Non Catholics receiving communion

[Journeywithchrist]

Hello everyone. This weekend I went to Sunday mass with a friend of mine, who was baptised when she was younger but is not confirmed. She does not have any kind of Christian faith and in fact is into Paganism. Nevertheless she enjoys going to mass with me and we have gone together for about a year. I have been absent at mass for the last 4 weeks, due to illness, but she was going on her own during this time. This Sunday, when I got up to receive communion, she got up too. I asked if she was going up for a blessing and she said no, that she was going to receive communion, as she had been doing while I had been absent. I was pretty stunned to be honest, and told her that she should definitely not receive communion, trying not to make too much of a fuss. I was furiously whispering to her trying to get her to sit down but she ignored me, and received communion anyway. I did not say anything to the priest. Afterwards she told me that she had done nothing wrong and couldn't understand why I was upset. She literally laughed it off. Now, I do have a reason for not being more forceful at mass. This friend is in a pretty bad way with her mental health at the moment. Of course I knew it was wrong for her to receive but I thought that maybe she was doing it because she felt it was something that would help her. But then I was thinking today about how she doesn't even believe in Jesus and I began to be quite angry that she so flippantly disrespected the most holy thing we have here on earth. Please help me to figure out what to do, should I mention it to a priest? Should I talk to her in more detail about communion and what it is (she has been going to mass for over a year I would have thought she would understand the importance of it) or should I stop her coming to mass for the time being? Please know that my actions in not stopping her were only done with the best intentions.

 

[beatitude]

You can challenge your friend, but gently, given her poor psychological health. First of all I would ask her why she is taking Communion, with respect rather than anger - it's important not to assume. The answer will give you insight into how to act.

Depending on what she says, I might then tell her that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ, his very presence and life, and that we can only receive it if we truly believe this and are prepared to enter fully into that life through becoming a Catholic. She obviously finds Mass meaningful, or she wouldn't go - would she like to take that step? Perhaps the only reason she hesitates is because she doesn't know how. You could offer to arrange a meeting with the priest, or maybe a religious sister or brother whom you think she would relate well to - for people with mental health problems it's important to get to know Christians who are sensitive to their difficulties and perhaps have experience of accompanying them spiritually. If she does feel that Communion must help her, you could emphasise that a blessing is very beautiful too, and talk about the power of invoking the Trinity in that way.

If she is not open to the possibility of converting, and she still insists she will take communion, then I would remind her that she is a guest in other people's house of worship and to go against our teachings is to show disrespect to the community that is hosting her. Ask her to stop out of consideration, if nothing else. If she does not agree, then you have no choice but to inform the priest so he no longer gives it to her. But I would not try to stop her from coming to Mass.

[Theoketos]

Ask her to go with you to confession to prepare a more worthy communion. Really Baptism and belief are the bare bone requirements for reception. Going through RCIA would be best still.