Should I stay or should I go?

[ACbishop]

You’re going to do what is best. That I’m sure on.

However, I just wanted to say that even though your church allows people from other faiths to receive your Mom, as a practicing Catholic, would not be allow to receive in your church.

The reason I point this out is because what if the shoe was on the other foot. How would you feel if Mom told you No she would not attend a service in your church because she can’t receive communion? What’s the point?

Just something to think about… I’m sure you will do what is best for you and your family.

I just wanted to point out that my mom has come to our Holy Eucharist services and received communion with us. Why would there be anything wrong with that?

 

[ACbishop]

No he doesn’t just need to confess, because it seems he would have every intention of going straight back to his old ways afterwards. That renders his confession invalid - you have to have at least a wish not to repeat the sins you’re confessing!

What sins are you talking about, the fact that I am an Episcopalian? I consider that offensive.

 

[ACbishop]

Well, for starters the he’s missed three years’ worth of Sunday masses - that in itself is a grave sin, probably mortal, which would prevent him receiving Communion.

Then there’s the three year’s worth of confession (required at least once a year) and Holy Communion (also required at least once a year) that he has missed - again to miss either of these is in itself grave and probably mortal sin.

Of course he is only a good confession away from being restored to good standing as a Catholic, you never really stop being a Catholic even if you leave the Church. Presumably he’s not interested in confessing and wouldn’t have the requisite intent not to sin again anyway.

I cannot subscribe to any of this. I am more spiritual now than I ever was as a Catholic. I have confessed sin but certainly not for being an Episcopalian.

 

[HelenRose]

In my small parish there are a number of people, who for various reasons come faithfully to Mass and respectfully do not receive communion.

There are a few husbands and wives who do not accept all the teachings of the Church and do not feel that they can honestly become Catholics yet in order to have unity in their homes they attend Church and participate in many of the activities and are loved by the whole congregation. In some cases they have a great understanding of what it means to recieve communion because in their respect they show true devotion and love for that which they themselves do not always agree with.

It is possible for a person who does not partake of communion to come forward and receive a blessing.

I appreciate their honestly and their kindness and understanding for my deeply held beliefs.

My advice would be to attend Mass and kindly and respectfully not take Communion.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

I just wanted to point out that my mom has come to our Holy Eucharist services and received communion with us. Why would there be anything wrong with that?

It is wrong for any Catholic to receive communion from another church. Because we, as Catholics, understand that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Our Lord and that only Catholic priests (with apostolic succession) can celebrate the Mass. For a Catholic to receive communion from a church that is not in communion with these beliefs is incorrect. It represents a communion, a unity, that, sadly, is not present.

 

[ElizabethAnne]

What sins are you talking about, the fact that I am an Episcopalian? I consider that offensive.

According to the Catholic Church, you are a Catholic by virtue of your baptism. Therefore, you are bound to attend Mass every Sunday, receive communion at least once a year, go to confession at least once a year and everything else that the Church teaches is necessary in the eyes of God to do. Not doing these things is sinful.

 

[Randy_Carson]

I have an dilema that I am faced with for upcoming June 10th. I am an Episcopalian who has been out of the Catholic church for 3 years now. My mom who is Catholic is having a mass said for my grandmother who passed away 5 years ago. Her brothers will be here from far away then and she would like for me and my wife and 4 yr old son to go to that mass. I am torn on it though. If we go, my wife, son nor myself can receive communion and the priest saying the mass is the same one that heavily influenced my decision to leave the RCC. My sister will be there as well but she cannot receive either because she turned Methodist about 6 years ago. Other than for my mother and grandmother, I do not see the point in going because we are not welcomed to communion as we welcome others in other denominations to communion in our church.

How did the priest influence you to leave the Catholic Church?

 

[PaulDupre]

…the priest saying the mass is the same one that heavily influenced my decision to leave the RCC.

Hi AC,
This portion of your post left me scratching my head. How could any person, even a Catholic priest, “heavily influence” you to leave the church established by Jesus? The only valid reason to leave a religion is that you have decided, after careful study, that its fundamental teachings are incorrect. Have you truly understood the doctrines consistently taught by the Catholic Church since the first century? If you left primarily because of a priest you don’t like, then the answer is probably no.

