Refraining from Eucharist because of distractions?

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I think that the responses here are indicative of a very modern mentality, one that views the reception of the Eucharist almost as an entitlement, and somewhat rigorously eschews any suggestion that other factors go into the decision to receive or not receive. Naturally, the Eucharist is indeed an entitlement, ine one context, as Our Lord made it available to us, but OTOH, many writings of saints throughout the ages speak of receiving Our Lord properly. For those who follow the Divine Mercy devotion, Our Lord spoke a numner of times to St. Faustina on the subject. Older missals stressed the importance of making a spiritual communion when one could not make a sacramental one. Do people even make spiritual communions anymore?

We all know that the pendulum in the Church swung from the Late Middle Ages mentality, when people received but once or twice a year (not spiritually healthy) to the current mentality (receive almost always, lacking the most serious circumstances, another less than ideal spirituality). Is there no middle ground? Surely there are more options than the almost-never and almost-always schools of thought on this? What concerns me is the adamant opposition to any recognition that we could possibly be sufficiently distracted. This is not a question of worthiness–we are all unworthy–but of spiritual reflection.
 
I guess that’s what I don’t understand… Just because something distracted you during mass, why does that mean you can’t, as you walk up to receive make an effort to put all your focus on what’s about to happen. What do you see as the requirements in order to be ‘properly disposed’ and do you have any church documents to back this up? Also, where is the claim that it is not a good idea to receive every time one goes to mass coming from? I thought the reason the church allowed people to receive more often was specifically because they saw it as a good thing to do so. Surly if the church though there was something wrong with receiving every time one goes to mass they would have said something, do you know of any such quotes?

Also, I really don’t see it as attitude of entitlement, more as following the way of St. Therese. You know you are not worthy, but like a little child you come anyway trusting in the Lord, confident because He has come to give Himself to you, not because of any merits of your own.
 
thewanderer said:
I guess that’s what I don’t understand… Just because something distracted you during mass, why does that mean you can’t, as you walk up to receive make an effort to put all your focus on what’s about to happen. What do you see as the requirements in order to be ‘properly disposed’ and do you have any church documents to back this up? Also, where is the claim that it is not a good idea to receive every time one goes to mass coming from? I thought the reason the church allowed people to receive more often was specifically because they saw it as a good thing to do so. Surly if the church though there was something wrong with receiving every time one goes to mass they would have said something, do you know of any such quotes?

Also, I really don’t see it as attitude of entitlement, more as following the way of St. Therese. You know you are not worthy, but like a little child you come anyway trusting in the Lord, confident because He has come to give Himself to you, not because of any merits of your own.
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You seem to be one who has not been exposed to many writings of the saints, or of older missals and prayer books, with their sections of information about the Catholic faith, or possbly of anything written before the 1960s. All of these speak about the things of which I spoke They speak frequently of how to dispose one to receive properly, with the implication being that if one is not properly disposed, one should make a spiritual communion.

When we speak of distractions here, one does not mean a routine, momentary thing. That is understandable and normal. We are speaking of times when one spends a significant part of the Mass thinking about work, home, other things–not planned, but the mind wanders repeatedly to these topics in the course of a single Mass. This happens a lot, especially in this age of decreasing attention spans. The Church does not give a precise formula–that is left to our consciences–but I would say when one reaches the point where one realizes that one has done so for, say, half of the Mass, one cannot truthfully contend that one has been focused on Our Lord mand His Real Presence. That is what all of these saints’ writings, older prayer books, people like Fulton Sheen and Mother Angelica, constantly taught. Read sources from before the 1960s and you will see. But also read the weekly sermons of Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who also speak of the necessity of proper disposition.

I am not looking to return us to the medieval once or twice a year. But I am trying to help us get past the opposite and equally extreme mentality of almost always. We have definitely become too casual in receiving the Sacrament.
 
