I witnessed a non-Catholic receive Holy Communion

General
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At mass tonight, I witnessed a non-Catholic young lady follow her boyfriend to the altar & receive Holy Communion.

You could tell that she was not Catholic, and that’s fine, because she mostly just sat down & looked totally lost. All during mass the boyfriend’s mother was explaining via voice & hand gestures what was going on.

She was probably around 25 years old and when it was time for Communion, she stayed seated at first, but the mother gestured for her to get up & follow her boyfriend.

As she approached the Eucharist Minister, she was behind her boyfriend. When it was her turn, she just stood there and didn’t know what to do. She looked over to the person in the line next to her to see that they received communion in their hands, so she lifted her hands up and the Eucharistic Minister, after the pregnant pause, placed HC in her hands. The EM had to see that things were not running smoothly, and he made no inquiry of the young lady.

She then followed her boyfriend over to receive the Blood of Christ, all the while carrying HC in her left hand at her side. (my son is a EM and he told me afterwards that they are trained to tell someone that walks away without placing the host in their mouth that they need to consume the host immediately after it is placed in their hands, not back at their seat.)

As she stood in front of the chalice, I could see our Deacon ask her if she was Catholic while
she was reaching for the chalice with the host in her left hand. She shook her head “no” and she placed HC in her mouth.

The Deacon told her that she couldn’t receive the Blood of Christ and she walked to her front row pew. The boyfriend’s mother had arrived at the pew before her and she had a huge smile on her face and gave her a sideways hug.

Afterward, I spoke to the Deacon that denied the young lady the Blood of Christ and he said that he did not want to embarrass her by asking for the host back that she just placed in her mouth.

The deacon couldn’t talk to the young lady after mass as she had dashed out, but the Deacon did go over and talk to the boyfriend’s mother.

Obviously, there was no fault on the young woman’s part, but there is quite a bit of blame to lay at the feet of the boyfriend and at the feet of the boyfriend‘s mother. As Catholics, they know that you don’t tell a a non-Catholic to receive HC.

So here’s the question; how often does this happen and as Catholic’s, should we get involved when we see a non-Catholic present for Holy Communion?

I was not at mass when it happened in our church, but a couple of years ago our priest saw someone receive HC in their hands and then go back to their pew with it in their pocket.

Our priest went directly to the pew and asked about it, and the person said that they have a sick friend that they wanted to take HC to.

He got the body of Christ back and arranged for a EM to take HC to the sick person. The next week our priest told the congregation at every mass that they are not to take HC home with them.

Thanks,
Ignatius

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How would you get involved (as a layperson), theoretically, in the example that you gave? Knowing, for example that even though the EM may have erred in giving her HC, the deacon recognized the situation and made a judgement call; a man of Holy Orders.

I’m related to a deacon and once asked him what happens for example, if an inexperienced alter server pours consecrated wine down the regular drain, etc. The Deacon said “Jesus can take care of Himself.” He meant that irrespective of the situation itself, Jesus remains Jesus and Jesus is God.

Had the deacon not been involved in the scenario you provide and you, a layperson noticed the EM provide the non-Catholic HC, you could mention what you saw to the priest after Mass and/or ask him what he’d recommend you do if anything as a layperson if you saw something similar in the future.

“Jesus can take care of Himself.” Also meaning that there’s no need to fret about something like that in relation to how it may have “hurt” Jesus. The idea of Jesus is that Jesus would recognize the concern the person would have, appreciate it and not be negatively affected by it as God.

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Hello Pax,

By “get involved“ I certainly don’t mean that I would confront the person right then as I have no standing and, what if myself or someone else is wrong.

I do think that if one notices something like this, it should be pointed out because maybe the person doing it does it all the time and they need some guidance and an invitation to RCIA or whatever they call it these days

In this case, the people involved were in the first row in church and I was 2 rows behind, so I could see it all developing as could the two elderly ladies in front of me that we’re staring at each other in disbelief. I’d have to guess that several rows behind me also noticed.

I was glad that the Deacon noticed something was wrong, and I believe that more training may be needed for the EM’s.

