By Brenden Bell
When I was in college, I lived close to my grandparents and occasionally I would go with them to their protestant church on Sunday morning. Once a month at my grandparents’ church they would have a communion service where they would remember the Lord’s Supper. They would pass out little pieces of unleavened bread, which looked kind of like crackers, and little plastic cups filled with grape juice. There were many differences between my grandparents’ communion service and a Catholic Mass. There was no priest, no formal prayer of consecration, no standing up or kneeling down, but the biggest difference was something that could not be seen. It was done with great reverence and true heart felt emotion, but I always felt like something was missing, or more to the point someone was missing.
There is a fundamentally different understanding about communion for Catholics than for other Christians. We as Catholics believe in Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. We believe that the bread and wine, when consecrated by the priest, are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The fancy word for this is transubstantiation which simply means that the substance, the deepest reality of the bread and wine, are changed into the substance of Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Other Christians do not believe this. Most protestant Christians believe communion is only a symbol, a sign of Jesus’ love for us. These protestant churches have also not maintained a priesthood or an unbroken line of apostolic succession (a line of bishops as successors to the apostles), which is necessary for the consecration of the Eucharist. Only the Orthodox Churches still believe in Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist and have a valid priesthood. So, if you enter or pass by an Orthodox church, remember to bless yourself because Jesus is really present there, just as in any Catholic church.
This is not to say Jesus is not present in protestant Churches. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). Jesus is present to us in many ways, but Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is a special presence, a sacramental presence. The Eucharist is the closest to heaven we will ever get here on earth. But we can only experience this presence if we look with eyes of faith. This is why non-Catholics shouldn’t receive the Eucharist at a Catholic Mass.
If your non-Catholic friend or relative should join you for Mass, it is a kindness for you to tell them they should not receive communion. You might be afraid that you will come off as rude, but you are really preventing them from doing something they don’t really believe in. Every time we go to receive communion the minister holds up the Eucharist and says, “The Body of Christ,” and we respond, “Amen.” Amen means “I believe.” Taking communion is a symbolic act, by doing so you are saying, “I believe that what looks, smells, and tastes like bread is really the Body of Christ.” If your non-Catholic friend were to take Holy Communion they would be essentially lying. It would be like someone saying, “I do,” at a wedding ceremony without intending to get married, or even knowing what “I do” means.
Asking someone who is non-Catholic not to receive communion is really a sign of respect. If I joined a Buddhist friend at a Buddhist temple, I would hope he would stop me before I accidentally did an act which meant I was praying to a statue of Buddha. It would go against my beliefs and be disrespectful to that religious tradition.
So, what about the Orthodox Christians? They believe the Eucharist is the Body of Christ, why can’t they receive communion at a Catholic church? Ordinarily, an Orthodox Christian should not receive communion in a Catholic church. Receiving communion is not only a symbolic way of saying you believe in the real presence, but also a way of being united with all other Catholics who receive the same Eucharist. Saint Paul reminds us, “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). The one bread unites us in the one Body of Christ, but all Christians are not united.
The Catholic and Orthodox Churches, while sharing much in theology and liturgical tradition, are still divided on many issues, especially on the authority of the Pope. Catholics and Protestants are likewise divided by many differences of belief. That is why non-Catholic Christians shouldn’t receive communion at a Catholic Mass and also why Catholics should not receive communion at other Christian churches. That is what we mean when we say these Christians are not “in communion” with the Catholic Church. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Orthodox Christians can receive Eucharist at a Catholic church and Catholics can receive Eucharist at Orthodox churches under special circumstances, but this can only be done with the permission of both the Catholic and the Orthodox bishops and the pastors of those churches. These moments are steps in the direction of unity and full communion.
We lament the fact that the body of Christ is divided among so many Christian communities and we pray for a return to union, but we can’t ignore the divisions that still exist. Does that mean we can’t go to church with our non-Catholic friends or relatives or invite them to join us at Mass? No, we should reach out to our separated brethren in any way we can, including worshipping together on occasion. But when we refrain from receiving communion in non-Catholic churches and ask our non-Catholics friends to refrain from receiving the Eucharist at Mass, we ensure mutual respect for each other’s beliefs. We also recognize that we have more work to do to reach unity. The more compassion and respect we show to other Christians the greater witness of love we will show to non-Christians and to the world.
The Eucharist is a precious gift, and we have a great responsibility to teach and initiate anyone who wishes to come to the Lord in this Sacrament. You never know, maybe by asking your non-Catholic friend not to receive communion, you will instill in them a curiosity and hunger for the Eucharist, and they will soon cease to be a non-Catholic.