Why do Catholics Prohibit Non-Catholics From Receiving Holy Communion!?
On the one hand, the Church says that Holy Communion unites us intimately with God and with another and that it perfects us in charity, but on the other hand, every time there’s a funeral or a special Feast Mass, we hear the announcement that “Holy Communion is reserved for Catholics only.” If Holy Communion is such a great gift of God, why do we reserve It for ourselves and not share It with the whole world?
The keyword to keep in mind is ‘intimacy’. You can’t be intimately involved with everyone you know. The whole point of intimacy is that it’s reserved for a few people. Your relationship with your family members is different from the one with your colleagues or with an acquaintance. A husband and wife get intimately united in a way that they can only do with one another and not with anyone else.
Remember that in the video on Holy Communion, I said that this is also spiritual food, which means you have to be spiritually united to Christ before receiving Him physically. The Catholic Church is the Bride and Body of Christ. The Mass is not just about saying prayers together; it is the union of the Body and the Head, of the Bride and the Bridegroom. The congregation is the Bride, and Christ is present as the Bridegroom through the priest, i.e. me!
As Catholics who have been baptised and are in a state of Grace, we are part of His Body and that’s why we can receive Him in Communion, and since non-Catholics are outside the Body of Christ, they can’t participate in the intimate union of Bride and Bridegroom. It’s not about excluding them; it’s more an invitation that’s saying, ‘If you want to receive God and be united to Him, you have to give yourself completely to Him, and become part of His Body, which is His Church.’
I can make this same point in a different way. Even a Catholic who’s in a state of mortal sin is not supposed to receive Communion, because he/she has ruptured the union between him/herself and Christ and is, in a way, spiritually dead. Receiving Communion in a state of mortal sin is another mortal sin, and he/she needs to make a sincere Confession in order to receive Communion again.
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Fr. Warner D'Souza is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Bombay. He has served in the parishes of St Michael's (Mahim), St Paul's (Dadar East), Our Lady of Mount Carmel, (Bandra), a ten year stint as priest-in-charge at St Jude Church (Malad East) and at present is the Parish Priest at St Stephen's Church (Cumballa Hill). He is also the Director of the Archdiocesan Heritage Museum and is the co-ordinator of the Committee for the Promotion and Preservation of the Artistic and Historic Patrimony of the Church.
To Receive The Body and Blood Of Christ Jesus we have to get related to Jesus Christ Spiritual and Physically participate in the intimate with Bride and Bridegroom in the Mass. To receive the Holy Communion we should be Spiritual clean in our Heart and Physically with our Body also, because we have to receive the Holy Communion not in our hands but on Tongue which should be Spiritually clean or we will be committing Mortal Sins. So We should not only have to be Baptized by Grace but also be Spiritually clean to receive the Holy Communion.
Thankyou. May Almighty God Jesus Christ Bless You In Your Spiritual Life Teaching And Health Wealth Prosperity Happiness Peace and Successful Life 🙏 Amen.
Rev Fr Warner D’Souza