The unworthy receiving the Eucharist

[nickybr38]

Let’s.

I suppose we can let them off, given with what they must put up with for 16 years.

I’m 29. My mother still frustrates the sense out of me. She is the biggest reason I’m in Confession almost constantly… but I am thankful for her because she has made me very tolerant of people like her (who aren’t related to me ).

 

[Zundrah]

I’m 29. My mother still frustrates the sense out of me. She is the biggest reason I’m in Confession almost constantly… but I am thankful for her because she has made me very tolerant of people like her (who aren’t related to me ).

Seems you have become the parent there. She is blessed to have you.

Your mother is so much like mine.

 

[SmallCcatholic]

For the sake of sanity and chairty - assume she had good intentions.

Parents can be the most frustrating creatures on the planet - especially when they’re being unreasonable.

Have you raised teens ? ;^)

 

[Zundrah]

Have you raised teens ? ;^)

Nicky is only 29. So I should hope not.

 

[nickybr38]

HAHA No! I have not raised teens…

I will say this:

Children obey your parents…
Parents do not incite your children to ire.

Seems there are two kinds out there. Unreasonable parents and unreasonable children. Usually you get one unreasonable child with one reasonable adult and vice versa but sometimes the two unreasonables meet in a perfect storm of unhappy.

 

[mitex]

Since I have no ability to read people’s souls, I’m afraid I don’t know about their state of sinfulness. I can only judge my own.

Great response!

I never try to get angry. In my opinion Jesus never got angry because anger leads to malice and malice leads to evil and all sorts of bad things. Personally I think St. Francis should have added anger as the eighth deadly sin. But then again I am a utopian .

As for communion I think we have a duty to inform our brothers and sisters in Christ to seek absolution at Confession before they take communion especially if they have committed a serious sacrilege that leaves them unworthy.

But anger should never be a response. I admit people are human and fallen and at times anger is a natural response. But we should strive for total emotional control and should appear virtuous and kind at all times.

Aristotle and Plato warned that anger can undermine reason. Although they said there is healthy anger in my opinion its best to suppress anger as it can often lead to worse things such as malice and cruelty.

But of course if you think this is too Utopian then by all means ignore .

 

[Zundrah]

HAHA No! I have not raised teens…

I will say this:

Children obey your parents…
Parents do not incite your children to ire.

Seems there are two kinds out there. Unreasonable parents and unreasonable children. Usually you get one unreasonable child with one reasonable adult and vice versa but

You make a good assessment there.

sometimes the two unreasonables meet in a perfect storm of unhappy.

I prefer my storms in tea cups.

 

[nickybr38]

You make a good assessment there.

I prefer my storms in tea cups.

I am going to Mass in one hour. I will offer a prayer for yourself and your mother. May the Lord bring her home.

 

[Zundrah]

I am going to Mass in one hour. I will offer a prayer for yourself and your mother. May the Lord bring her home.

Thank you.

 

[CB_Catholic]

If almost nobody in the Church has celebrated Mass in 6 months it is either because of one or two reasons, they willfully ignored the Sunday obligation and thus mortally sinned, or they are ignorant of Church commandments. In which case, if they can’t grasp a commandment, it is almost certain that they do not understand the Eucharist. 1 Corinthians 11:29 applies:

“For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

To add to that, there were only 2 confessions heard this week, one of them being me. There may very well be exceptions to this, but exceptions are exactly what they are, a minority. I can’t read hearts like Jesus and the saints, but it would be unwise and careless to think that nobody commited a sacrilege during the course of that Mass.

Did it ever occur to you that rather issue a condemnation and calling the attendance of so may people at Mass, even though they might be in mortal sin (of which no one but God can be absolutely sure of) a disgrace, it would be better to pray that if anyone is receiving sacrilegiously, the Lord open their eyes and hearts and have mercy on their souls? Also, having a church filled with people is a good thing–one never knows whom the Holy Spirit may touch, and it does show that people have not altogether abandoned God.

And it is really never a good thing to compare your good deeds (going to Confession) with what others are doing. You know, it is only by the sheer Grace of God that any of us can even hope for salvation, no matter how pious we are. We are all capable of backsliding into indifference and sin, even up to the moment of our deaths. It is better to pray for mercy for ourselves and others, rather than focus on what you consider a disgrace.

 

[CB_Catholic]

There are situations where you can KNOW someone is in a state of mortal sin … sometimes because you informed them of such. :\

An example would be a coworker of mine. She is Catholic but rarely attends Mass. She is sexually active with her boyfriend and has had an abortion. She told me one day that she receives communion and I immediately informed her that until she went to confession she couldn’t. Period.

Of course my advice means little to her. She is a cultural Catholic and does not believe in sin… although one could argue she is not committing mortal sin since she doesn’t seem fully aware that these things are grave matter but she knows now after talking to me.

Anyway. Seeing her receive communion after knowing this about her would not make me angry but sad. I feel very, very sad for such people. I pray for them but most of all I pray for me. The only soul I know intimately is my own and I have a lot of house cleaning to do before I can judge others.

No. There are times when you can say objectively that the Church teaches that an action is a mortal sin, but you can not absolutely know if it applies to a particular individual, even if you have told them, unless the person themselves admits to being in mortal sin. You can judge an action as mortally sinful objectively, however, only God can judge the state of a person’s soul and if they are in an actual state of mortal sin. Just because you told them does not mean they comprehend fully what you have said, and what the Church teaches.

That is not an excuse for people to sin, and it is an act of charity to warn them if they are behaving in such a manner without judgment of them personally, but it should be done in all charity and not in a condemning manner, but you cannot ever know the state of a person’s soul. That is for God alone.