Should I receive communion if I don't want to?

[birdie74]

Hello everyone-

I’m a convert to Catholicism, and since I went through all of my formative years not believing in the Real Presence, sometimes even now I go through these plagues of doubt where the Real Presence doesn’t make sense anymore and I don’t believe in it. I am wondering, during these times, should I receive communion? I sometimes think I shouldn’t, because during these times I feel like it is all an act, that if it is real I am approaching with far too much irreverence and an insincere heart, because I don’t really believe it. But then I think maybe I should go ahead and receive and maybe that would help me believe again. Does anyone think it is a mortal sin to stop believing in the Real Presence, to wilfully think about it so much that I stop believing in it? If it is that certainly answers my question about whether I should receive…sorry this post is so all over the place, I probably just need to ask a priest, but these times of doubt are distressing to me, and I would like some opinions! Thanks.

 

[Joseph_Bilodeau]

Sometimes I think times like these are not so much crises of faith as crises of understanding. I would ask myself “Do I really disbelieve that Christ is fully present in the Blessed Sacrament, despite his assurance that He is present? Or am I feeling troubled because I cannot fully understand how Christ can be fully present in the Blessed Sacrament, however I will trust that Christ is telling the truth despite my not being able to understand?”

If you fit into the former category, I would certainly recommend abstaining from the Eucharist. But I suspect your difficulty probably falls into the second category, as if you didn’t really believe Christ was present in the Eucharist you probably wouldn’t be concerned about receiving the Eucharist sinfully. I would recommend that as long as you are otherwise properly disposed to receive the Eucharist that you offer up your difficulties to Jesus and tell Him that you’re going to trust him regardless of what you might feel, and receive the Eucharist. You may find it helpful when experiencing difficulties of this sort to pray in the words of the anguished father who brought his posessed son to Jesus for deliverance, “I believe, help my unbelief!”

 

[Gracie2004]

Just my personal opinion here, but scripture very clearly tells us that “he who receives the bread and wine without discerning the body and blood, eats and drinks judgement upon himself”…

So, I would abstain if you are having a period of uncertainty, and definately go talk to either your priest, or someone in your parish who does adult education, to see if they can help you figure out what exactly you are unsure of and what you can possibly do to get into a better place? I’ve had periods like this also, I think we all go through them, and I can tell you from personal experience, usually when I have these, if I talk to the priest, something always happens, some experience, that tells me that God is still present, and is listening, and paying attention too

God Bless and I hope you get this resolved

Gracie

 

[contemplative]

from Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis
ccel.org/k/kempis/imitation/imitation.html

The Tenth Chapter

**DO NOT LIGHTLY FOREGO HOLY COMMUNION **

THE VOICE OF CHRIST

YOU must often return to the source of grace and divine mercy, to the fountain of goodness and perfect purity, if you wish to be free from passion and vice, if you desire to be made stronger and more watchful against all the temptations and deceits of the devil.

The enemy, knowing the great good and the healing power of Holy Communion, tries as much as he can by every manner and means to hinder and keep away the faithful and the devout. Indeed, there are some who suffer the worst assaults of Satan when disposing themselves to prepare for Holy Communion. As it is written in Job, this wicked spirit comes among the sons of God to trouble them by his wonted malice, to make them unduly fearful and perplexed, that thus he may lessen their devotion or attack their faith to such an extent that they perhaps either forego Communion altogether or receive with little fervor.

No attention, however, must be paid to his cunning wiles, no matter how base and horrible – all his suggestions must be cast back upon his head. The wretch is to be despised and scorned. Holy Communion must not be passed by because of any assaults from him or because of the commotion he may arouse.

Oftentimes, also, too great solicitude for devotion and anxiety about confession hinder a person. Do as wise men do. Cast off anxiety and scruple, for it impedes the grace of God and destroys devotion of the mind.

Do not remain away from Holy Communion because of a small trouble or vexation but go at once to confession and willingly forgive all others their offenses. If you have offended anyone, humbly seek pardon and God will readily forgive you.

What good is it to delay confession for a long time or to put off Holy Communion? Cleanse yourself at once, spit out the poison quickly. Make haste to apply the remedy and you will find it better than if you had waited a long time. If you put it off today because of one thing, perhaps tomorrow a greater will occur to you, and thus you will stay away from Communion for a long time and become even more unfit.

Shake off this heaviness and sloth as quickly as you can, for there is no gain in much anxiety, in enduring long hours of trouble, and in depriving yourself of the divine Mysteries because of these daily disturbances. Yes, it is very hurtful to defer Holy Communion long, for it usually brings on a lazy spiritual sleep.

How sad that some dissolute and lax persons are willing to postpone confession and likewise wish to defer Holy Communion, lest they be forced to keep a stricter watch over themselves! Alas, how little love and devotion have they who so easily put off Holy Communion!

