Receiving the Eucharist

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zaus said:
catholic.com/quickquestions/must-i-go-through-rcia-to-join-the-church-if-i-am-already-baptized

Is this so? I’m an Anglican being received into the Roman Catholic Church. Should I talk to my priest before receiving the sacrament before confirmation?
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I’m assuming you are going through the RCIA program and will be received into the Church next Easter. I was a Methodist and went through RCIA. As I was already baptised (like you I guess) I was formally received into the Church. Thereafter I received Communion before I was confirmed. When Confirmation takes place varies from country to country. Sometimes it is done immediately after baptism and others 6 months later (my case).
You cannot receive Communion just because you are baptised. Once you are formally received into the Church you may receive Communion assuming you have made your first Confession and are in a state of grace.
 
This is the part of the article that caught my attention:

"Once you understand and accept these teachings, you can go to confession–anonymously if you wish–and explain to the priest that you were raised outside the Church and that this is your first confession. You will need to confess all the post-baptismal mortal sins that you can remember, indicating to the degree possible the number of times or the frequency with which these were committed. This needs to be done before going to First Communion.

Because you will have learned and accepted the Church’s teaching concerning the Eucharist, you can begin going to Communion like any other Catholic. No special permission is necessary. “Any baptized person who is not forbidden by law may and must be admitted to Holy Communion” (CIC 912). Basically, those forbidden by law are children who are too young, uninstructed, or improperly disposed (CIC 913-4), people under a penalty of excommunication or interdict (CIC 915), those who have committed a mortal sin since their last confession (CIC 916), those who have already received the Eucharist that day (unless they take an active part in a second Mass or if special circumstances apply [CIC 918, 921:2]), and those who have not fasted for an hour before going to Communion (CIC 919).

To receive confirmation, which you should do as soon as possible (CIC 890-1), you will need more instruction: “Apart from the danger of death, to receive confirmation lawfully a person who has the use of reason must be suitably instructed, properly disposed, and able to renew the baptismal promises” (CIC 889:2). For this instruction your parish may put you in an RCIA class for the sake of convenience.

You do not need to receive confirmation before beginning to go to confession and beginning to receive the Eucharist. Nothing in canon law requires that, and you may begin practicing those parts of a Catholic’s sacramental life as soon as you have understood and accepted the Church’s teachings concerning them."

Yeah I’ve ALWAYS assumed that one had to be received before taking communion. I’ve also proven to be wrong many times. I think I’ll talk to my priest about this one…when in doubt 🙂

Thistle, being Methodist did you have to go through RCIA for the whole liturgical year? I’m being received through the Ordinariate but I’ve done RCIA before. It’s taken me a while to discern where God wants me.
 
When I was formally received into the Church. I had to provide a copy of my Baptism Certificate from the Church where I was baptized to make sure that it was a valid Baptism. Not every Baptism is recognized as being valid. This is something that I learned in RCIA. For those who could not provide the documentation, a notarized statement of someone who was there was accepted… As you know from RCIA other documentation (any previous marriages) was also required before we were received into the Church.

In my class there were about 6 baptized Catholics who had not received the other Sacraments due to family circumstances and also other validly baptized members of other denominations. We waited until we were properly prepared to confess and receive.

In your case, I would definitely talk to your parish priest. He will be able to help you.
 
The person in the link was baptized Catholic. You were not.

You need to become Catholic – in other words, be received into the Church – before you can start receiving communion.

Assuming you are in RCIA that is where you should continue. If you haven’t inquired about it yet, you should call your local parish.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
The person in the link was baptized Catholic. You were not.

You need to become Catholic – in other words, be received into the Church – before you can start receiving communion.

Assuming you are in RCIA that is where you should continue. If you haven’t inquired about it yet, you should call your local parish.
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Yes, the OP does need to be in full communion with the Catholic Church to receive the Eucharist.

On a side note, regardless of being baptized in a Catholic Church or another church that baptizes in the name of all three persons of the Holy Trinity, we are baptized into the Church that is the Body of Christ.

That’s why the Catholic Church believes in ONE baptism, and normally does not re-baptize (with few “conditional” exceptions) those who received a Trinitarian baptism as part of a different faith tradition.

More accurately, there is a Catholic Rite of Baptism, but technically, this is not a baptism INTO the Catholic Church, but into the Body of Christ.
 
Thank you all so much! Thanks for clarifying this. God Bless you all!
 
zaus said:
This is the part of the article that caught my attention:

"Once you understand and accept these teachings, you can go to confession–anonymously if you wish–and explain to the priest that you were raised outside the Church and that this is your first confession. You will need to confess all the post-baptismal mortal sins that you can remember, indicating to the degree possible the number of times or the frequency with which these were committed. This needs to be done before going to First Communion.

Because you will have learned and accepted the Church’s teaching concerning the Eucharist, you can begin going to Communion like any other Catholic. No special permission is necessary. “Any baptized person who is not forbidden by law may and must be admitted to Holy Communion” (CIC 912). Basically, those forbidden by law are children who are too young, uninstructed, or improperly disposed (CIC 913-4), people under a penalty of excommunication or interdict (CIC 915), those who have committed a mortal sin since their last confession (CIC 916), those who have already received the Eucharist that day (unless they take an active part in a second Mass or if special circumstances apply [CIC 918, 921:2]), and those who have not fasted for an hour before going to Communion (CIC 919).

To receive confirmation, which you should do as soon as possible (CIC 890-1), you will need more instruction: “Apart from the danger of death, to receive confirmation lawfully a person who has the use of reason must be suitably instructed, properly disposed, and able to renew the baptismal promises” (CIC 889:2). For this instruction your parish may put you in an RCIA class for the sake of convenience.

You do not need to receive confirmation before beginning to go to confession and beginning to receive the Eucharist. Nothing in canon law requires that, and you may begin practicing those parts of a Catholic’s sacramental life as soon as you have understood and accepted the Church’s teachings concerning them."

Yeah I’ve ALWAYS assumed that one had to be received before taking communion. I’ve also proven to be wrong many times. I think I’ll talk to my priest about this one…when in doubt 🙂

Thistle, being Methodist did you have to go through RCIA for the whole liturgical year? I’m being received through the Ordinariate but I’ve done RCIA before. It’s taken me a while to discern where God wants me.
Click to expand...
Our RCIA program started in August 1991 and I was formally received into the Church at Easter 1992.
 
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