Should priests remind those that are in mortal sin not to take the Holy Eucharist?

[Mijoy2]

puzzleannie:

Better would be as part of the homily or even before Mass begins as visitors are being welcomed, to remind people of the rules for receiving communion, and pointing out where they are in the missalette.

Exactly. However I have never heard a priest do this. Given that receiving unworthly is yet a worse sin you’d think they’d conduct an occasional homily on this.

It would be time well spent even if it meant turning some from the church.

 

[svoboda]

Mike_D30:

I just got back from Mass, and I had to abstain from recieving the Holy Eucharist because I need to have my marriage convalidated first.

But I would say that I was one of maybe five who did this out of maybe 200 in the Church.

I think many Catholics who don’t attend regularly think that rule went away 20-30 years ago. Should priests remind us not to recieve the Holy Eucharist if we have mortal sins we have not confessed? Like misssing Mass, sexual impurity etc…? I honestly don’t think that most people know that they aren’t supposed to anymore.

What makes you think that those people were in mortal sin? Maybe they were not!

 

[blessedstar]

Mijoy2:

Exactly. However I have never heard a priest do this. Given that receiving unworthly is yet a worse sin you’d think they’d conduct an occasional homily on this.

It would be time well spent even if it meant turning some from the church.

Ok I see where you are coming from, but just think if all the sinners left, there would be no Church.

 

[Mike_D30]

svoboda:

What makes you think that those people were in mortal sin? Maybe they were not!

I’m just guessing, I mean I’m in an invalid marriage from before I came back to the Church so I don’t recieve, until it gets convalidated. I’m just guessing that not all of 99.5% of the people at the Church who did receive, were in a state to recieve the Holy Eucharist. I’m not judging them, as my original point was that a lot of them probably just don’t even know that if you miss Mass you shouldn’t receive, or if you touch yourself improperly without reconciliation you shouldn’t recieve. My brothers will go to Church on Easter and receive and that’s the only time they go, but it’s really just ignorance. In fact my Mother does the same thing, she actually told me they don’t follow those rules anymore. I’m just saying that maybe there’s a tactical way to teach this. I don’t know maybe I’m just being ridiculous, but I don’t think it would hurt to let folks know about the rules for receving the Holy Eucharist. I honestly think most Catholics are not really aware of the rules at all.

 

[otm]

scapularkid8:

I did this once. This is a little off topic, but when I confessed this and a lot of other bad sins, the priest didn’t give me any Penance…am I still forgiven?

Yes. the forgiveness comes when the priest says “I absolve you of your sins”.

Your penancee dos not cause the absolution, the priest’s act of absolving you does.

 

[otm]

Mike_D30:

I’m just guessing, I mean I’m in an invalid marriage from before I came back to the Church so I don’t recieve, until it gets convalidated. I’m just guessing that not all of 99.5% of the people at the Church who did receive, were in a state to recieve the Holy Eucharist. I’m not judging them, as my original point was that a lot of them probably just don’t even know that if you miss Mass you shouldn’t receive, or if you touch yourself improperly without reconciliation you shouldn’t recieve. My brothers will go to Church on Easter and receive and that’s the only time they go, but it’s really just ignorance. In fact my Mother does the same thing, she actually told me they don’t follow those rules anymore. I’m just saying that maybe there’s a tactical way to teach this. I don’t know maybe I’m just being ridiculous, but I don’t think it would hurt to let folks know about the rules for receving the Holy Eucharist. I honestly think most Catholics are not really aware of the rules at all.

You are correct that many people in all sincerity do not know the rules. As to those who think the rules were eliminated, it will be up to God to determine whether they had a clean conscience or not.

While I agree that there could be more specifics coming from the ambo on any given Sunday, if one were to take all the pet peeves that people seem to think need addressing, one wonders if there would ever be a homily about the readings…

As to your relatives, perhaps a copy of the new samller Catechism that is shortly to be coming out might be a nice gift, assuming they are open to it. God bless you for working at doing the right thing. Perhaps some day you may be able to share this with others, from the point of view of personal testimony (as opposed to the point of view of “the Church says”). It is amazing how much people can be touched by someone else’s testimony about something, and how often they will reject the same message when it comes across as didactic.