How happy and acceptable to God is he who so lives, and keeps his conscience so pure, as to be ready and well disposed to communicate, even every day if he were permitted, and if he could do so unnoticed.

If, now and then, a man abstains by the grace of humility or for a legitimate reason, his reverence is commendable, but if laziness takes hold of him, he must arouse himself and do everything in his power, for the Lord will quicken his desire because of the good intention to which He particularly looks. When he is indeed unable to come, he will always have the good will and pious intention to communicate and thus he will not lose the fruit of the Sacrament.

Any devout person may at any hour on any day receive Christ in spiritual communion profitably and without hindrance. Yet on certain days and times appointed he ought to receive with affectionate reverence the Body of his Redeemer in this Sacrament, seeking the praise and honor of God rather than his own consolation.

For as often as he devoutly calls to mind the mystery and passion of the Incarnate Christ, and is inflamed with love for Him, he communicates mystically and is invisibly refreshed.

He who prepares himself only when festivals approach or custom demands, will often find himself unprepared. Blessed is he who offers himself a sacrifice to the Lord as often as he celebrates or communicates. Be neither too slow nor too fast in celebrating but follow the good custom common to those among whom you are. You ought not to cause others inconvenience or trouble, but observe the accepted rule as laid down by superiors, and look to the benefit of others rather than to your own devotion or inclination.

 

[ames61]

I came into the Church a couple years ago, after being married to a Catholic for 15 years. I never considered becoming Catholic early on because I didn’t believe in the Real Presence. I figured you had to be indoctrinated as a child to believe in the Real Presence. I figured it’d be like asking me to believe in the Tooth Fairy at age 40.

I began to desire to be a part of the Church before I actually believed in the Real Presence. Ultimately God gave me the grace to believe, partially straight grace, but partially the awareness that belief is a choice, a decision. Now, in addition to whatever grace God has given me for belief, I reinforce that belief with an act of will. I choose to believe. And where my human senses fail, I ask God for the further grace and faith to believe that Christ is present. (Tantum Ergo )

In particular I spend a great deal of time in His presence, both in the tabernacle and in Exposition. The choice to do that, brings great graces and rock solid support to my choice to believe.

That being said, I would say if you want to believe, then receive. God bless!

 

[Sir_Knight]

If you don’t feel like receiving communion, then don’t. Would you want to be invited into someone’s home who didn’t want you there? In the same manner, it is not right to invite Christ into your heart if you don’t want Him there.

 

[springbreeze]

Dear friend

This is not a strange thing for a Christian to go through, infact every Christian at some point or other has thought to themselves these similar thoughts about the Eucharist. You are not saying that you do not believe that Christ Jesus is God Himself and you believe all that Christ Jesus has told you in Sacred Scripture and in the Traditions laid down in His Church by Himself, the Holy Spirit and the Apostles. You have faith and it takes great faith to admit that when thinking upon the Eucharist you are not absolutely sure that this is the Real Presence of Christ Jesus.

You may be surprised I say that you have great faith, you are probably thinking you are lacking in faith because you are not constantly 100% in complete acceptance of the fact that Jesus is truly Present in the Eucharist Body Blood Soul and Divinity. Have you run away from the Church? Have you rejected Jesus and the faith of His Church? Are you experiencing disregard for the thoughts you are having? No you are not, you are distressed.

Remember friend how satan desires to drive us from the Eucharist, how he would have every soul on this earth deny Christ Jesus is truly there. The Eucharist is a mighty weapon against the adversary. Satan will when he sees your faith (because he cannot read your mind, though he will place thoughts there into your mind) in Jesus, he will attack and for him it would be a great conquest to drive one, such as yourself with great faith in Jesus, so much so that you converted to the faith, from the Eucharist.

Look how satan has attempted to corrode the Priesthood with the lure of the world, with rejection of the call to Holy Orders, with sin and every vile temptation; satan does this because if there are less priests then there is less occassion whereby the flock may make communion with Christ Jesus and also if there are no Priests, there is no Eucharist! Satan hates the Eucharist and he will make every effort to come between you and your Lord Christ Jesus in His Most Precious Sacrament. Jesus Is the Prince of Peace, satan is the bearer of confusion and distress in a soul.

Tell Jesus you have these thoughts, they distress you and it is not what you really want to think, He knows your suffering and struggle here and He upholds you in them and goes through them with you. Offer this suffering to HIm for His Holy Will, we do not suffer in vain, we suffer to grow in faith and to serve others, for our souls and for other souls benefit and for the benefit of the entire Heavenly Court and the Body of Christ.

God has allowed this sufferance in your spiritual life for a reason. Ask Him what He is teaching you. Ask our Blessed Virgin Mother Mary to show you the fruit of her womb in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

As another poster quite rightly quoted Sacred Scripture ‘Lord I believe, help my unbelief’. It is staggering isn’t it that our Sweet Lord Jesus comes down from Heaven to become our bread and wine, our spiritual food and dwell in such imperfect vessels as ourselves. This leaves me in awe everytime I consider it. It is so awe inspiring that we may be led to not believe it and this is what satan desires.

