Taking Communion at Protestant Church during Catholic Conversion

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Mr_Friscus

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I’m in the midst of converting the Catholicism. I’ve made multiple confessions, but am not technically Catholic yet.

I’m going out of town this weekend to visit family with my mother. She is a Protestant, and would like to commune with me one more time.

I’ve taken on the Catholic life for the most part, but would I be able to take communion one more time with my mother, grandmother, and grandfather before my full conversion?
 
Mr_Friscus said:
I’m in the midst of converting the Catholicism. I’ve made multiple confessions, but am not technically Catholic yet.

I’m going out of town this weekend to visit family with my mother. She is a Protestant, and would like to commune with me one more time.

I’ve taken on the Catholic life for the most part, but would I be able to take communion one more time with my mother, grandmother, and grandfather before my full conversion?
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Do you believe what their Church teaches about Communion? It might seem you wouldn’t if you are making multiple confessions which I assume you mean in the Catholic Church.

Maybe it’s time to refrain and tell them while you would be happy to join them for Church you can no longer Commune because the Catholic Church teaches this is the body and blood, soul and divinity of our Lord and Jesus Christ and you believe this.

If you don’t believe this, then you should Commune in a Church that reflects the belief of their Church.

Mary.
 
Mr_Friscus said:
I’m in the midst of converting the Catholicism. I’ve made multiple confessions, but am not technically Catholic yet.

I’m going out of town this weekend to visit family with my mother. She is a Protestant, and would like to commune with me one more time.

I’ve taken on the Catholic life for the most part, but would I be able to take communion one more time with my mother, grandmother, and grandfather before my full conversion?
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What brand of protestant is your family?
 
If you believe in the Eucharist, you cannot in good conscience receive communion at a protestant church. You can’t love your flesh & blood & soul wife and then over the weekend go on a date with a wooden mannequin replica of her stashed into the passenger side of your car. Something is very wrong with that picture. Protestant churches do not possess the living person, Jesus.

In the Catholic Church you receive a Person during communion, and you’re committed to that Person.
 
As yet Mr. Friscus is not yet Catholic and cannot partake in the Catholic communion. He is still Protestant, and can in good faith partake of the Protestant communion.

I see no problem with it, but it would also be a good opportunity for Mr. Friscus to say to his mother why he will not be able to take the Protestant communion once conversion is complete, and vice versa.

And the chances are that if the mother, and possibly the rest of the family, had not been Christians in the first place, the OP would not now be considering joining the Catholic Church. I wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to start a confrontation when none is necessary.

If I were in the OP’s position, I’d take the Protestant communion, for the simple reason the OP is still a Protestant.

Once the OP is Catholic, then its a different issue.

I try to avoid going to my wife’s Baptist Church on the first Sunday of the month, as that’s when they have communion. I prefer to avoid grand-standing on the issue.
 
He isn’t a protestant (a protestor) if he accepts & follows the Catholic Church. He’s a Catholic Candidate.

Two cats and one bowl of food is a confrontation. This isn’t a confrontation. It’s a bare minimal faithfulness to what one believes in. If he believes in the Catholic Church, then what is it that he would be communing about it? The idea of receiving “one last time” something that you don’t believe in is nonsensical. It would be a contradiction of his faith that is done for the sake of family harmony, which shouldn’t be necessary in the first place. His family are presumably mature adults and they can be treated like adults, not children that you walk on eggshells around. He can quietly refrain from receiving protestant bread, and if they ask about the issue, he can graciously explain that as a Catholic-to-be, he has a very different understanding of communion then what they do and that he cannot receive. That will likely be the end of it. They might feel some disappointment or sense of lose, but: adults can and should be treated like adults. In a way, it’s almost degrading towards his family if we think he has to receive communion one last time in order to not hurt their feelings.
 
TK421 said:
He isn’t a protestant (a protestor) if he accepts & follows the Catholic Church. He’s a Catholic Candidate.
**
Two cats and one bowl of food is a confrontation.** ;)This isn’t a confrontation. It’s a bare minimal faithfulness to what one believes in. If he believes in the Catholic Church, then what is it that he would be communing about it? The idea of receiving “one last time” something that you don’t believe in is nonsensical. It would be a contradiction of his faith that is done for the sake of family harmony, which shouldn’t be necessary in the first place. His family are presumably mature adults and they can be treated like adults, not children that you walk on eggshells around. He can quietly refrain from receiving protestant bread, and if they ask about the issue, he can graciously explain that as a Catholic-to-be, he has a very different understanding of communion then what they do and that he cannot receive. That will likely be the end of it. They might feel some disappointment or sense of lose, but: adults can and should be treated like adults. In a way, it’s almost degrading towards his family if we think he has to receive communion one last time in order to not hurt their feelings.
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I agree.
In light of the OP’s recent threads, I’d say there more to this story though. :ehh:
 
To the OP, you say you have been to confession? I would ask the priest. Even Catholics in a Catholic church sometimes refrain from receiving the Eucharist, you should have the same wisdom to choose to refrain at a Protestant church.
 
