Should you go to mass if not receiving?

  • Thread starter Thread starter johnnyjones
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
In earlier times (middle ages say), it was completely uncommon for people to receive communion every week (never mind every day). Once a month was more common.

Heck, we still have a rule that you must receive communion once a year and that came out of that time period to make sure people would at least do that.
I believe that during the middle ages it was more like yearly.

The only person who must receive Communion at every Mass is the priest who is celebrating it.
 
Are you kidding, you can’t just walk from a marriage and act like nothing ever happened and oh boy go to communion and confession…sorry
And you can’t go on misleading people with something that IS NOT Church teaching like nothing ever happened.

If someone is divorced…lets say the other spouse divorces them…in the eyes of the church they are still married…and as long as that person does not remarry or date…explain to me exactly why they can not receive communion? In the eyes of the Church that sacrament is still there…

But please stop spouting stuff that is against Church teaching…it is bad for your soul…
 
What difference does it make to receive grace simply by being there or whether or not a person adds another mortal sin? The grace is not going to do any good. It only takes one sin considered to be mortal by the Catholic Church to go to hell if unrepented according to the Catholic Church. All the grace you receive just by being there or whether there is 1 mortal sin on a soul or 100, doesn’t change that. If someone misses one Mass their entire lives or has some other sin considered to be mortal by the Catholic Church on their soul, and doesn’t repent it in confession, they’re judged to hell anyway according to the Catholic Church. Whether or not they ever set foot in a Catholic church again. 🤷
This is a subtle teaching of the Church. A person may be guilty of what is *objectively *a mortal sin while not being culpable or *personally *guilty of a mortal sin.

As an example, a person may never have heard that using birth control is a mortal sin. So she uses abc, not realizing it is a mortal sin. She may well not be personally guilty of mortal sin even tho what she is doing is classified as a mortal sin. Remember, three things are necessary for a sin to be *subjectively *mortal: full knowledge, full consent, and grave matter on the part of the person committing the action.

When she becomes aware of the fact that this is a mortal sin, she will want to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist. It may be that her nearby church is a mission chapel to which a priest comes to celebrate Mass, and she cannot get to the main church to go to confession for a week or two.

She would not know whether or not going to Mass would bring the normal graces of attending without receiving, so she should go. And even if one knew one was in a state of mortal sin, perhaps returning to the Church after a period of rebellion, he should attend Mass until he can get to Confession because the Church teaches that one is obliged to attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation, but only obliges to receive the Eucharist once a year. And his contrition may be sufficient that some grace is able to enter his soul.

So, a person who has committed a mortal sin may not be bound for Hell, but missing Mass may be what puts him on that downward path, not to mention the sin of despair. As a general rule, a person who has committed a mortal sin who is concerned about missing Mass is usually repentant enough to go to Confession, and will presumably go as soon as possible.
If someone misses one Mass their entire lives or has some other sin considered to be mortal by the Catholic Church on their soul, and doesn’t repent it in confession, they’re judged to hell anyway according to the Catholic Church.
The Church does not judge that any particular person is on their way to Hell; the Church does not even teach that any particular person is *i *Hell!

The Church teaches that there are certain things which will cause a person to end up in Hell, and it is very easy to see that some people went to their graves apparently unrepentant of these sins, but the Church still does not say that any of them are in Hell, either.

However, Confession is always, if not immediately, available, and priests even go out all the time, at all hours, to give Last Rites *for the purpose of absolving someone’s sins before they die.

You seem to be talking as if the Church teaches that it is very difficult to attain holiness. In one way it is, because we have to have the discipline to love God more than we love ourselves, but in another way it is not, because God, through the Church, offers so much help to us.*
 
=Annabelle Marie;9923379]Being divorced does not disqualify you from communion in and of itself. If you are divorced and not dating anyone then there is not a sin in that. What happens to the people who’s spouses divorce then through no fault of their own?
They have to suffer the penalty too IF they choose to NOT remain Single. It’s not “dating” it’s the second MARRIAGE that is the issue. The OTHER problem could be adultry temtations from dating???

Their own second marriage, not that of the departed spouce.:gopray2:
 
“Mass” is a proper noun!
You’ve got your work cut out for you if your going to correct every jot an tittle on this forum. If your going to correct someones spelling error, do it with a little cheer and bedside manner. Darn newbies.
 
