With very few rare exceptions
(usually involving the danger of death), Protestant Christians cannot receive
communion at Catholic Masses. This can
be difficult to understand and explain, especially when it involves a family
funeral or wedding where there may be many non-Catholics present. So, why doesn’t the Catholic Church allow
non-Catholic Christians to receive communion?
As Christianity was still
young, St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in part addressing abuses that were
occurring as they gathered for the Eucharist.
He says, “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)
Here we see that St. Paul
connects sharing in the one loaf (the
Eucharist) with being one body (the
Church). We, like St. Paul, believe that
the Eucharist is a sign and instrument of our real unity. We receive
communion together, because we are in
communion with one another. Since
the unity of Christians has been ruptured, it would be a false sign at this
point to share communion with other Christians.
To do so would be to say, through the language of the liturgy, “We are
fully united in belief and practice with one another.” That would be to sacramentally say something
that isn’t true.
The early Church clearly held
the same thing. St. Justin Martyr wrote
in 165AD: “No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed
in the regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless
he lives in accordance with the principles given us by Christ. We do
not consume the eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and
drink, for we have been taught that as Jesus Christ our Savior became a man
of flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food that our
flesh and blood assimilates for its nourishment becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus by the power of
his own words contained in the prayer of thanksgiving.”
As we can see, St. Justin
Martyr links shared belief with
common reception of the Eucharist. But
our Protestant brothers and sisters don’t believe what we do about the
Eucharist: that Christ is really, truly, and substantially present in the
Eucharist through the miracle of transubstantiation. When we present ourselves for communion and
the priest says “The body of Christ,” we respond, “Amen.” Saying “Amen” signifies that we believe all
that the Catholic Church proposes for belief, especially in regard to the
Eucharist. For a non-Catholic to do so
would be disingenuous.
Reserving communion to
Catholics alone is also a matter of charity (love) for our neighbor. St. Paul warns us that those who receive
without the proper disposition, without discerning the body of the Lord, place
themselves in spiritual danger: “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks
the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of
the Lord. A person should examine
himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning
the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Cor 11:27-29) It is out of care and love for both the
Eucharist and our non-Catholic friends and family that we ask that they refrain
from receiving the Eucharist until they are able to confess with us a shared
belief in His Real Presence.
Restricting communion to
Catholics only is not intended to exclude others. Rather, we deeply desire that all people will
come to share the Body of Christ at the altar of the Lord. When this difficult situation arises, it is
an opportunity to explain the tremendous gift we have in the Eucharist: our
Lord present with us in an incomparable way.
It is an opportunity to invite family and friends to explore the riches
of the Catholic faith and to consider taking steps to join in full communion
with the Church, so as to receive our Lord in Eucharistic communion.
Have a question about our
Catholic faith? Email mikebrummond@gmail.com
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