Non-Catholics/Eucarist

epollok

My fiance and I are both Catholic but about half of the people attending our wedding are not. I am trying to find a way to indicate that non-Catholics should not take communion without sounding like I am excluding people. What I have seen online suggests "Catholics in a state of grace may take communion". When we met with our priest he said that he does not like this wording and that instead we should include something about the importance of the sacrament in the Catholic faith. Does anyone have suggestions? What are you going to say/use in your program? Thank you!

GulfCoaster

I think the U.S. bishops have some statement on communion?  I've seen it printed in various programs over the years... you could look at that for some inspiration.  It has statements directed toward non-Catholic Christians as well as non-Christians.Ours read:  "We are grateful for all of our relatives and friends who have come to share our joy as we enter this Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.  We recognize, however, that many of you do not share our Catholic faith.  Because the Eucharist – the very Body and Blood of Christ – is a sign of unity of faith and worship, the Catholic Church cannot extend communion to non-Catholics. For all those who cannot receive Holy Communion, we ask that you join with us in praying for Christian unity and for an end to the sad divisions that separate Christians, in accordance with Christ’s prayer that “they may all be one” (John 17:21)."  

GulfCoaster

The bishops' Guidelines on Receiving Communion (right after the Order of Mass, in the "Other Questions" section): http://www.usccb.org/liturgy/innews/798.shtml  

alliecarrie41

I agree with PP... those are well-worded.  I debated having this because I heard of people going up thinking it was the "thing to do" and being upset/confused but I skipped it figuring most would understand and it was fine.

mbcdefg

Maybe you could write something along the lines of, "If you are not a Catholic in a state of grace, but would like to receive a blessing, please approach Fr. XXX during Communion with your arms crossed over your chest."

ring_pop

I like mbc's suggestion; this was done at a wedding that I attended this weekend and I felt it was nice and subtle. (I think the priest said something like "Catholics in good standing may come forward to receive communion. Non-Catholics may remain at their seats, or come forward with arms crossed like this to receive a blessing".) I'm not a fan of Gulf's suggestion because I feel that it still brings to attention the fact that non-Catholics are NOT receiving communion.

blackfire5th

I'm with Ringpop. In our program I put "Guidelines for the reception of Communion may be found in the front cover of Today's Missal" and left it at that. Father also said something along the lines of what ringpop said.

blackfire5th

Sorry, Father said basically what mbc said.

Calypso1977

our priest just made an announcement that you must be Catholic in a state of grace in order to receive, but that folks were welcome to come up for a blessing.  It worked otu well since he took time to explain our ceremony and mass as well (we did a Latin Mass, which is different in many aspects), so it was just part of his announcements.

Truchana

I think they just simply say something like those that are not catholic are welcome to participate in communion by receiving a blessing.  There's no reason to create an issue out of it., Most non catholics know they are not welcome to take communion.    I dont' like the state of grace comment.  To me it goes against our very religion.

Calypso1977

I dont' like the state of grace comment. To me it goes against our very religion. truch, actually it doesnt.  church teaching states that you cannot have any mortal sins on your soul at the time you receive communion.  you must confess them first.  ideally, you shouldnt have any venial sins either, but mortal sin is a big no-no.  by making the statement, the priest is leaving it to each individual Catholic to examine their own soul and determine if they feel it appropriate to receive based on the sins they know they have committed.  the priest must also protect his own soul by not knowingly giving communion to those who cannot receive.  by making the statement, he then proceeds on the faith that the recipients have done this examination prior to coming up to receive.

GulfCoaster

ring_pop:About 75% of our guests were not Catholic.  Many of them come from a church that practices open communion, and they don't understand why the Catholic Church is so uptight about it.  (They don't get the whole idea of the Real Presence...)  We debated whether to include something in the program or just have Father say something before communion.  We opted to include it in the program so that no one got to communion time and was surprised.  Either way, whether it's through a nicely worded paragraph in your program or a brief discussion by the priest prior to communion, I think it does have to be addressed.  There *are* people out there who would participate in communion even though they aren't Catholic, and it is best to address this directly but tactfully.

vanessahurd

Our priest says "If you are not prepared to receive the Eucharist today, we ask that you please come up for a blessing. It would be an honor for us to bless you."My fiance and I love that wording, as we are both Catholics but no one in my family and very few of our friends who will be attending the wedding are Catholic. It's not exclusive, puts on honor behind receiving a blessing, and focuses on the choice an individual makes in feeling if they are prepared to receive or not. No "If you're not Catholic stay put" vibe with this one

Ainslie325

Non Catholics are often invited up to receive "a blessing" from the priest if they desire one. Often, the priest will ask that they signal their wish to receive a blessing by the congregant crossing his/her arms over the chest as they approach priest and altar. This can be announced by the priest just prior to the communion hymn/solo.

