in my Episcopal days) were taught that if we missed the Gospel, we should not receive.

This, I think is tied in with the idea that to “fulfil your obligation” you had to be present at least from the Gospel through the Communion of the priest–i.e., the bare minimum of attendance.

Fr. B and I are dependent on public transportation (thank God for this city’s dial-a-ride service!) and through no fault of our own did not get to Liturgy until the middle of the Great Entrance!

The priest knows our situtation, but nevertheless we refrained that day.

It helped to serve as a reminder of how precious the Eucharist is.
 
Somewhere along the way, Fr. Brendan (in his youth) and I (in my Episcopal days) were taught that if we missed the Gospel, we should not receive.
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I was taught the same and still observe it.

The penitenial rite at Mass remits venial sins. If one misses that rite, one risks receiving the Eucharist with sin on one’s soul, even it is is venial.
 
I was taught in RCIA a few years ago that one had to be present for the gospel reading to receive. 🤷
 
bpbasilphx said:
Somewhere along the way, Fr. Brendan (in his youth) and I (in my Episcopal days) were taught that if we missed the Gospel, we should not receive.

is.
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repeat, there IS no obligation for daily Mass, so the rule does not apply. Yes, that formerly was the rule for Sunday Mass, now the rule is you must assist at the whole Mass to receive communion a second time in one day.

even if you were late for Mass on Sunday you could still receive communion, but you would not have met your obligation to attend Mass, and should go to a later Mass if possible. the “before the Gospel” rule applies to the Mass obligation, not whether you can receive. The Liturgy of the Word is part of Mass, and if you miss it, you have not attended the full Mass.
 
Puzzleannie,

Obligation or no obligation. It is a matter of respect for Christ and the Eucharist. We shouldn’t “intentionally” wander into the mass at any ol’ time. 😦
 
MinnesotaBorn said:
Puzzleannie,

Obligation or no obligation. It is a matter of respect for Christ and the Eucharist. We shouldn’t “intentionally” wander into the mass at any ol’ time. 😦
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I don’t think OP or anyone else was talking about wandering in at will, they were talking about arriving late through no fault of their own despite their best efforts. did you even read his story?
 
puzzleannie said:
repeat, there IS no obligation for daily Mass, so the rule does not apply.
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Even if there is no obligation to attend daily Mass…you are still there and I would think the premise would be the same.
 
BlyssfulDreamer said:
Even if there is no obligation to attend daily Mass…you are still there and I would think the premise would be the same.
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Receiving Holy Communion and fulfilling Mass obligation are two different things.

Daily Mass is NOT an obligation.
Sunday Mass IS an obligation.
Receiving Communion at daily Mass is NOT an obligation.
Receiving Communion at Sunday Mass is NOT an obligation.
The obligation to receive Communion is once a year during the Easter period but it is strongly recommended that a person receives Communion as aften as possible at other times.
Those turning up late for a Mass through no fault of their own can actually go into Church straight into the Communion line and receive, assuming they are in a state of grace.
For Sunday Mass the old rule was that turning up late after the Gospel meant your obligation was not fulfilled and you would have to attend a later Mass. That rule seems to have been removed or at least is not clear now. However, I still use that measure to determine if my obligation is fulfilled if I get to Mass late through no fault of my own.
 
thistle said:
Those turning up late for a Mass through no fault of their own can actually go into Church straight into the Communion line and receive, assuming they are in a state of grace.
For Sunday Mass the old rule was that turning up late after the Gospel meant your obligation was not fulfilled and you would have to attend a later Mass. That rule seems to have been removed or at least is not clear now. However, I still use that measure to determine if my obligation is fulfilled if I get to Mass late through no fault of my own.
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I guess *“through no fault of your own” *is the determining factor. But, what about those who are late every Mass? It can’t always be through no fault of their own…every time? It seems like it is just to easy for people to slide into Mass receive Holy Communion and then slide out again.
 
BlyssfulDreamer said:
I guess *“through no fault of your own” *is the determining factor. But, what about those who are late every Mass? It can’t always be through no fault of their own…every time? It seems like it is just to easy for people to slide into Mass receive Holy Communion and then slide out again.
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are we sticking to OP’s original topic about daily Mass? Has been answered. Plenty of people on the way to work, have just dropped kids at school, coming off their shift come into church on the way, and YES they may receive communion if properly disposed, even if they were not able to be present for the whole Mass. question answered, somebody please close thread. heaven deliver me from people who go around making up rules that are not part of church teaching and imposing them on other people.
 
puzzleannie said:
are we sticking to OP’s original topic about daily Mass? Has been answered. Plenty of people on the way to work, have just dropped kids at school, coming off their shift come into church on the way, and YES they may receive communion if properly disposed, even if they were not able to be present for the whole Mass. question answered, somebody please close thread. heaven deliver me from people who go around making up rules that are not part of church teaching and imposing them on other people.
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AMEN!👍
 
Jim Akin had a great blog entry on how it is a Catholic’s canonical right to receive Holy Communion when in a state of grace…regardless of how late he or she was for holy mass. He demonstrated from canon law that one could walk into the church just as the priest was distributing Our Lord and receive. Sunday obligation and receiving Holy Communion are two separate things. Does anyone have a link to this blog?

That being said, out of respect for Our Lord, the Holy Sacrifice, and the liturgy of the Church, I would do my best to take in all of the mass. Sometimes, however, the circumstances don’t allow this. If I were working until 5 PM, and daily mass started at 5 PM, I would certainly go and arrive 5 or 10 minutes later. I think that in such a case receiving Our Lord and missing the first bit of the liturgy of the Word is more important than missing out on the Sacrament altogether…
 
Chatter163 said:
I was taught the same and still observe it.

The penitenial rite at Mass remits venial sins. If one misses that rite, one risks receiving the Eucharist with sin on one’s soul, even it is is venial.
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But the Eucharist remits venial sin, right? 🤷
 
Jim Akin had a great blog entry on how it is a Catholic’s canonical right to receive Holy Communion when in a state of grace…regardless of how late he or she was for holy mass. He demonstrated from canon law that one could walk into the church just as the priest was distributing Our Lord and receive. Sunday obligation and receiving Holy Communion are two separate things. Does anyone have a link to this blog?
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I walked into a mass right as the Eucharist was being distributed when I was in Rome. It was Saturday evening and I had made my way to St John Lateran, walked in the church and lo and behold everyone was already receiving so I got in line and received too. I was in a sate of grace and had resisted eating gelato on my way to the church. I later attended a full mass on Sunday in St Peter`s square however due to the size of the crowd I was unable to receive the Eucharist at that time so it was perfect timing that I had received Saturday night. 👍
 
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