If you have not studied:

The entire bible,
The Early Church Fathers (all of them)
The documents of the several Church Councils, and
The entire Catechism of the Catholic Church

then you have not done the research necessary to determine whether the Catholic Church teaches false doctrine. and whether the CC today teaches the same doctrines as the first-century church (hint: it does).

It breaks my heart to see someone leave the CC over something superficial. Come home.

God bless you,
Paul

 

[slyboots]

I cannot subscribe to any of this. I am more spiritual now than I ever was as a Catholic. I have confessed sin but certainly not for being an Episcopalian.

O Good Grief.

Go to the funeral. Do not receive the Sacrament because you no longer believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church. You are not in communion with us in that respect only.

Honor your grandmother. Support your mom.

Ex-Epsicopalian here. I have loads of friends still in the Episcopal Church. I go to funerals, weddings etc. But I do not receive the bread and wine as I do not hold the same beliefs as are taught by the Episcopal Church. No one minds that I do not receive. They just appreciate that I care enough to share the time with them and pray for them.

Being an Episcopalian is not a sin. It is a Christian faith.

 

[Mommyof02green]

I just wanted to point out that my mom has come to our Holy Eucharist services and received communion with us. Why would there be anything wrong with that?

It is wrong for any Catholic to receive communion from another church. Because we, as Catholics, understand that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Our Lord and that only Catholic priests (with apostolic succession) can celebrate the Mass. For a Catholic to receive communion from a church that is not in communion with these beliefs is incorrect. It represents a communion, a unity, that, sadly, is not present.

It’s also part of Cannon Law. Your mom as practicing Catholic should be aware of this…

Almost every week someone asks whether a non-Catholic may receive Communion at a Catholic parish or a Catholic may take the “Lord’s Supper” at a non-Catholic church. My answer always begins with Canon 844 of the Code of Canon Law. That canon has five sections. The first says that “Catholic ministers may licitly administer the sacraments to Catholic members of the Christian faithful only and, likewise, the latter may licitly receive the sacraments only from Catholic ministers.” So, in general, the answer to questions I get about intercommunion is “No.” But there are exceptions, and those are handled in the following three sections of the code.

Section 2 permits a Catholic to receive Communion in a non-Catholic church if that church has a valid Eucharist. (This section also deals with receiving penance and anointing of the sick, but no one ever asks me about receiving those in a non-Catholic church.) Since no Protestant church, including the Anglican, has a valid Eucharist, Catholics who sit through the “Lord’s Supper” at, say, a Baptist church may not partake of the bread and wine there.

catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0066.html

I know that you know that Catholic’s do not consider the Eucharist in the Anglican/Episcopalian to be valid. (I don’t want to turn your thread into a debate).

However, because Catholic’s don’t consider the Eucharist to be valid in the Anglican/Episcopalian Church your Mom as a practicing Catholic should not be receiving communion in your church, as Cannon Law 844 states.

Of course this has nothing to do with you going or not going but maybe that is some info you can pass along to your Mom, just so she knows for future reference.

What she does with that information is her business.

I wish you luck and pray that you make a decision that is good for your family. God Bless.

 

[prodigal-sun]

I cannot subscribe to any of this. I am more spiritual now than I ever was as a Catholic. I have confessed sin but certainly not for being an Episcopalian.

Not being spiritual or holy as a catholic has nothing to do with the church and has everything to do ones own convictions. You must strive personally to be a holy as you can wheter you are a catholic christian or a non-catholic christian.

Peace!

 

[ACbishop]

According to the Catholic Church, you are a Catholic by virtue of your baptism. Therefore, you are bound to attend Mass every Sunday, receive communion at least once a year, go to confession at least once a year and everything else that the Church teaches is necessary in the eyes of God to do. Not doing these things is sinful.

I guess I must say that the Catholic church doesn’t own me nor does it possess a lease on God. I go to my own church services and really couldn’t care less about what Rome says is valid or invalid because I don’t believe that it matters.

 

[ACbishop]

Not being spiritual or holy as a catholic has nothing to do with the church and has everything to do ones own convictions. You must strive personally to be a holy as you can wheter you are a catholic christian or a non-catholic christian.

Peace!

I strongly disagree. It has everything to do with a religious institution and its beliefs, especially those that supress others.

 

[ACbishop]

It’s also part of Cannon Law. Your mom as practicing Catholic should be aware of this…

I know that you know that Catholic’s do not consider the Eucharist in the Anglican/Episcopalian to be valid. (I don’t want to turn your thread into a debate).

