Question 4 - Receiving Holy Communion
Father, should we receive Holy Communion each time we go to Holy Mass ?
Although it is a very good thing to receive Holy Communion as often as possible, there is never an obligation to receive Holy Communion, except once a year in the time of Easter. There are multiple reasons that can suggest somebody sometimes not to receive Holy Communion, such as : not being in the state of grace (in that case, there is a grave obligation to abstain from Communion); being doubtfully in the state of grace; not having kept the fast required by the Church before Holy Communion; being in a state of mind where we got angry at someone and were not yet able to forgive the person in our heart; having nausea with a risk of rejecting the Holy Communion; being in a rush to leave church after Mass, and therefore not having time to make a proper thanksgiving; etc. In such circumstances and other similar, one should rather make a spiritual communion than receive the sacrament itself.
Beware of the Novus Ordo practice where everyone goes to Holy Communion no matter what. Multiple sacrileges are committed today in the churches. The one who receives the Blessed Sacrament unworthily, says St Paul, receives his own condemnation. The obligation to go to Mass each Sunday does not entail the obligation to receive Holy Communion.
Nobody should hesitate to wait before receiving Holy Communion when not sure if he is in the proper dispositions. The priest should be consulted in confession if there are doubts about whether or not Holy Communion should be received in such or such circumstances.
Parents should be very prudent in inquiring why one of their children did not receive Holy Communion. I suggest that parents start delicately inquiring of the reasons only if the abstention of Communion lasts too long. The same prudence and discretion should be kept between spouses.
Abstention from Holy Communion when needed, far from being shameful, only proves our Faith and veneration for such a holy Sacrament.
All that being said, one must also avoid :
becoming exceedingly scrupulous : this sacrament is not one of people who have reached holiness, but one of people who, although holy in the sense that they are in the state of grace, are in need of the grace of God to overcome their weaknesses.
taking the habit of staying in the state of mortal sin for long periods of time. This would be the highway to hell.
