Took girlfriend to Mass for the first time and have a question

[RobNY]

Jabronie:

Hi all. My girlfriend is a lifelong Lutheran (ELCA) and went to Mass with me for the first time this weekend. I’ve spent the last year clearing up a lot of misconceptions she has about our faith, but the one answer I can’t really give properly is this: Why she can’t receive Communion in our Church?

Now, I know the answer, but I can’t really come up with an answer for her without sounding condescending to her. It’s one of those things where she thinks that we don’t consider her “good enough” and I’m “too good” to take communion in her church.

Could you help me come up with a nice politically correct, touchy feely answer? My PR department isn’t always the best

Thanks!

Point out to her that the practice in other Lutheran sects, such as the LCMS practice close communion.

Communion has always been a sign of ‘communion.’ 1 Cor 10 notes, " Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." It is in sharing the communion that we are one body. To partake of communion in other churches when we are manifestly not, “one body” is merely a lie, feigning unity when none exists. Communion has historically been a sign of unity. In the earliest days, the practice of sending fermentum, or a piece of the consecrated Host from the bishop of Rome to the bishops of the titular churches, or likewise, from bishops to their priests, to signify that they were in ecclesiastic communion with another. The Catholic Encyclopedia notes:

In the Holy Eucharist, bread thus serves for the offering of the sacrifice, and after the consecration for the Communion of the celebrant, the clergy, the laity, as well as for reservation in order that Communion may be brought to the absent, or that the Blessed Sacrament may be adored in the tabernacle or in the monstrance. In Rome at one time it was the custom of the pope to send a part of the consecrated bread to the priests in the titular churches that all might be united in offering the same sacrifice so that this fermentum, as it was called, might in spiritual sense leaven the whole mass of the faithful, make them one with the pope in faith and worship. Bishops also were once accustomed to send the Eucharistic Bread to their priests for the same purpose and also to each other to signify that they admitted one another into ecclesiastical communion. To prevent abuses and profanation to the Sacrament, this custom was early prohibited and soon disappeared. The usage then began of sending blessed bread instead of the Holy Eucharist to those who did not communicate at the Mass, and to those who might wish to receive this gift as a pledge of communion of faith.

To be excluded from communion is to be separated from the Church.

Of course, people in mortal sin also cannot receive, but that deals more 1 Cor 11:27.

 

[AquinasXVI]

Jabonrie:

My wife, then girlfriend sat with me through Mass for 5 years and did not receive the Holy Eucharist and the desire eventually led her to investigate the Church and her conversion.

It was strange for me to tell her she cannot receive and it was a little awkward at first but the common sense of RECEIVING=BELIEVING THE CC made sense to her.

Pray for her. This may be the very issue that opens her eyes to the reality of the Holy Eucharist.

in XT.

 

[Jabronie]

beckyann2597:

I would also not recieve communion when you go with her to her church. If you are not in communion with her faith, you shouldn;'t be recieving there.

I think that is simple enough. I don’t even think its condescending.

Just to be absolutely clear, I’ve never received, nor would I, at a church that is not in communion with Rome. Sorry if my post seemed to imply otherwise.

 

[Jabronie]

patientone:

There should be guidelines in the missalette. I would suggest showing her that so she will see it in writing.

This was my plan, but it doesn’t really address her concern. She argues that if the Eucharist is what we Catholics believe it is (and she actually thinks it is) then any believer should be allowed to receive. She makes the point that Jesus wouldn’t turn anyone away from receiving Him, so why should His Church? I’m not saying I agree with her, I’m just saying I’m having trouble countering this argument.

Sigh… It was so much easier justifying confession, the Pope and Mary.

 

[Jabronie]

Br. Rich SFO:

The best way in this situation is simply you are Catholic she is Lutheran. Her church and your Church are two different and separate Christian communities and until they are fully united under the sucessor of Peter there will be this Sacramental separation.