Actually, the idea that one should be properly disposed is one that I am familiar with, but I am unsure of this particular application, which is why I hoped that you could provide some sort of Church teaching, (not just teachings of saints, although if you would provide specific quotes from them, or tell us which ones specifically have spoken about this it would also be helpful)
If it is true that one must have payed close attention for most of mass in order to receive why are people allowed to receive outside of mass? I see being distracted at mass as a failing to attend the mass as one ought, not as something that necessarily means one is unprepared to receive…
 
Two weeks ago I very nearly refused communion but nothing to do with being distracted by others, just by my own spiritual journey. Week after was a split chance could go either way. Since then I have talked to the priest and this week he got a smile from me before rather than a concentrated effort with hoping to sign to him I am at peace now.

But even then, we receive communion when we are sick, very sick if the priest comes to us regular in hospital and there are loads of distractions going off then but somehow one is even more focused.

It is so easy to blame distractions on others where as really it is ‘us’ who is at fault in the ones being easily distracted. We need to learn to not let distractions be blamed but be included into the worship Amen
 
This seems like a cultural thing to me. If one goes to an English Mass, almost everyone receives. In contrast, in Spanish and Polish Masses, roughly about half of those in attendance approach for communion. This in spite of the longer confession lines you see in the Spanish and Polish communities.

So the question comes down to whether the Anglophones even believe in mortal sin or do those who admit to being in mortal sin don’t go to Church? I’m tending to think more the latter and that to me is a much bigger problem. The Church requires all Catholics to attend a Catholic Mass on Sundays but communion only once a year. There is a reason for that.
 
Please remember that I am a convert to Catholicism, so this concept of not receiving the Lord Jesus when He is available is very strange to me.

I would like to know what actually happens when a believer attends Mass but does not receive Holy Communion because they feel that they were improperly disposed due to distractions.

They have received sanctifying graces that come from merely attending Mass, but they do not have the Lord Jesus within them. This doesn’t seem like a good situation for a believer. What does this accomplish in their journey to heaven? What do they actually do once they leave the Mass without Jesus in them?

“Distractions” doesn’t seem like a good reason to not receive the Lord Jesus. Martha was distracted with many things, but Jesus still invited her to Himself. There were many sinners in the Bible, but Jesus did not tell them to go away.

I just don’t get what good will come of not receiving the Lord Jesus when you are not in mortal sin. It seems to me that if we are having trouble focusing on Jesus and His Kingdom, we would do very well to receive Him so that He can help us to focus on Him and His Kingdom, rather than to not receive Him. How can not receiving Him help us to focus on Him?

I certainly agree that we should never receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament casually, with a sense of entitlement. But I can’t see how not receiving Him would make us less casual. I think we would do better to try to foster in ourselves a more reverent and humble attitude of the heart and try to discipline ourselves to receive Him with full attention. I can’t see how depriving ourselves of Him would help us, but I can see how this would hurt us.

Thanks for clarifying.
 
thewanderer said:
Actually, the idea that one should be properly disposed is one that I am familiar with, but I am unsure of this particular application, which is why I hoped that you could provide some sort of Church teaching, (not just teachings of saints, although if you would provide specific quotes from them, or tell us which ones specifically have spoken about this it would also be helpful)
If it is true that one must have payed close attention for most of mass in order to receive why are people allowed to receive outside of mass? I see being distracted at mass as a failing to attend the mass as one ought, not as something that necessarily means one is unprepared to receive…
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With all due respect, you seem again to be approaching this with a very contemporary (dare I say liberal?) approach, limiting yourself only to what is expressly laid out as a legal requirement, basically ignoring the counsel and guidance of the Church–even to the point of asking where the Church has ever defined such. In this mindset, the guidance offered by even saints apparently “does not cut it.” Only if something is laid out specifically and authoritatively will the modern mind, preoccupied with its own liberty and rights, even consider. (Even then, some, though not you, will say, unless it is defined ex cathedra, they will not believe it, since it is not infallibly defined.) This is such a curious mindset, one that is at odds with centuries of Catholic understanding.

I mentioned Mother Angelica. Although not Mother;s own words, this appears on the EWTN website, and certainly reflects her own comments on television. Note section three in ewtn.com/expert/answers/communion_dispositions.htm

In the 1967 ), Eucharisticum Mysteriumpart II, article 17 speaks about the importance of the Faithful not being distracted at Holy Mass.

