Dear Father,
I would like to know more about situations in which a person should not receive Holy Communion. I know that a person should not receive when a mortal sin has been committed and has not yet gone to confession, but what constitutes a mortal sin? Also, for what reasons might a person refrain from receiving Communion if he/she has not committed a major sin?
-Peter
Dear Peter,
Mortal sin impedes a person from receiving Holy Communion because mortal sin breaks friendship with God. The sacrament of penance (aka, Confession, Reconciliation) restores that friendship. The sacrament was instituted by Christ for just that purpose. The sacrament of Confession is not superfluous when it comes to mortal sin.
Mortal sin has three main components: the deed or omission is grave, and there is full knowledge and deliberate consent to the act (or omission). If one of these three is missing, then the sin is venial. St. Thomas Aquinas describes venial sin as a disorder, though not opposed to the love of God and neighbor, such as a thoughtless word. Mortal sin, he says, “is incompatible with the charity” for God and neighbor.
Grave matter, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 1858), “is specified by the Ten Commandments.” To have full knowledge means that one knows that the deed or omission is sinful. To give deliberate consent means that one makes a choice for something seriously sinful. “Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin” (no. 1859).
Some examples illustrate the three aspects of a mortal sin. To knowingly and deliberately chop down my neighbor’s valuable oak tree meets the criteria for a mortal sin. However, if I do this while sleepwalking, with no awareness of what I am doing, it is not a mortal sin because I had no knowledge of it. I cannot pretend, though, to have been sleepwalking in order to escape divine justice.
Or, a parent who neglects the religious education of his/her child commits a mortal sin because religious education is a grave matter. This egregious neglect is an omission. It is grave because it affects the child’s soul and eternal life. Raising a child involves much more than simply putting food on the table and clothes on her back.
To receive Holy Communion, that is, to feast on the Body and Blood, soul and divinity of Christ, while in the state of mortal sin is to pretend that sin is not offensive to God. It is, in fact, another serious sin. Repenting of serious sin involves much more than a simple “I’m sorry.” Reparations are required.
If a husband seriously offends his wife, he owes her much more than a quick apology. The reparation would include a healing conversation, including a heartfelt appeal for forgiveness, with the intention of not repeating the offense.
God has given us the means of making proper reparation through the sacrament of penance. By going to Confession, God sets right what we have destroyed. He makes us capable of loving him again.
Going to Confession involves confessing our sins to God through the priest, expressing sorrow for them, receiving the grace of forgiveness through the priest’s absolution and carrying out the reparation or penance the priest assigns.
It may happen that a person is in doubt about whether a sin is mortal. In this situation, a person is encouraged to make an act of sorrow and to receive Communion. One is encouraged to bring this up with a priest in one’s next regular confession so as to receive pastoral advice about the matter.
However, abstaining from Holy Communion when one is not in the state of mortal sin is quite a different issue. It is generally not healthy to abstain from Communion when there is no good reason.
This is because we need the spiritual nourishment that Communion provides. It is the “bread of life” that sustains us as we journey to our ultimate end, heaven. Holy Communion is the food on earth that prepares us for the banquet of eternal union with the Blessed Trinity after this earthly life.
There is a wrong-headed notion that fasting from the Eucharist helps to cultivate reverence or a desire for the Blessed Sacrament due to its absence. Some have done this for several weeks at a time, including Sundays. Imagine a mother saying to her children: “I’m going to stay away from you for several weeks so that I miss you more.” How absurd!
While reception of Holy Communion is not at all a requirement for Sundays, or any day, for that matter, receiving Communion is important for the health of our souls. Our Lord Jesus deeply desires intimate communion.
Periodic abstinence from Communion is not a Catholic practice and is not encouraged. While Lent is a time for fasting and abstinence from natural food and drink, it does not include the spiritual food of the Eucharist. Our Mother, the Church, even insists that every Catholic is obliged to partake of the Sacred Feast at least once a year.
If a person is in mortal sin: go to Confession, then Communion. Otherwise, always prepare for a good Holy Communion … and heaven.