That’s what I thought, too. Her church allows open communion to all baptised Christians, so this was a no-go. For some reason, it doesn’t offend her that most Lutherans DO have closed communion…

 

[Jabronie]

armyfamily:

It was my understanding that Lutheran teaching does not allow outside communion either. At least Missouri Synod Lutherans do not…I’m not sure about ELCA which is a more liberal Lutheran sect.

Peace,
Anne

Most Lutherans do not allow outside communion. ELCA, however does. Not sure why.

 

[Jabronie]

AquinasXVI:

Jabonrie:

My wife, then girlfriend sat with me through Mass for 5 years and did not receive the Holy Eucharist and the desire eventually led her to investigate the Church and her conversion.

It was strange for me to tell her she cannot receive and it was a little awkward at first but the common sense of RECEIVING=BELIEVING THE CC made sense to her.

Pray for her. This may be the very issue that opens her eyes to the reality of the Holy Eucharist.

in XT.

I like that one! “If you want to receive the Eucharist, then that must mean that you believe that it is what the Church says it is.”

Sorry I responded to so many of these in a row and flooded the gates, by the way.

 

[RobNY]

Jabronie:

Most Lutherans do not allow outside communion. ELCA, however does. Not sure why.

ECLA also allows women to be pastors. They are exceedingly liberal compared to the smaller LCMS and WELS.

Sorry I responded to so many of these in a row and flooded the gates, by the way.

Haha. The Edit button is your friend.

 

[YinYangMom]

Jabronie:

She argues that if the Eucharist is what we Catholics believe it is (and she actually thinks it is) then any believer should be allowed to receive. She makes the point that Jesus wouldn’t turn anyone away from receiving Him, so why should His Church? I’m not saying I agree with her, I’m just saying I’m having trouble countering this argument.

She says she actually thinks the Eucharist is Jesus…
ask her how it became Jesus…why does she believe it becomes Jesus when we Catholics celebrate Communion but not when Lutherans do?

WE believe it is Jesus because we believe in Apostolic succession and we believe only those priests ordained through the line of apostles (Peter and all the Popes for us Latin Rite Catholics) received the authority/grace/power to be the vehicle by which Christ opens the gate to the eternal sacrifice **from **that line.

In order to truly believe in the Real Presence she’ll need to wrap her mind around the validity and necessity for the priesthood (as opposed to men who go to school to become pastors)…that the original gift from the Pentecost is today present as much as it was then every time a new priest is ordained. Something spiritual truly happens through the priesthood, real graces are conferred. From those graces he is able to bind and lose, forgive us our sins. He is able to give us Christ Jesus in the flesh through the Eucharist. One cannot accept the Real Presence without accepting the succession of graces passed down through the Bishops of the Church.

The Church guards and protects the sacraments placed under her care. She would love to have everyone receive the Eucharist but it is up to the recipient to become worthy of that. Even we Catholics have to make sure we’re worthy every single time, it’s not just a matter of believing in His presence, it’s also a matter of preparing ourselves properly to take part in the sacrifice and that means understanding what it’s all about. That’s why the Creed is so crucial.

 

[Aaron_I]

One thing she should realize is that Catholics are not supposed to receive communion from other denominations. This isn’t because we aren’t “worthy”, but simply because it would represent a false unity. The same is true with regards to non-Catholics trying to receive the eucharist. Of course, the offense is graver here, but it’s a similar concept.

One analogy I thought of is the Holy of Holies. Could you imagine some ancient ruler who wasn’t a Jew demanding entrance to the Holy of Holies. The Jews would be rightly pissed off. Basically, the Gentile ruler would be trying to view a remarkable sight, but he would be degrading the Jewish faith but not recognizing God’s presence. Likewise, non-Catholics receiving the eucharist is a terrible affront to what we believe to be the true presence of Christ. This doesn’t exactly apply to your girlfriend since you say she acknowledges Christ’s presence, but at that point she needs to recognize and abide by the authority of the apostles that has passed on to our bishops.