“The sacrament of the Eucharist produces its marvelous effects in us when it is received with the requisite dispositions”…“Preparation before Communion consists in meditating for some time on Whom we are about to receive, and on who we are; and in making acts of faith, hope, charity, contrition, adoration, humility, and desire to receive Jesus Christ.” (Catechism of St. Pius X)

We should assist at Mass with great interior recollection and piety, and with every outward mark of respect and devotion." (Baltimore Catechism)

Q. “What should we do during the Sacrifice of the Mass?”
A." In union with the priest we should offer Jesus Christ to His heavenly Father." (Catechism of St. John Neumann)

“It is, therefore, desirable, Venerable Brethren, that all the faithful should be aware that to participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice is their chief duty and supreme dignity, and that not in an inert and negligent fashion, giving way to distractions and day-dreaming, but with such earnestness and concentration that they may be united as closely as possible with the High Priest, according to the Apostle, ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’ And together with Him and through Him let them make their oblation, and in union with Him let them offer up themselves.” (Pope Pius XII, “Mediator Dei”, 1947 A.D.)

Q “Of what should we especially think during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?”
A. “Of the sufferings and the death of Jesus Christ.”

When I come to a human heart in Holy Communion, My hands are full of all kinds of graces which I want to give to the soul. But souls do not even pay attention to Me; they leave Me to Myself and busy themselves with other things. … They treat Me as a dead object. – Our Lord speaking to St. Faustina (Diary of St. Faustina, 1385)

“In hearing Holy Mass the best way to practice true devotion is the following: (1) From the very beginning to unite our intention with that of the priest, offering the Holy Sacrifice to God for the ends for which it was instituted. (2) To accompany the priest in each prayer and action of the Sacrifice. (3) To meditate on the passion and death of Jesus Christ and to heartily detest our sins, which have been the cause of them. (4) To go to Communion, or at least to make a spiritual Communion while the priest communicates.” (Catechism of St. Pius X)

“And it is fitting, indeed in this age it is specially important, that by means of the united efforts of the devout, the outward honor and the inward reverence paid to this Sacrifice should be alike increased. Accordingly it is our wish that its manifold excellence may be both more widely known and more attentively considered.” (Pope Leo XIII, “Mirae Caritatis”, 1902 A.D.)

We should have the proper frame of mind: “When you hear Mass, do you come in the same frame of mind as the Blessed Virgin at Calvary? Because it is the same God, and the same Sacrifice.” (St. John Vianney)
 
I will be sure to share with the dozen or so other distracted parents in the lobby of our church on Sunday that due to our state in life (parents of infants and toddlers) that we are to refrain from receiving Eucharist until our children are old enough to make it through an entire Mass only distracting us for a quick momentary issue.

So in doing our duty to faithfully raise our children in the faith, we are excluding ourselves because it is almost impossible not to become distracted with the care of our infants and toddlers during Mass? I have discussed numerous times with our priest how difficult it is for me to at Mass while wrestling a toddler, and he has always encouraged me greatly, NEVER admonished me not to receive Eucharist because I have been caring for my child.
 
etmom said:
I will be sure to share with the dozen or so other distracted parents in the lobby of our church on Sunday that due to our state in life (parents of infants and toddlers) that we are to refrain from receiving Eucharist until our children are old enough to make it through an entire Mass only distracting us for a quick momentary issue.
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Consequently, with so few receiving communion, we can finally get rid of all those EMHCs.
 
etmom said:
I will be sure to share with the dozen or so other distracted parents in the lobby of our church on Sunday that due to our state in life (parents of infants and toddlers) that we are to refrain from receiving Eucharist until our children are old enough to make it through an entire Mass only distracting us for a quick momentary issue.

So in doing our duty to faithfully raise our children in the faith, we are excluding ourselves because it is almost impossible not to become distracted with the care of our infants and toddlers during Mass? I have discussed numerous times with our priest how difficult it is for me to at Mass while wrestling a toddler, and he has always encouraged me greatly, NEVER admonished me not to receive Eucharist because I have been caring for my child.
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You are (over)reacting somewhat emotionally. No one said that. .
 