 

[PapaBenny]

Here’s the Patron Saint of Priest counseling on confession:

CHAPTER 17 : Catechism on Confession

MY CHILDREN, as soon as ever you have a little spot upon your soul, you must do like a person who has a fine globe of glass, which he keeps very carefully. If this globe has a little dust on it, he wipes it with a sponge the moment he perceives it, and there is the globe clear and brilliant. In the same way, as soon as you perceive a little stain on your soul, take some holy water with respect, do one of those good works to which the remission of venial sins is attached - an alms, a genuflection to the Blessed Sacrament, hearing a Mass. My children, it is like a person who has a slight illness; he need not go and see a doctor, he may cure himself without. If he has a headache, he need only go to bed; if he is hungry, he has only to eat. But if it is a serious illness, if it is a dangerous wound, he must have the doctor; after the doctor come the remedies. In the same way, when we have fallen into any grievous sin, we must have recourse to the doctor, that is the priest; and to the remedy, that is confession.

My children, we cannot comprehend the goodness of God towards us in instituting this great Sacrament of Penance. If we had had a favour to ask of Our Lord, we should never have thought of asking Him that. But He foresaw our frailty and our inconstancy in well-doing, and His love induced Him to do what we should not have dared to ask. If one said to those poor lost souls that have been so long in Hell, "We are going to place a priest at the gate of Hell: all those who wish to confess have only to go out, " do you think, my children, that a single one would remain? The most guilty would not be afraid of telling their sins, nor even of telling them before all the world. Oh, how soon Hell would be a desert, and how Heaven would be peopled! Well, we have the time and the means, which those poor lost souls have not. And I am quite sure that those wretched ones say in Hell, “O accursed priest! if I had never known you, I should not be so guilty!”

It is a beautiful thought, my children, that we have a Sacrament which heals the wounds of our soul! But we must receive it with good dispositions. Otherwise we make new wounds upon the old ones. What would you say of a man covered with wounds who is advised to go to the hospital to show himself to the surgeon? The surgeon cures him by giving him remedies. But, behold! this man takes his knife, gives himself great blows with it and makes himself worse than he was before. Well, that is what you often do after leaving the confessional.

My children, some people make bad confessions without taking any notice of it. These persons say, "I do not know what is the matter with me:’ . . . They are tormented, and they do not know why. They have not that agility which makes one go straight to the good God; they have something heavy and weary about them which fatigues them. My children, that is because of sins that remain, often even venial sins, for which one has some affection. There are some people who, indeed, tell everything, but they have no repentance; and they go at once to Holy Communion. Thus the Blood of Our Lord is profaned! They go to the Holy Table with a sort of weariness. They say, "Yet, I accused myself of all my sins. . . I do not know what is the matter with me. " There is an unworthy Communion, and they were hardly aware of it!

 

[PapaBenny]

My children, some people again profane the Sacraments in another manner. They have concealed mortal sins for ten years, for twenty years. They are always uneasy; their sin is always present to their mind; they are always thinking of confessing it, and always putting it off; it is a Hell. When these people feel this, they will ask to make a general confession, and they will tell their sins as if they had just committed them: they will not confess that they have hidden them during ten years - twenty years. That is a bad confession! They ought to say, besides, that they had given up the practice of their religion, that they no longer felt the pleasure they had formerly in serving the good God.

My children, we run the risk again of profaning the Sacrament if we seize the moment when there is a noise round the confessional to tell the sins quickly which give us most pain. We quiet ourselves by saying, "I accused myself properly; so much the worse if the confessor did not hear. " So much the worse for you who acted cunningly! At other times we speak quickly, profiting by the moment when the priest is not very attentive to get over the great sins. Take a house which has been for a long time very dirty and neglected - it is in vain to sweep out, there will always be a nasty smell. It is the same with our soul after confession; it requires tears to purify it. My children, we must ask earnestly for repentance. After confession, we must plant a thorn in our heart, and never lose sight of our sins. We must do as the angel did to St. Francis of Assisi; he fixed in him five darts, which never came out again.

 

[Isidore_AK]

PapaBenny:

How did you all learn your catechism? Was it taught well? Was it taught as this is what you MUST believe or what? This is huge problem. The rules will never change so… and I don’t think they should, this is from the Apostles/Jesus Christ.

I think that if you asked most of the people at the ‘average’ parish that question you’d get: “Whats a Catechism?” as a response…

 

[msproule]

Yes, I think it is something of which the faithful (and any non-Catholic visitors, for that matter) should be reminded at every Mass.