We need to understand what communion is in order to understand the logical absurdity of taking communion in a church you don’t belong to. The short explanation is: even if the OP received communion, he wouldn’t be receiving communion. You can’t be in communion with what you don’t believe in. It’s a metaphysical impossibility and contradiction to the definition of “communion”. It would literally be same thing as saying: “Let’s sit down and agree together one last time over what we don’t agree on”. The statement doesn’t compute.

Spiritually, the OP has already entered communion into the Catholic Church. He is now awaiting his sacramental reception in receiving the Body and Blood.
 
Bob_Crowley said:
As yet Mr. Friscus is not yet Catholic and cannot partake in the Catholic communion. He is still Protestant, and can in good faith partake of the Protestant communion.

I see no problem with it, but it would also be a good opportunity for Mr. Friscus to say to his mother why he will not be able to take the Protestant communion once conversion is complete, and vice versa.

And the chances are that if the mother, and possibly the rest of the family, had not been Christians in the first place, the OP would not now be considering joining the Catholic Church. I wouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to start a confrontation when none is necessary.

If I were in the OP’s position, I’d take the Protestant communion, for the simple reason the OP is still a Protestant.

Once the OP is Catholic, then its a different issue.

I try to avoid going to my wife’s Baptist Church on the first Sunday of the month, as that’s when they have communion. I prefer to avoid grand-standing on the issue.
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My mother knows that once I’m Catholic, we won’t be able to commune together.

This would be like a “goodbye” communion as far as taking it together…
 
TK421 said:
We need to understand what communion is in order to understand the absurdity of taking communion in a church you don’t belong to. The short explanation is: even if the OP received communion, he wouldn’t be receiving communion. You can’t be in communion with what you don’t believe in. It’s a metaphysical impossibility and contradiction to the definition of “communion”.

Spiritually, the OP has already entered communion into the Catholic Church. He is now awaiting his sacramental reception.
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But doesn’t the Catholic Church teach that Roman Catholics may recieve the eucharist in our churches if it’s urgent or part of the last rites? (Not to say that we allow catholics to recieve in our church though).

We believe differently from the CC so this argument doesn’t seem imminent to me.
We even believe differently in the transformation of the body and blood.
Catholicism teaches transubstantion while we believe in con substration, very different in many ways.

And there is NO absolutely NO communion between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church so to say that the communion part of the eucharist is should prevent OP from receiving at his Protestant church while catholics may recieve in Orthodox Churches according to the Roman rules make no sense…
 
TK421 said:
He isn’t a protestant (a protestor) if he accepts & follows the Catholic Church. He’s a Catholic Candidate.

Two cats and one bowl of food is a confrontation. This isn’t a confrontation. It’s a bare minimal faithfulness to what one believes in. If he believes in the Catholic Church, then what is it that he would be communing about it? The idea of receiving “one last time” something that you don’t believe in is nonsensical. It would be a contradiction of his faith that is done for the sake of family harmony, which shouldn’t be necessary in the first place. His family are presumably mature adults and they can be treated like adults, not children that you walk on eggshells around. He can quietly refrain from receiving protestant bread, and if they ask about the issue, he can graciously explain that as a Catholic-to-be, he has a very different understanding of communion then what they do and that he cannot receive. That will likely be the end of it. They might feel some disappointment or sense of lose, but: adults can and should be treated like adults. In a way, it’s almost degrading towards his family if we think he has to receive communion one last time in order to not hurt their feelings.
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I wouldn’t say this is purely about “making people feel good”.

Much of this is semantics, or labels.

I’m not quite Catholic, but yet I’m not quite Protestant anymore either.

*The Lutheran Communion:
  • Lutherans believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are “truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms” of consecrated bread and wine (the elements).
  • Communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true Body and Blood of Christ himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist whether they are believers or unbelievers.
  • The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is also known as the sacramental union.
  • It has also been called “consubstantiation” but most Lutheran theologians reject the use of this term as it creates confusion with an earlier doctrine of the same name.Some Lutherans do believe in consubstantiation.Lutherans use the term “in, with and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine” and “sacramental union” to distinguish their understanding of the Eucharist from those of the Reformed and other traditions.
It’s not as if I’m confused on the meaning, and it’s not as if I’d view Lutheran Communion as a replacement, or equal, to Catholic Communion.