And, maybe he was gonna talk to them afterward or maybe he wasn’t. Maybe my bringing it to his attention made him realize that he wasn’t the only one that saw it and that it needed to be addressed.

Another church that I go to announces before HC that anyone who is not of our Catholic faith may choose to remain seated during communion or they may come up with their arms crossed for a blessing. Many take advantage of the latter.

That church has large screens on each side of the altar that are used for announcements. Prior and during communion, they say something to the effect of “We are about to receive Holy Communion. If you’re not of our Catholic faith or you are not in a state of grace, you may come forward for a blessing.”

I think that the sign and/or announcement are a good idea.

I’ll see a priest tomorrow that is a good friend of mine and I’ll ask him his thoughts and get back to the thread with his advice.

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How often does it happen? In the 1980s I was a Eucharistic Minister for a few years. I never witnessed an incident like this, and at Masses when I wasn’t serving, I would still keep an eye on the Eucharistic Ministers during Communion in case one of them got into difficulty (dropping a Host for example; I never saw this either). It was a moderately sized parish with well-attended Masses, and a lot of the people knew one another. However, I’m sure that situations vary from one church to another.

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At Christmas and the Holy week people are going to attend who are not Catholic the woman who was showing her what to do should of known better.She should of told her to come up for a blessing rather than take communion.The Priest should also explain this prior to communion on these Holy days offering a blessing instead.I have seen it also and there is not much you can do about it you can’t start policing communion.It has to be explained to the congregation on these holy days

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The Mother may be very ignorant of her Faith and I wonder if she herself should be receiving.

I about got sick to my stomach one time when a guy, who had just told us on the long bus-drive to Washington DC that he doesn’t believe in God, but was raised Catholic. Another group that were not on our Bus had plans to go to Mass at the Cathedral and another Catholic Christian on our bus invited him. I assumed guy who invited him mentioned to him that he should not receive unworthily. I was wrong. When it came time to receive, the Atheist approached and fumbled the Holy Host to the floor!!! I was already annoyed by the fact that he raised his hands to receive, but sickened when this happened!

All I could do was Pray for him. I mentioned it to the guy who invited him how bothered I was, and maybe I should have spoken to the guy directly, but I do not like confrontation. That and he was not walking back with our group that I recall.

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Again I am not a Catholic, so perhaps I shouldn’t be allowed to voice an opinion in regard to these matters………However it comes to mind that Jesus distributed the loaves and fishes to some hundreds of people, not in a church, but seated on the ground. It appears that according to Church tradition and practices that only those who are officially members of the church are entitled to recieve holy communion. Logically speaking (as my friend Stephen Andrew would say), I would think that it would be the other way around. When Jesus blessed the criminal who was on the cross beside Jesus, he didn’t ask the man if he had been baptised or was a church member……but Jesus gave him his blessing freely, simply because the man (not dressed in his Sunday best) accepted Jesus within his heart.
In my faith, we distribute Holy Communion in a different way. But first, what is Holy Communion? It was foodstuff that was prepared and offerred to Jesus during the last supper. And Jesus accepted it and broke the bread, and then shared it with his disciples, saying, “This is my body……take and eat”. The idea is that when food is offered to the son of God, and we respect the remnants, the food that has been offerred and accepted by God becomes non-different from the body of God Himself. Therefore when we accept Holy Communion, and ingest it, we are taking the body of God into our own bodies…….and in that way we become spiritually purified, closer to God in our hearts.

In our church we make practical application of this practice by making every meal “the last supper”. A part of each preparation that we prepare in our kitchen is placed on nice silver plates, and placed on the altar, as an offering to God, with prayers and hymns. And then after some time, 15 minutes or so, giving God time to eat, the plates are removed and cleaned, the contents are mixed in with the pots of preparations, soups, etc., and then distiributed as Holy Communion to the family, friends, guests, and even the creatures outside the house. There is no priest in the house at such times. But we believe that what God wants is not so much a matter of an official practice, but a matter of sincerity of the heart. After all, if we were moving or living within a forest, would it not be possible to receive Holy Communion?
The next consideration is that in our church we don’t feel that only those who are official members are fit to receive Holy communion……but that everyone should receive it…..even those who are doubtful of the living reality of God’s existence. In this way, we believe that we are bringing everyone closer to God, and that we are all God’s Eucherist Ministers. I think that Jesus would like this approach. He was so kind and so loving.

