What can I do to stop my Wiccan daughter from receiving Communion?

[MaryandJoseph]

At my grandmother’s funeral Mass when we were approaching the altar for holy Communion, I whispered to my 30-year-old daughter to cross her arms over her chest to receive a blessing because she could not receive. She told me she has received before when she would attend Mass with someone and that she would this time as well.

After Mass, she looked at me and said that she received holy Communion and that “nothing bad happened” and that God did not send down bolts of lightning on her. She seems to think that because she was baptized in a Catholic church that she has the right to receive whenever she likes. She has been a practicing Wiccan since the age of twelve.

How can I approach her about this?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

How can I approach her about this?

It sounds to me like you already did, although perhaps it might have been imprudent to wait to do so until she was already in the Communion line walking up to receive. From her response to you and the general attitude of hers that you report, it doesn’t sound like another direct approach will be particularly successful.

Perhaps you might try an indirect approach. Given that she started practicing witchcraft at twelve and that she had no qualms about mocking your belief that a witch receiving Communion was a very serious matter, I suspect that there are some interpersonal family issues between you and your daughter that should be addressed first. I recommend contacting the Pastoral Solutions Institute, a Catholic counseling apostolate, for more personalized assistance. The books recommended below may also be helpful.

I’m afraid that only once you are seen by your daughter as someone whose views are worthy of her attention and respect will she reconsider her responses to you. In the meantime, if you know that she is planning to attend Mass with you and your family on a special occasion (holiday, family milestone, etc.), you might consider letting the priest celebrant know in advance (and in private) that your daughter is a witch and should not be receiving Communion. What the priest does with that information is his responsibility.

Recommended reading:

God Help Me! These People Are Driving Me Nuts by Gregory K. Popcak
When Difficult Relatives Happen to Good People by Leonard Felder