Truchana

Calypso, if the priest says that every time he gives communion that's one thing, but to say it just because you have people there that might not be in good standing or not catholic to me is being judgemental.  that person may have confessed their sins to God without you being aware.  It's not for us to judge, nor the priests in my mind.  If the priest really needs to worry about his own soul because he gave someone communion that wasn't in good standing, I think most priests would be in big trouble.  The majority of the kids I knew taht went to the Catholic school took communion every week in church, yet were having premarital sex, heavy drinking, etc. The same could be said for many people at church every week. My own grandfather asked that the priest not allow people to take communion at his funeral that were not in good standing.  The priest actually felt very uncomfortable mentioning this but did say it in a very nice way. ( we had a few family members that lived with the boyfriend/gf at the time out of wedlock)

GulfCoaster

Truchana:"Calypso, if the priest says that every time he gives communion that's one thing, but to say it just because you have people there that might not be in good standing or not catholic to me is being judgemental. that person may have confessed their sins to God without you being aware. It's not for us to judge, nor the priests in my mind. If the priest really needs to worry about his own soul because he gave someone communion that wasn't in good standing, I think most priests would be in big trouble. The majority of the kids I knew taht went to the Catholic school took communion every week in church, yet were having premarital sex, heavy drinking, etc. The same could be said for many people at church every week. My own grandfather asked that the priest not allow people to take communion at his funeral that were not in good standing. The priest actually felt very uncomfortable mentioning this but did say it in a very nice way. ( we had a few family members that lived with the boyfriend/gf at the time out of wedlock)"-----At some weddings, it's not just "some people" who are not Catholic -- it's the majority of the guests. 75% of our guests were not Catholic. At a recent wedding I went to, it was a full Nuptial Mass and half of the guests (basically, all the bride's family and friends) were not Catholic. In those kind of situations, I don't think it's judgmental to make an announcement. There isn't a "card check" at communion, but when a substantial number of guests are not Catholic, it seems reasonable to make an announcement to make sure everyone knows the rules. This is the Body and Blood of Christ we're talking about, and I think it's worth it to be careful.As for Catholics who are not in good standing, if they choose to receive when they are in a state of mortal sin, as St. Paul said, they are eating and drinking judgment upon themselves (c.f. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32). On any given Sunday, there are plenty of Catholics receiving the Body and Blood of Christ who probably are not in a state of grace, as you point out. Of course it's difficult for a priest to sort out those people in the communion line on a Sunday. But those Catholics know the rules, even if they're choosing to receive communion anyway. A wedding (or perhaps a funeral), an event when there are a lot more non-Catholics or non-practicing Catholics, is a bit different than a regular Sunday Mass... and I do think it's reasonable to make a tactful announcement to make sure that everyone is clear on the rules.

ring_pop

Gulf - I'm not saying at all that it shouldn't be addressed. I just meant that I feel it should be worded with a positive spin (you may come forward to receive a blessing) rather than a negative one (no communion for you!).The instruction "Catholics in good standing may do X, everyone else may do Y instead" is pretty simple and clear. If guests choose to ignore it, I don't think it matters how you word it anyway.Your wording not only highlights the fact that your guests "do not share" your faith, but also uses the word "cannot", regarding receiving communion, twice. To me, this highlights the very division/separation that you're asking them to pray about.

GulfCoaster

Well, I didn't hear any complaints from my (very non Catholic) family.  Afterward, several of them even thanked me for the "very nice" note about Communion.To each their own, I suppose.

Da0419

We're going to put something like "If you are not a practicing Catholic, we welcome you to receive a blessing from our officiant" in the program.