However, because Catholic’s don’t consider the Eucharist to be valid in the Anglican/Episcopalian Church your Mom as a practicing Catholic should not be receiving communion in your church, as Cannon Law 844 states.

Of course this has nothing to do with you going or not going but maybe that is some info you can pass along to your Mom, just so she knows for future reference.

What she does with that information is her business.

I wish you luck and pray that you make a decision that is good for your family. God Bless.

To be perfectly honest with you, I would never say anything to her because really, why do I care? I believe that she is partaking of the body and blood of Christ in my church. If someone told her that she couldn’t receive in my church she would probably at this point leave the Catholic church and join with the Anglicans as I have. She is pretty fed up with the way the Catholic church has swept the sex scandal under the rug and all anyway and it wouldn’t take much to convert her at this point.

 

[Mommyof02green]

To be perfectly honest with you, I would never say anything to her because really, why do I care? I believe that she is partaking of the body and blood of Christ in my church. If someone told her that she couldn’t receive in my church she would probably at this point leave the Catholic church and join with the Anglicans as I have. She is pretty fed up with the way the Catholic church has swept the sex scandal under the rug and all anyway and it wouldn’t take much to convert her at this point.

Like I said as a practicing Catholic she should be aware of this…

Just do what you feel is best for your family. God Bless.

 

[ACbishop]

Like I said as a practicing Catholic she should be aware of this…

Just do what you feel is best for your family. God Bless.

I would encourage my mother to come and see what I have found for myself and my family in the Episcopal church. I can experience the spirit for what it truly is and not just from within the limits of a religious institute.

 

[slyboots]

To be perfectly honest with you, I would never say anything to her because really, why do I care? I believe that she is partaking of the body and blood of Christ in my church. If someone told her that she couldn’t receive in my church she would probably at this point leave the Catholic church and join with the Anglicans as I have. She is pretty fed up with the way the Catholic church has swept the sex scandal under the rug and all anyway and it wouldn’t take much to convert her at this point.

Not actually on the subject but The Episcopal Church has sexual scandals also. That was one of the reasons my entire family has converted from the Episcopal Church to the Catholic Church over the last 15 years. Homosexual bishops and priests are just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to discuss this further we will need to go to a more appropriate thread.

Aside from that, Catholics are not to receive communion at Episcopal Churches. Just as Episcopalians are not to receive the Sacrament in Catholic Churches.

But again I say, please go and support your mother. There is clear Biblical teaching on honoring your mother, father, grandmother etc as we all know.

 

[ACbishop]

Not actually on the subject but The Episcopal Church has sexual scandals also. That was one of the reasons my entire family has converted from the Episcopal Church to the Catholic Church over the last 15 years. Homosexual bishops and priests are just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to discuss this further we will need to go to a more appropriate thread.

Aside from that, Catholics are not to receive communion at Episcopal Churches. Just as Episcopalians are not to receive the Sacrament in Catholic Churches.

But again I say, please go and support your mother. There is clear Biblical teaching on honoring your mother, father, grandmother etc as we all know.

I would certainly dare to challenge you on any kind of a sex scandal in the Episcopal church that rivals the billion dollar plus in lawsuits that has resulted from the despicable acts of Catholic priests. I will certainly go to support my mom but I couldn’t care less about how the CC feels about Episcopalians and communion. It means and affects nothing with myself and my family.

 

[Rocky]

I too would advise you to go in order to honor your mother and grandmother. However, after reading all your replies I think you have way too much hurt involved to be able to go and be graciously at peace. So if you are looking for someone to give you permission to stay home, please do so if it means that there will be more peace in your heart. Perhaps you can do something else with your mother to honor your grandmother or if there is a luncheon or gathering after the Mass, perhaps you can go to that.

May the Lord bless you and your family. May the soul of your grandmother rest in peace.

 

[ACbishop]

I too would advise you to go in order to honor your mother and grandmother. However, after reading all your replies I think you have way too much hurt involved to be able to go and be graciously at peace. So if you are looking for someone to give you permission to stay home, please do so if it means that there will be more peace in your heart. Perhaps you can do something else with your mother to honor your grandmother or if there is a luncheon or gathering after the Mass, perhaps you can go to that.

May the Lord bless you and your family. May the soul of your grandmother rest in peace.

I believe that what you said is one of the most honest and reasonable responses I have heard yet. Thank you for that.