However, I do not think it should happen in the middle of Mass, just prior to Holy Communion. While this is arguably the most effective time to do it and the intentions are good, there is no provision for announcements at this time in the Mass. Rather, in my experience the rules for receiving Holy Communion have either been announced just prior to Mass or written on laminated cards in the pews.

How about including a prayer in the “Prayer of the Faithful” that goes something like this:
“For reparation of the sacrileges committed so often against the Most Blessed Sacrament; That the faithful may never approach Holy Communion while still guilty of unrepented mortal sin. We pray to the Lord…”

 

[luvthelight]

one parish i went to had a very good manner of handeling this, so i thought. as he walked to position to destribute the eucharist he simply said “those who are free from mortal sin and are in a state to recieve the eucharist may now come forward to recieve our lord”. kinda was a good reminder that simply attending mass does not necessarily mean recieving, you must be in a clean state

 

[otm]

Just some random thoughts:

It seems from a reading of the Gospel accounts of the Last supper, that Christ gave the Eucharist to Judas.

It also appears that during Pope John Paul 2’s funeral, then Cardinal Ratzinger gave the Eucharist to a brother from the Taize movement; and although there was some immediate speculation that the brother had converted (perhaps secretly) prior to the funeral Mass, I have heard nothing further which would confirm that; the information in the reports indicated that he was firends with the deceased Pope and at least reasoably well known to the Caridinal.

Given that, and the fact that in every missal I have seen in the pews, the requirements for the reception of the Eucharist are spelled out in plain language in the front cover, perhaps an announcement at each Mass may not be necessary?

Not that I would suggest that something said at some time of the year (the summer would seem the most appropriate time, as that is when the gospel readings concerning the Eucharist fall in the three year cycles) would not be appropriate.

 

[Mijoy2]

blessedstar:

Ok I see where you are coming from, but just think if all the sinners left, there would be no Church.

Yes, the church is for sinners.

There is a profound difference between a sinner, and a person who is commiting grave sin and unaware of it because they haven’t been informed. If they become aware and are unwilling to attempt to obey and continue to take the eucharist, they cast judgement upon themselves. But, they are aware.

 

[Vonier]

But why does the Church continue to offer communion to those Catholics who openly and publicly advocate abortion? Don’t those individuals still come forward and receive? Isn’t there an organized group of Catholics who promote themselves as abortion advocates?

I watched a video in RCIA a week or so ago about the Eucharist. We were solemnly informed that a priest could or would refuse communion in the cases of a very public scandal or in the off chance a mafia don presented himself for the Eucharist. A mafia don?

I also know someone who isn’t able to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord because his marriage hasn’t been convalidated. I just scratch my head. Catholic politicians who openly espouse the murder of children in the womb are not denied, but this guy has to get his marriage paperwork up to snuff and until then sit out the Eucharist?

But hey, I’m fairly well insulated from the news sometimes. Maybe I missed the part where the bishops said abortion support = no communion, and then actually acted on it.

Are the folks who call themselves Catholics for Choice communicant members of the Catholic Church? If they are then all of that high flown stuff about who can and who can’t doesn’t mean much, does it?

 

[Mike_D30]

Vonier:

I also know someone who isn’t able to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord because his marriage hasn’t been convalidated. I just scratch my head. Catholic politicians who openly espouse the murder of children in the womb are not denied, but this guy has to get his marriage paperwork up to snuff and until then sit out the Eucharist?

But hey, I’m fairly well insulated from the news sometimes. Maybe I missed the part where the bishops said abortion support = no communion, and then actually acted on it.

Are the folks who call themselves Catholics for Choice communicant members of the Catholic Church? If they are then all of that high flown stuff about who can and who can’t doesn’t mean much, does it?

I just want to clear things up since some people may be confusing what I was meaning in the original post.

I am in a position right now where I have to get my marriage convalidated before I can recieve the Eucharist. It’s O.K. I have all the paperwork and all I need is my Pastor to get me a date, and my wife and I will go with a few family members and have our marriage accepted as a Sacrament, then I can recieve the Eucharist. But the thing is it’s me who is abstaining from the Eucharist, I wouldn’t expect the Pastor to be the police, but for the people to have a better understanding to police themselves.

Many Catholics just don’t know what the rules are. Seriously many jsut don’t even know that the Eucharist is the literal body and Blood of Christ. So they see nothing wrong with recieving the host.