And you can’t go on misleading people with something that IS NOT Church teaching like nothing ever happened.

If someone is divorced…lets say the other spouse divorces them…in the eyes of the church they are still married…and as long as that person does not remarry or date…explain to me exactly why they can not receive communion? In the eyes of the Church that sacrament is still there…

But please stop spouting stuff that is against Church teaching…it is bad for your soul…
From EWTN website. Thanks for playing!

Divorce. By itself civil divorce is not an obstacle to Communion. As a civil action all it does is settle the civil legal effects of marriage (distribution of property, custody of children etc.). However, understood as a moral action, the willful breakup of a marriage or abandonment of one’s spouse is indeed seriously wrong. The Catechism of the Catholic Church makes clear, following on Scripture, that God hates such divorce.

2382 The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble. He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law. Between the baptized, “a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death.”

2383 The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law. If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense.

2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:

If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery; and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another’s husband to herself.

2385 Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.

Thus, those who are actually responsible for the breakup of the marriage and the failure to be reconciled when possible are indeed guilty of sin and have an obligation to repent and confess their sin before receiving Communion, as would any grave sinner.
 
Wrong sorry, Common error.

If you are divorced and not obtained annullments is just one of many that would eliminate participation in communion/confession.
You must have a more communion friendly Priest than me ;), of course
being divorce with no annullments would disqualify communion.
Being divorced does not disqualify you from communion in and of itself. If you are divorced and not dating anyone then there is not a sin in that. What happens to the people who’s spouses divorce then through no fault of their own?
That is why we have annullments
It appears that you are not reading the own stuff you post. From the EWTN Website itself…“By itself civil divorce is not an obstacle to Communion.” And when you add at the bottom…those who are responsible for the breakup of the marriage…

In your quotes above you make no distinction nor do you respond to my question about those that end up divorced through no fault of their own other then to say that is what annulments are for.

So…again…by itself being divorced does not mean that you can not receive communion. Even in your EWTN post…someone could have caused the divorce…repent and go to confession and then receive communion…but in your post #30…you post “do communion and confession if you insist…:(” which clearly indicates that you don’t think that is acceptable.
 
Iron Mike posts: Thus, those who are actually responsible for the breakup of the marriage and the failure to be reconciled when possible are indeed guilty of sin and have an obligation to repent and confess their sin before receiving Communion, as would any grave sinner.

The breakup of a marraige is never ALL of one person’s fault. It is a culmination of failures on both parties faults that leads to divorce, although one person may be more culpable than the other. The point of this is that it is not divorce that bars one from Communion. It is divorce and remarriage without an annulment that does this. The Church needs to be reaching out to civilly divorced yet unremarried Catholics so that they know that they are in full Communion with the rest of us sinner/saints and so that they will not be misinformed by the dog garbage Iron Mike continues to spout.
 
Are you kidding, you can’t just walk from a marriage and act like nothing ever happened and oh boy go to communion and confession…sorry
Excuse me? What makes you think that somebody going through the trauma of divorce ‘walks from a marriage and acts like nothing ever happened?’

What makes you think --and please do cite the relevant teaching from the catechism–that divorce is the ‘unforgiveable sin’ for which a person may not ever afterward seek confession, forgiveness, and on such, communion?
 
If you are a Catholic and believe you are in a state of mortal sin and can not receive communion, should you go to mass?
Yes! You must refrain from receiving Holy Communion if you are in a state of mortal sin. Even if you are in a state of mortal sin you are still obliged to go to Mass.
 
You’ve got your work cut out for you if your going to correct every jot an tittle on this forum. If your going to correct someones spelling error, do it with a little cheer and bedside manner. Darn newbies.
Oh I’ve had my spelling corrected even by not a newbie.
 
This is a subtle teaching of the Church. A person may be guilty of what is *objectively *a mortal sin while not being culpable or *personally *guilty of a mortal sin.
Yes St Francis, I am well aware of that. I took the OP to be saying the person believed they were in mortal sin.
 
Yes - you should go to mass every sunday and holy day of obligation even if not recieving holy communion.
 
When I go to mass and don’ t receive communion because of my sins, I see the entire congregation receive communion which is great. But, from my perspective I have to wonder if I’m the only one not in a state of grace. I’m the only sinner?

