Posted on 10/18/2011 2:09:05 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Should you pass on communion at a Lutheran church or participate fully?
You are at the wedding of a beloved family member or friend, which is taking place at a Lutheran church. You gladly accepted the invitation to celebrate this happy day with the bride and groom. But then there is a call to come to the table of the Lord’s Supper, to receive communion. This is the awkward moment you knew was coming. Can you, and should you, a practicing Catholic, accept the invitation?
According to the Code of Canon Law, receiving communion in a Protestant church is generally not permissible. According to canon 844, “Catholic ministers may licitly administer the sacraments to Catholic members of the Christian faithful only and, likewise, the latter may licitly receive the sacraments only from Catholic ministers.” The key term here is licit. If a Catholic receives communion from a Protestant minister, it is generally considered “illicit” or unlawful.
The reason for the Catholic Church’s general rule against sharing in the Eucharist with other churches is that a person can only be in full communion with one church. As a Catholic, the core of one’s union with Christ is union with the church. The center of this union lies in the reception of the sacrament of the Eucharist during Mass, which is both a confession and embodiment of unity with the Roman Catholic Church.
But canon 844 includes an exception to the rule “whenever necessity requires or general spiritual advantage suggests, and provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided.”
The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism said that, as a general rule, common worship and eucharistic and other sacramental sharing should “signify the unity of the church.” But it acknowledges that such sharing can also be seen as advancing unity. In fact, according to the decree, “the gaining of a needed grace sometimes commends” it.
Still, within the confines of canon law, the exceptions to the rule are rather limited, and receiving communion from a Lutheran pastor during a wedding would normally be seen as “illicit” for Catholic wedding guests. At the same time, some Catholics would like to, and do, receive communion on these rare occasions.
These Catholics, after a careful examination of their conscience, find compelling reasons to “gain a needed grace” by receiving communion in a Protestant church. And it is also true that eucharistic sharing has occurred at the highest levels of the church. Even Jesus occasionally broke the religious law of his day, though he did so to fulfill the “spirit” of the law.
So it is possible that one could follow Jesus’ lead. In our example a compelling reason might be to demonstrate one’s deep love and commitment to nurturing the relationship of the newly married couple. Intercommunion could be a “yes” to God by witnessing to God’s presence in the marriage and committing to God’s work of salvation in their lives.
In the end, this may be fulfilling the “spirit” of canon law while going against the letter.
-- Kevin Considine, a Ph.D. candidate in theology at Loyola University in Chicago. This article appears in the October 2011 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 76, No. 10, page 46).
Thanks for this, it gives a good insight into why you believe as you do.
Catholics would clearly differ with you on this. We think the natural matters. It is an axiom of Catholic sacramental theology that "Matter matters."
If your daughter was in the 6th grade, she was about 12 years old and thus old enough to have made a profession of faith. If she was receiving Lutheran communion, she was making a profession of faith in that belief system -- and one that was probably exclusive of others if it was a conservative Lutheran congregation.
She could not simultaneously adhere to Lutheran and Catholic beliefs. If she made her profession and communed with the Lutherans, she could not validly receive Catholic communion.
While it was embarrassing that nobody figured this out until she was in the communion line, the fact remains that St. Paul warned about receiving invalidly. It is dangerous, and the sisters did right in stopping her from "eating and drinking damnation" - 1st Corinthians ch. 11
And bless you right back! :-D
As an Orthodox Christian, I have been told that if we receive communion in a non-Orthodox church, that we have basically excommunicated ourselves from our church.
Lutherans believe, teach, and confess the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Sacrament. See my post 46.
“Catholics would clearly differ with you on this. We think the natural matters. It is an axiom of Catholic sacramental theology that “Matter matters.””
Well, if a Catholic believes that, they need to follow that . . . until they no longer believe it anyway.
No one else can dictate what will feed another’s soul or cause them to sleep or lay awake at night. Work out your own salvation . . .
God bless you.
And the Orthodox Church doesn’t allow Catholics or Protestants to receive communion even when they are Catholics who follow the same rite.
A common faith is a prerequisite for Eucharistic communion.
Catholic/Orthodox communion and Protestant communion are apples and oranges because they are not the same.