However, the presence of God is believed in Lutheran communion, I suppose it brings the question of “Is something better than nothing?”… and yes, there is an elementy of family union for one last time.
 
TK421 said:
even if the OP received communion, he wouldn’t be receiving communion.
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I think that’s the issue here, as I don’t view Lutheran Communion as a replacement.

It’s something I’ll just have to outright ask my Preist or friend who is a qualified Catholic theologian.
 
As it is understood by the CC: Orthodox Churches possess valid Holy Orders, therefore they also possess a valid Eucharist. Even if the chasm between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches were increased 10 or 100 or 1000 fold in their severity, this would be irrelevant in concern to who Jesus is. He’s either there or he isn’t. So, although Catholics ordinarily can’t receive Eucharist in an Orthodox Church, there are situations where they can do so, because they still receive the supernatural benefits. In other words: Jesus is still Jesus.

But, in so far as an actual communion, you are correct that one doesn’t exist.
 
Mr_Friscus said:
I wouldn’t say this is purely about “making people feel good”.

Much of this is semantics, or labels.

I’m not quite Catholic, but yet I’m not quite Protestant anymore either.

*The Lutheran Communion:
  • Lutherans believe that the Body and Blood of Christ are “truly and substantially present in, with and under the forms” of consecrated bread and wine (the elements).
  • Communicants eat and drink both the elements and the true Body and Blood of Christ himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist whether they are believers or unbelievers.
  • The Lutheran doctrine of the Real Presence is also known as the sacramental union.
  • It has also been called “consubstantiation” but most Lutheran theologians reject the use of this term as it creates confusion with an earlier doctrine of the same name.Some Lutherans do believe in consubstantiation.Lutherans use the term “in, with and under the forms of consecrated bread and wine” and “sacramental union” to distinguish their understanding of the Eucharist from those of the Reformed and other traditions.
It’s not as if I’m confused on the meaning, and it’s not as if I’d view Lutheran Communion as a replacement, or equal, to Catholic Communion.

However, the presence of God is believed in Lutheran communion, I suppose it brings the question of “Is something better than nothing?”… and yes, there is an elementy of family union for one last time.
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Just because it is believed, does not make it so.
You are not divorcing your family.
This notion that you must say goodbye to a church relationship with your mom is troubling, frankly. Sounds like pressure to me. The wrong kind of pressure. This need not be “one last time”. She COULD convert herself. But clearly, she has an issue with this.
Something better than nothing??? You’re kidding right?
Since you have been to confession several times, I would bring this to the priest that is working with you.
:twocents:
 
If the OP is still uncertain whether he believes in the Lutheran or the Catholic Church, then I have no idea what he should do. Talk to the Catholic priest and the Lutheran priest and spend time in prayer and discernment I suppose.

If he’s already morally on board with the Church and convinced of her teaching, there’s no possible way he can sensibly or morally receive Lutheran communion. You can’t agree to what you don’t agree to. Even if he performed the physical act of receiving, it would all be based on a fiction because his internal disposition is contrary to the external action.

I’m not trying to be divisive for the sake of being divisive. Hopefully I’m successfully explaining the silliness of receiving communion in a church that you are not in communion with.
 
God’s peace. There is another issue here that has not been addressed. If you really believe all the Catholic Church teaches and believes as revealed by God (you have to confess this to be received into the Church) then you must believe that in order for a eucharist to be valid, the celebrant must have valid apostolic succession with legitimate episcopal oversight and authorization or “faculty”. Lutheran pastors lack these things; therefore their “eucharist” may honor a genuine eucharist by imitation but it is empty of Christ’s Real Presence. Their wine remains just wine, and their bread remains just bread. Blessings, ~Br. Carlo~
 
Br.Carlo said:
God’s peace. There is another issue here that has not been addressed. If you really believe all the Catholic Church teaches and believes as revealed by God (you have to confess this to be received into the Church) then you must believe that in order for a eucharist to be valid, the celebrant must have valid apostolic succession with legitimate episcopal oversight and authorization or “faculty”. Lutheran pastors lack these things; therefore their “eucharist” may honor a genuine eucharist by imitation but it is empty of Christ’s Real Presence. Their wine remains just wine, and their bread remains just bread. Blessings, ~Br. Carlo~
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I feel I’ve addressed this. The Lutheran communion isn’t a replacement. I’m not truly taking communion if I partake.

I think it’s safe to say this issue is, like I said before, a gray area. I’ll certainly consult my Preist.
 
Given your beliefs, isn’t it rather insulting to your mother and her Lutheran faith community to receive in their worship service? You seem to indicate it is okay because it “doesn’t mean anything.” I would assume they believe that it does.
 
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