I personally believe others are receiving communion but shouldn’t be. Some may say this should not be a concern of mine. They are probably right. It is based on this experience that I decided to post the thread question.

I know mass is an obligation. I really wanted to see if there would be many varying responses because I think many disregard the seriousness of mortal sin and the receiving of the Eucharist.

He stretched out the north o
 
If you are a Catholic and believe you are in a state of mortal sin and can not receive communion, should you go to mass?
If it’s Sunday, you have to. On other days, it could help to receive more grace to make a good Confession 🙂
 
When I go to mass and don’ t receive communion because of my sins, I see the entire congregation receive communion which is great. But, from my perspective I have to wonder if I’m the only one not in a state of grace. I’m the only sinner?

I personally believe others are receiving communion but shouldn’t be. Some may say this should not be a concern of mine. They are probably right. It is based on this experience that I decided to post the thread question.

I know mass is an obligation. I really wanted to see if there would be many varying responses because I think many disregard the seriousness of mortal sin and the receiving of the Eucharist.

He stretched out the north o
I think that maybe some people don’t know, etc, but most if not all Catholics who go to these forums are aware of the Church teaching on this. If people receive unworthily that’s really unfortunate; there’s not much we can do on this but just pray and maybe don’t assume anything about others, just focus on your spiritual life and prayer 🙂 if you know someone who is unaware of this rule, maybe it would be good to inform them.
 
When I go to mass and don’ t receive communion because of my sins, I see the entire congregation receive communion which is great. But, from my perspective I have to wonder if I’m the only one not in a state of grace. I’m the only sinner?

I personally believe others are receiving communion but shouldn’t be. Some may say this should not be a concern of mine. They are probably right. It is based on this experience that I decided to post the thread question.

I know mass is an obligation. I really wanted to see if there would be many varying responses because I think many disregard the seriousness of mortal sin and the receiving of the Eucharist.

He stretched out the north o
Was it not the case with Cain and Abel that while they both were at the altar offering sacrifices…Cain’s focus and attention was not on God but on his brother? If you are concentrating on God…and your worship of him…the rest should not matter. And who knows…maybe someone will see your good example and it will give them pause to think…
 
What difference does it make to receive grace simply by being there or whether or not a person adds another mortal sin? The grace is not going to do any good. It only takes one sin considered to be mortal by the Catholic Church to go to hell if unrepented according to the Catholic Church. All the grace you receive just by being there or whether there is 1 mortal sin on a soul or 100, doesn’t change that. If someone misses one Mass their entire lives or has some other sin considered to be mortal by the Catholic Church on their soul, and doesn’t repent it in confession, they’re judged to hell anyway according to the Catholic Church. Whether or not they ever set foot in a Catholic church again. 🤷
Even if you are in mortal you recieve some help from the Lord. that would be the disposition to leave the way of sin - and make a good confession. God sees and knows everything and His mercy is deeply connected to His justice - When He sees someone making the effort He takes that into account. don’t give up. I will pray for you.:signofcross::signofcross::signofcross:
 
Going to receive Jesus in communion is a marvelous act given to us by Jesus to draw us close to him. But even if one may not receive him in this closeness of communion, we are in his presence because of the tabernacule, body and soul and person, similar to the crowds who surrounded him in Capharnaum, trying to just get a glimpse of him. We are indeed privileged to do even this, to be that close to him.

And the Mass is indeed more that just receiving Jesus, it is offering Jesus to our heavenly Father for our sins and the sins of the world. There is nothing on this earth that we could possibly offer to our dear Father more acceptable than his only beloved Son. This offering is the most pleasing gift we could ever offer and is worthy of being offered to him.

Any one of his children, by baptism, that is so unfortunate to have fallen seriously, should immediately tell our Father how sorry they are because he deserves so much more. And promise our Father to be a good son/daughter in the future and will go to his priest as soon as possible. If this is done, which would be extremely pleasing to Jesus, then sanctifying grace is restored and Jesus takes up his life again within our soul. If this is done, then the graces of the Mass may indeed be received. And the effects of grace always depend on the person’s disposition of love and devotion, as was shown by the woman in the bible who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dryed them with her hair.

How previleged we are to receive him into our hearts, one way or another.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top