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Ultimately though, it’s the priest’s responsibility as a shepherd of the flock to make an actual announcement before Communion as to who can and can’t receive. If a priest is silent on the subject, it lacks direction about one of the holiest parts of the Mass.

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I spoke to my priest friend this afternoon about what happened yesterday with a non-Catholic receiving communion and he said that the Deacon handled it properly. He also said that it was proper for me to fill that Deacon in on what I saw.

I asked how often he thinks that it happens in his church and since he has a small church, he said “rarely.”

He said that in large churches, it probably happens every weekend and that it is hard to police, especially in tourist or college towns with many visitors.

Ignatius

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This does prefigure the Holy Eucharist. The Church that I was Baptized in had two sets of images above the Altar.

On the right there was the loaves, the fishes, and The Blessed Host.

On the left there was a pelican slicing itself to feed the offspring below with the blood. And beneath these was an image of The Holy Chalice.

Although these things do point to the Holy Eucharist, the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes was not the Holy Eucharist.

Both 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 & The Didache warn against receiving this gift unworthily. “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord… For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.”

We should not take this lightly.

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I agree with you @Pax insofar as you are saying that in some cases there is only so much one could reasonably do in a given situation and that speaking with the clergy after Mass is one possible way to respond.

However, I don’t think your deacon relative’s perspective is the most helpful. I don’t think it is a good idea for us to take mistreatment of the Body and the Blood lightly just because Jesus is God. Jesus is a Person and it is not a mark of love to just shrug off when things happen to his Body and Blood. Besides, he has suffered on account of our sins, which include sins against the Eucharist.

Also, I am really disturbed by your question about the Precious Blood going down the “regular drain”, since the wording seems to imply that it is being poured down another drain. The Precious Blood should never be poured down any drain. It is not even to be poured down the sacrarium. Whatever remains of Precious Blood must be consumed before the end of Mass.

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Hello @CanadianPriest Thank you for your correction on these things. I was incorrect on several counts. I was thinking that residual traces remaining from Consecration were put down the sacrarium into the dirt, such as water to rinse the empty post-Mass Chalice (which would include trace amounts of the Precious Blood).

I believe what my relative meant with the comment “Jesus can take care of Himself.” was to emphasize that scruples are not from God. An example would be an EM making every effort as to the reverence afforded to the Body and Blood of Christ, but in the process something accidental or unforeseen happens and the EM is consumed with fret and fear that they’ve offended, hurt or angered God (even though their intention was the opposite). For anyone who has suffered from Scruples, it can be a terrible thing and it’s not ok for a person to have such struggles. Illegitimate, misplaced or imagined fear, shame or guilt can become so severe in some people that it can ruin their life and cause severe psychological damage.

For clarification, the Deacon relative was not dismissing Jesus by saying “Jesus can take care of Himself.” Not a, “Let the dead bury the dead.”, waving them off, dismissively (ie “to hell with them”). He was instead saying, precisely what you are, that God is God. We are fallible humans. If we as humans do what we can with good intentions in reverencing and protecting Jesus’ Body and Blood, it would be wrong for us to be consumed by fear, guilt, shame with a worry that even though we did what we could have, worrying maybe that wasn’t enough for Jesus (and we may be punished as a result).

“Fearing” God. Literal fear of God. Can a person truly love someone they fear? I would say no. Could a child truly love a physically abusive parent they literally fear? No. Should they?

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Peter1,

In your Church, do you believe that your Holy Communion” is the actual “Body of Christ” as did the Apostles and Fathers of the Church such as St. Justin Martyr and St. Ignatius of Antioch or does it become Holy Communion in a symbolic way?