Ann extended comment.
I have relocated to Midland TX and attended the local LCMS church to “get to know” the parish.
Communion was offered but since I was not a member of the parish, so as not to offend the members, I did not approach the table. If and when I join the local parish, I’ll partake.
My position is that people must realize that (1) synodical membership does not provide an automatic “pass” for communion, and (2) the Holy Sacrament of the Altar does not convey salvation.
Absolution is the directive of Christ’s church.
Absolutely not, it is NOT the consecrated Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
They look at it as a symbol only.
I was at an Episcopal service once and walked right by with my arms crossed over my chest signifying I desired a blessing only.
Do Lutherans subscribe to the concept of Transubstantiation, the Thomist concept of Accidents, or something else? I had understood that Luther subscribed to Consubstantiation, or to Sacramental Union - I have heard both at different times.
Not snarking -- I really want to know and have never gotten the details since I was never a Lutheran (although I like Mr. Bach's music very, very much!)
Amen. Where so ever two or more are gathered in His name ....
Some Episcopalians (the ultra-high-Church, 'nosebleed high', 'up in the rafters with the bats', more Roman than Rome variety) do acknowledge the Real Presence. We did.
Unfortunately for us, Anglican Orders are 'absolutely null and utterly void'. So embarrassing to find out we were mistaken all those years. :-D
But if you are a Catholic in an Episcopal Church it's best to not receive, cross your arms, or just remain in the pew. Because whether or not they believe in the Real Presence, by communicating you're declaring yourself in belief with them, and these days there's no telling what you're committing yourself to in that case.
My parents remain Episcopalian, and we always go to church with them when we visit ("honor thy father and thy mother"). We sing in the choir, so we go up to the rail because it would be very conspicuous and disruptive not to (it's a chancel choir and there's nowhere to stand out of the way.) But we cross our arms over our chests and don't receive.
Consubstantial
With the real presence
or with the presence of only bread and wine.
They go together — although I have had Lutherans tell me otherwise.
That's nothing. I was born and raised Catholic, baptised as a baby in the Catholic Church, took my first Communion in the Catholic Church, and married my wife (a Catholic) in the Catholic Church.
In 1993, we left the Catholic Church amidst the big sex abuse scandal, of which the Priest in the Church we attended and knew by first name, was implicated (and later admitted his guilt.) The cover-up by the Chicago Archdiocese so turned us off, we started attending a Christian Church, and have been at that church since.
A few years ago, my wife's Grandmother died at 88. She was a devout Catholic from the Old Country (Hungary) so naturally she had a Catholic funeral.
Before the Priest gave Communion, he read a statement that said in no uncertain terms that only Catholics at the funeral were allowed to participate in Communion as the rest of us were (and I quote) "not in Union in the Holy Spirit along with the 'one true church', the Catholic Church."
To say I was furious would be an understatement. I'd never heard such personally divisive hateful language at any Catholic funeral prior to, or since that one.
I don't know if it was just that Priest, or the Archdiocese of the Upper Penninsula/Michigan, or something else but I was genuinely upset - as was my Mother and Father in Law along with other family members - all devout Catholics themselves.
I made it a point to give the Priest a piece of my mind along with a good dose of Scripture right before I told him that the lunch being served after the funeral was for family and friends only - as he was not family or friend he was not invited.
When we go visit my wife's parents, I refuse to attend Church with them. I just cannot stand that Priest. They on the other hand, thoroughly enjoy coming to our church when they visit us and they always know they're welcome to take Communion with us.
Based on my reading and understanding of Scripture (even while remembering my own Catholic upbringing) I have to think Jesus would be pretty upset that any of his believers would be denied Communion.
What would Jesus do? Simple: He took the bread, broke it, and said "take this ALL OF YOU and eat it. This is my body which is given up for you."
Pretty simple.
The “Protestant” HAS A BIG Problem with a catholic or any other protestant who is not agreement on our theologoy in taking communion at my church.
Irrelevant
Only in America is this is an issue...Closed communion is pretty much practiced world wide.. Actually to give you more history, those who were not of the church were asked to leave right before the Service of the Sacrament began.. Now that is Closed communion.
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