I guess in the end it’s up to the people, I was just thinking that a little reminder say once a month done with tact could go a long way.

Thanks

God Bless

 

[Vonier]

My point, Mike, was the contrast between someone sitting out until they get their marriage paperwork in order and those who are in open defiance of the Church’s teachings and are still offered the Body and Blood.

When does the Church step up and say no? When someone spots Don Corleone?

 

[otm]

Vonier:

My point, Mike, was the contrast between someone sitting out until they get their marriage paperwork in order and those who are in open defiance of the Church’s teachings and are still offered the Body and Blood.

When does the Church step up and say no? When someone spots Don Corleone?

That discussion became somewhat heated during the last election when Kerry, a Catholic, was running for office; as he would not disavow himself from the Democratic platform on abortion, the discussion heated uyp. A couple of bishops waded into the issue, inviting him to not receive in their jurisdiction.

I do not know the specific Canon Law on the issue, but the consensus is that there is not a consensus; I believe that rome, after the election (and somewhat recently, if my memory is correct) was trying to get a position solidified as to how this would be treated.

The answers are not always as easy as we presume. There is a strong element of a pastoral approach in the Church, that is, of not refusing the Eucharist. An example is in my prior post, at the funeral of John Paul 2. If the Cardinal in charge of the Office of Devfeneding the Faith gives the Eucharist to someone he knows, who at least publicly at that moment was not a Catholic, then perhaps the issue is not as totaly cut and dried as you and I and others in this forum might believe it to be.

In general, it seems that the pastoral approach is to not refuse the Eucharist to someone who presents themselves at that time. It may be that they would be refused if they were in particular personally warned not to approach, before that Mass began, or would be refused if prior to the Mass the bishop had ruled particularly that that individual was not allowed to receive (a public penalty in Canon Law short of an excommunication).

The net result is that the law of who may receive is on the books, and at least some know the law. It is then left to the judgement of the individual whether or not to rceive; and ultimately, it is the individual who is responsible for that choice; that is, if it is a sin, the sin is that individual’s.

As to the bishops not making that decision in the specifi circumstances, that is their responsibility, and from Rome’s approach, they are not in violation of their duties to not publicly refuse the Eucharist.

In so many words, “ours not to reason why”.

 

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Mordocai:

but anyway, the priests are in a tough position with these things. but then again, its up to the person himself to already know when he can/can’t receive. a little knowledge of the Eucharist goes a looooong way. priests should catechize better, we need to learn better. any thoughts?

Yeah, here’s a thought: What do you mean by “the priests are in a tough position with these things”???

What is it you think they don’t understand about, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel”???

Anna

 

[Anna_Elizabeth]

Jaypeeto3:

Yes, the priest should warn non-Catholics and those in mortal sin not to partake of the Eucharist.
At St. Michael’s here in Miami, back in 1991, there was a priest named Father Dan, and boy, he made sure to make that announcement (but BEFORE everyone stood up to come forward).
He would add: Again, I warn you, do not partake of the Eucharist, for to do so would be a Sacrilege.

We need many more priests like him.

Jaypeeto3

Yes, that’s for sure. Do you have any idea where he is now? Did he ever run into any trouble about that?

Anna

 

[Anna_Elizabeth]

msproule:

Yes, I think it is something of which the faithful (and any non-Catholic visitors, for that matter) should be reminded at every Mass.

However, I do not think it should happen in the middle of Mass, just prior to Holy Communion. While this is arguably the most effective time to do it and the intentions are good, there is no provision for announcements at this time in the Mass.

As some other poster has mentioned, it can be done casually and without abruptly breaking the reverence of the moment.

Rather, in my experience the rules for receiving Holy Communion have either been announced just prior to Mass or written on laminated cards in the pews.

Yup, and the results are what we have just described as the problem.

How about including a prayer in the “Prayer of the Faithful” that goes something like this:
“For reparation of the sacrileges committed so often against the Most Blessed Sacrament; That the faithful may never approach Holy Communion while still guilty of unrepented mortal sin. We pray to the Lord…”

I really like that idea, and if done routinely might convince people after a while that it honestly means something. I think that it might just hit home with some. OTOH, in my parish, the petitioner might well be chastised by the pastor then and there. It has happened to those guilty of much lesser infractions

God bless,

Anna.