Chatter163 said:
When we speak of distractions here, one does not mean a routine, momentary thing. That is understandable and normal. We are speaking of times when one spends a significant part of the Mass thinking about work, home, other things–not planned, but the mind wanders repeatedly to these topics in the course of a single Mass. .
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The distraction of a small child is more than a momentary thing. It can occupy a significant part of the mass, with your mind continually being brought out of the Mass to the care, discipline and teaching of your child.
 
Chatter163 said:
When we speak of distractions here, one does not mean a routine, momentary thing. That is understandable and normal. We are speaking of times when one spends a significant part of the Mass thinking about work, home, other things–not planned, but the mind wanders repeatedly to these topics in the course of a single Mass. This happens a lot, especially in this age of decreasing attention spans.
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So if the sermon is bad/heretical/inaudible, would it constitute a distraction if I just read an encyclical on my phone instead?
 
Rainaldo said:
So if the sermon is bad/heretical/inaudible, would it constitute a distraction if I just read an encyclical on my phone instead?
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You are free to consider it a distraction. Many others would be free to consider it rudeness.
 
We are not fit, or worthy, or good enough to receive the Eucharist - ever. Apart from our Blessed Mother Mary no human in history has ever been fit, not even St. Francis of Assisi, or St. Peter, or St. Paul, or Blessed John Paul II, or Blessed Mother Teresa.

All we can be is the best we can be, and if the best I can be is putting up with distractions in mass (whether from my own kids or someone else’s, or because I have a headache, or because I’m worried about losing my job, or because I can hardly hear the homily through people’s sneezing and coughing) then perhaps that’s the best I can be at that moment.

We are called to be open to the grace received in the Eucharist: not perfect, but open.

Now, if I’m choosing to be angry at people, or harbour lust in my heart, or to be envious of someone, or covert their wife or the car they have in the parking lot during mass, then that is a different kettle of fish.

Tempted, irritated, distracted vs. fantasizing, lusting, feeding anger.
 
Rainaldo said:
So if the sermon is bad/heretical/inaudible, would it constitute a distraction if I just read an encyclical on my phone instead?
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Yes, this would be a creating a distraction and would be disrespectful to the priest who is in persona Christi. Charity would dictate speaking to the priest privately, and not publically displaying contempt for his words.
 
Chatter163 said:
You are (over)reacting somewhat emotionally. No one said that. .
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I don’t think etmom is overreacting at all. The clear progression of this discussion seems to sow seeds of uncertainty even among faithful Catholics - particularly those parents of small children who bring them to Mass - regarding their supposed unworthiness to receive Communion due to alleged “distractions” – something I never heard preached even in the 1950’s when much was arguably stricter and participation in Communion was far different than it is today.

And then we see posts like Rainaldo’s, where there seems to be barely-contained glee at reducing the number of communicants so that EMHC’s can be eliminated.

This whole discussion is truly disturbing. I guess if someone spends the first 40 minutes of Mass wondering if they’re “too distracted to receive,” that in itself becomes a distraction: a marvelously self-fulfilling situation to gladden the hearts of those who appear to want as few people as possible to participate in the Eucharist.

God bless the parents of those beautiful, squirming, Cheerio-dropping, sometimes-needy children of God who faithfully bring them to Mass, who discomfort themselves out of consideration to those around them, and who are truly fed by the Eucharistic Meal. God save them from the disdain of those who would judge them.
 
Speaking out of my own experience, I have not received communion because of “distractions”.

However, the distractions were not the reason that I refrained, it was my reaction to those distractions that was the problem.

Distractions are going to happen. Sometimes I will all bring things from the “outside world” into Mass with me. Sometimes other people do things that distract me, or perhaps the priest is a little “too loose” with the rubrics for my liking, or the music is banal, or {insert favorite complaint here:p}
When I let those distractions cause my heart to harden with anger, judgement and pride, and I recognise it, I must make a decision as to whether or not I think I am properly disposed. It is no one else’s call and I would never hold anyone to my standard. I am just a simple pilgrim trying to find my way, and sometime’s that means denying a gift when I am not disposed to receiving it.
 
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