I think you have considered the awe of this and in this consideration and meditation you have truly become incredulous of it, this is why I say you have such great faith.

It is true and He is truly Present in the Eucharist. You can daily meet with Jesus there in the Church who is waiting for you in actual full person, man and Divinity, you can come to Him at the altar and He will indwell you because He loves you and by His indwelling we become more Christ-like. The Father sees you there in Him and regards you there in Christ Jesus. This is truly great joy and satan would greatly desire to take your joy of living with God in this life as well as in the next! (the world cannot fully know this, that Jesus is there in every Catholic Church waiting for them, if they truly knew this the Churches would never be empty!)

A poster mentioned Sacred Scripture regarding discerning the Eucharist, this part of Sacred Scripture is about examining one’s own conscience as regards mortal sin and the grace within the soul to be worthy to receive communion as laid out by the precepts of the Church. To turn from the Eucharist for you would be a mistake, it would be a mistake because you are undergoing a trial and this trial is allowed to drive you from the Eucharist and God has allowed it so that you recognise the trial and fly to the Eucharist, to your Saviour, not walk away from Him as the disciples did when Jesus gave them the teaching regarding the Eucharist in St John’s Gospel, Chapter 6.

continued

 

[springbreeze]

continuation one

Don’t worry about these thoughts, put them in their rightful place, the trash can. Ignore these thoughts should you dwell and dwell on this confusion satan has inflicted you with and then they will multiply and plague you.

Remember no soul which truly believes in Jesus goes to heaven alone, they bear fruit. You and your faith must be a mighty threat to satan, so you are attacked in this way.

Go to Jesus, my friend. Pray before the Blessed Sacrament and give Him all your hearts troubles, receive Him into yourself and Love Him.

This is a persons reflection on the Eucharist: ‘To this world it’s all just so highly unlikely, it even borders on the absurd, but that is what makes it such an undeniable reality, He is truly there’

You remain in my prayers.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[stbruno]

therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.html
Maybe you just need to learn more about the Real Presence to strengthen the faith you so desperately appear to be longing. Pray for it…and it will come to you.

Unfortunately, we have more and more baptized non-believers. The late Pope even mentioned it many times when he was talking about the “new evangelization.” We as baptized believers need to spread the word of God to all…particularly those who are weak or negligent in their faith…I think you will really enjoy reading this website. Check it out!

 

[wcknight]

If you do not believe, you probably should not receive Communion. When the priest or Eucharistic presents the host or wine to you they ask you to confirm your belief.

IF you respond Amen as you should, you are telling them that you DO believe that it is the Body or Blood of Jesus. IF you do not respond, they can NOT give you communion.

The real presense is a difficult concept to understand and for some folks to accept. You may want to read up on some of the Eucharistic miracles. There have been several, where the host or the wine or both have literally turned into human blood or flesh (all of the same blood type).

One occurred while a mass that was being said by a priest who did not believe in the real presence (in Lanciano, Italy in the 7th century). These relics are still available to be seen at various location, (Cascia, Italy - 15 th century and one in Germany 1850s)

There is a tour guide book that I read recently, Catholic Shrines of Western Europe. It has the stories and directions to get to some of these sites.

Remember that even some of the disciples thought Jesus was insane to say such a thing and left Him because of it. It is not an easy thing to accept, but if we wish to have life everlasting, we MUST eat His Body and drink His Blood as He commands.

Christ’s Peace

 

[Meggie]

do not let doubts trouble you.

the devil tries to keep us in doubt from recieving communion.

Recive with attentin reverance and devotion even if you do not “believe” and Jesus can do the rest

 

[felra]

It sounds like you are too much focusing on yourself. Perhaps too much introspection given to your doubts. To have doubts in faith is normal. To willfully entertain these doubts to a point of unbelief is temptation (from the devil of course).

My cure for waffling belief in the Real Presence was to offer up my unbelief/lack of belief to Jesus Himself, and commit myself to spending time before the blessed sacrament in adoration/pondering the Real Presence, praying for faith to know that the consecrated host is more than just a piece of bread or my conjured belief. Over time (several months), God transformed my lack of belief to genuine belief that beyond doubt originated from God Himself. In hindsight, I see this as simply God testing and inviting me to refine my faith-a faith solid from Him, beyond my subjective feelings or finite ability to comprehend.

Hence, if you have not given yourself over to willfully choosing unbelief, but recognize that you need the gift of faith from God to believe in the Real Presence, then I would continue to receive the Eucharist as often as possible. As they say, “Fake it ‘till you make it”, or in faith terms, “Fake until God refines and extends the faith that He wants you to have”.