Archive
Week of 03/23/08
Week of 03/23/08
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Why Can’t My Non-Catholic Guests Receive Communion at Mass?
When my non-Catholic friends attend Mass with me on Sunday, I think it is very
rude not to offer them Communion. They will want to know why since they readily
invite Catholics to take communion in their Church. Even though the missalette has
an explanation, I would like to know why they must be excluded.
The Nicene Creed tells us that “We believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church.” These are called the “marks” of the Church and they describe for us a
way to recognize the true Church of Jesus Christ. The answer to your question
starts with that first mark: The Church is ONE.
As St Paul tells the Ephesians, we are called to be “one body and one Spirit, as
you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism;” [Eph 4:5] and he tells the Corinthians, “The cup of blessing that we
bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is
it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we,
though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. [1 Cor 10: 16-17]
St. Paul emphasizes over and over again the connection between the “One Bread”
(The Holy Eucharist) and the “One Body” (the Church). By our reception of Holy
Communion, we are proclaiming our oneness of faith as we recognize that we share
in the oneness of Christ’s Body; real and substantially present in Holy Communion.
Because we are witnessing this oneness in Christ, to allow those who do not share
that oneness of faith with us to receive the sign of our unity, we are telling Christ
that we are one when, in fact, we are not. That is a lie. And, as with all occasions
when we lie to God, there are serious consequences.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of
the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of
the Lord unworthily [those in a state of mortal sin] will have to answer for the
body and blood of the Lord...For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning
the body, [those who do not share our beliefs] eats and drinks judgment on
himself. [1 Cor 11:26-27,29]
And this is not a new idea in Catholicism. St Ignatius of Antioch, in the year A.D.
110 wrote in his Epistle to the Smyrnaeans,
“Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ
which has come to us and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of
God…They abstain from the Eucharist, and from prayer, because they do not
confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which
suffered for our sins in which the father, in his goodness, raised up again.”
Here St. Ignatius is referring to those outside the oneness of our faith and how
they abstain from the Eucharist.
So what can we say to those visitors at the Mass about receiving communion? Tell
them, in our Church, when you receive Holy Communion, you are saying that you
believe that the bread and wine is no longer bread and wine, but really and truly
the Body and Blood of the Lord: “The Body of Christ.” “Amen.” Secondly, in the
very act of receiving Holy Communion they are proclaiming to God the unity of
their beliefs with those of the Catholic Church. In both cases, they would be lying
to God.
We should never encourage our friends to lie to God! Instead, encourage them to
pray that some day, our oneness of faith will be restored and, on that day, when
the Eucharistic Minister says, “The Body of Christ.” they can truthfully say,
“Amen.”
When my non-Catholic friends attend Mass with me on Sunday, I think it is very
rude not to offer them Communion. They will want to know why since they readily
invite Catholics to take communion in their Church. Even though the missalette has
an explanation, I would like to know why they must be excluded.
The Nicene Creed tells us that “We believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church.” These are called the “marks” of the Church and they describe for us a
way to recognize the true Church of Jesus Christ. The answer to your question
starts with that first mark: The Church is ONE.
As St Paul tells the Ephesians, we are called to be “one body and one Spirit, as
you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism;” [Eph 4:5] and he tells the Corinthians, “The cup of blessing that we
bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is
it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we,
though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. [1 Cor 10: 16-17]
St. Paul emphasizes over and over again the connection between the “One Bread”
(The Holy Eucharist) and the “One Body” (the Church). By our reception of Holy
Communion, we are proclaiming our oneness of faith as we recognize that we share
in the oneness of Christ’s Body; real and substantially present in Holy Communion.
Because we are witnessing this oneness in Christ, to allow those who do not share
that oneness of faith with us to receive the sign of our unity, we are telling Christ
that we are one when, in fact, we are not. That is a lie. And, as with all occasions
when we lie to God, there are serious consequences.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of
the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of
the Lord unworthily [those in a state of mortal sin] will have to answer for the
body and blood of the Lord...For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning
the body, [those who do not share our beliefs] eats and drinks judgment on
himself. [1 Cor 11:26-27,29]
And this is not a new idea in Catholicism. St Ignatius of Antioch, in the year A.D.
110 wrote in his Epistle to the Smyrnaeans,
“Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ
which has come to us and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of
God…They abstain from the Eucharist, and from prayer, because they do not
confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which
suffered for our sins in which the father, in his goodness, raised up again.”
Here St. Ignatius is referring to those outside the oneness of our faith and how
they abstain from the Eucharist.
So what can we say to those visitors at the Mass about receiving communion? Tell
them, in our Church, when you receive Holy Communion, you are saying that you
believe that the bread and wine is no longer bread and wine, but really and truly
the Body and Blood of the Lord: “The Body of Christ.” “Amen.” Secondly, in the
very act of receiving Holy Communion they are proclaiming to God the unity of
their beliefs with those of the Catholic Church. In both cases, they would be lying
to God.
We should never encourage our friends to lie to God! Instead, encourage them to
pray that some day, our oneness of faith will be restored and, on that day, when
the Eucharistic Minister says, “The Body of Christ.” they can truthfully say,
“Amen.”
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