Concerning St. Justin Martin:

“Saint Justin Martyr, in his First Apology (around A.D. 155), explained to the Romans that Christians receive the Eucharist not as ordinary food or drink, but as the true presence of Christ. He wrote that the bread and wine become the flesh and blood of Jesus through prayer and thanksgiving, and only those who believe in Christ and live according to His teachings may partake.

He said: “We do not receive these as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior was made flesh, so also we have been taught that the food which is consecrated by the prayer of His word… is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.”

So you see, that is what differentiates Catholics from all the others. We do not believe that it is “food stuff,” we believe that Jesus is the “lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world”
and instead of the usual sacrificial lamb at the Jewish Passover meal, at the Last Supper, Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, and he gave us his Body & Blood in the form of bread & wine that literally becomes His Body & Blood for us to consume as he directed in John 6:23

If it was good enough for the Apostles & Saint Justin Martyr, it is good enough for me & all Catholics.

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I hear where you are coming from. So let’s talk sense. The holy wafer that is distributed in the church doesn’t come from the table where Jesus was sitting. It probably comes from a factory where they are made by mass production equipment, and distributed to churches far and wide. In other word, a biscuit is a biscuit. What makes it sacred from my point of view, is not the trappings, not the oficial ceremony of handing out the wafers. What makes it sacred is the faith with which it is received.

I disagree with Saint Justin. Jesus says that there people who are very enthusiastic to recieve his teachings. And there are people who are very much against. And there are people who simply don’t care. In the bible Jesus says they are luke warm, and that he spits them out. Those who are “against” are possible to convert…….because they are having strong feelings in relation to Jesus. Strong positive feelings and strong negative feelings are both good, because just by having strong feelings, and coming in contact in that way, one’s soul becomes purified. I know that you guys simply embrace the rules that are handed down to you. But from my point of view, if the bread and wine actually become none-different from Jesus, that bread and wine should be given to everyone.

If you have faith that Jesus “takes away the sins of the world”, why not give Jesus to everyone? If you believe that the Holy Communion is actually Jesus in an eatable form, then for those who have not yet opened their heart to Jesus, let them take him into their body in the form of the communion.
Jesus healed many sinners, and said “Now sin no more.” He didn’t say, “I can’t heal you because you weren’t baptized yet.

I understand that you accept the “rules”. I belive that Jesus was more kind than the church is today.

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I think that I should not be putting my thoughts and feelings here, on this site. I can understand that you people are committed to the tradition that has been historically presented and delivered to you today by the Catholic church, and that you are going to see things through that perspective. I think I have to respect that. We have been over this before. I bow to you for the faith that you hold. Please forgive me.

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I have met Christians of other churches, particularly some Anglicans and Lutherans, who do believe in the Real Presence in their own churches.

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Peter,

I would certainly side with Saint Justin Martyr in his explanation of what the first century Church believed and practiced.

Read “Rome Sweet Rome” by Scott Hahn.

He explains things better than I ever could.

Food for thought:

What if Jesus meant it when in John 6:53-58 he said:

“Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

What if all the Protestant fathers like Calvin & Luther were heretics for denying John 6:53?

Maybe they are all burning in hell for their heresy and protestants are following them?

AND, what if Catholics are right when we say that God‘s church is the Holy Roman Catholic Church and all others grew out of heresy?

Yes, the Catholic Church has had its problems and will always have it’s problems because it is made of man. But, if it was not for the Catholic Church, Christianity would possibly not even exist because of all the heresies that were floating around in the first few centuries that were beaten down by the Catholic Church. Arianism is it’s just one example

Just food for thought,
Ignatius.

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The Priest explained it perfectly and clearly to both Catholics and those who are not Catholic at Mass this Holy Thursday prior to communion. No taking it back to your seat and a blessing for those who are not yet Catholic.Offering both on the tongue and in the hand depending on the persons preference.We also had the sacramental wine which has not been offered since the pandemic - soon to return as a permanent offering of the wine at communion.

He will do the same Tomorrow

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Jesus said “This IS my Body, not symbolically, not in faith, it IS

Also, a pet peeve of mine, lay people are Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. They are not Eucharist Ministers.

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Peter,

Is this something new or is it announced routinely at your church?

Ignatius