Attending a Catholic church as a guest

[Anonymous]

for a ceremony. In this case graduation. Mass beforehand.

Family coming from a distance. Not all are Catholic. Some are not religious at all. Do those people "have to" go up and receive a blessing?

[Anonymous]

No. They can just stay seated during communion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. They can just stay seated during communion.

Thank you. Apparently there is an expectation... even an insistence... that everyone goes up to receive a blessing. Worded as "have to."

I've been to weddings and a funeral, and this has never been said before. Some people simply stayed seated.

[Anonymous]

No, totally cool to stay in your seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. They can just stay seated during communion.

Thank you. Apparently there is an expectation... even an insistence... that everyone goes up to receive a blessing. Worded as "have to."

I've been to weddings and a funeral, and this has never been said before. Some people simply stayed seated.

Maybe they meant for the graduates? Tons of people don’t go up at communion.

[Anonymous]

I am not Catholic and I have never and will never go up to get the blessing when I attend church with my husband and family. It's a non-issue. I just stay seated, or I move out of the pew to let people pass, and I get back in the pew and take my seat. My children do not go up, either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. They can just stay seated during communion.

Thank you. Apparently there is an expectation... even an insistence... that everyone goes up to receive a blessing. Worded as "have to."

I've been to weddings and a funeral, and this has never been said before. Some people simply stayed seated.

Maybe they meant for the graduates? Tons of people don’t go up at communion.

No, the graduates know they go up. This was information for guests. Seems to be one person's preference.

Thanks for the help. It didn't seem right to me just going on past experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. They can just stay seated during communion.

Thank you. Apparently there is an expectation... even an insistence... that everyone goes up to receive a blessing. Worded as "have to."

I've been to weddings and a funeral, and this has never been said before. Some people simply stayed seated.

Maybe they meant for the graduates? Tons of people don’t go up at communion.

No, the graduates know they go up. This was information for guests. Seems to be one person's preference.

Thanks for the help. It didn't seem right to me just going on past experiences.

Really weird. At every service where there are a lot of people from outside the parish, I have always heard if phrased as people being welcome to come up for a blessing. But no one has ever made it seem like it was required.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. They can just stay seated during communion.

Thank you. Apparently there is an expectation... even an insistence... that everyone goes up to receive a blessing. Worded as "have to."

I've been to weddings and a funeral, and this has never been said before. Some people simply stayed seated.

An expectation from whom? I am a non-Catholic who attends mass often because I work for a Catholic organization. I have never heard that as a stated expectation from the altar. They tell you that you are welcome to but it is not an expectation and the majority don’t.

[Anonymous]

I am a non-Catholic who attends mass from time to time. I wish I could take communion but was under the impression that I am ineligible to do so because I was baptized Protestant rather than Catholic, do not participate in confessions, do not fast for an hour before church, and generally believe that bread and wine offered at the Eucharist are symbolic of Christ's body and blood as opposed to having really, truly been converted to Christ's body and blood.

Am I wrong? Is anyone welcome to partake these days according to the dictates of his or her own conscience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a non-Catholic who attends mass from time to time. I wish I could take communion but was under the impression that I am ineligible to do so because I was baptized Protestant rather than Catholic, do not participate in confessions, do not fast for an hour before church, and generally believe that bread and wine offered at the Eucharist are symbolic of Christ's body and blood as opposed to having really, truly been converted to Christ's body and blood.

Am I wrong? Is anyone welcome to partake these days according to the dictates of his or her own conscience?

YOu're right. And you're now confusing receiving a "blessing" with receiving communion. The blessing is for people like you who can't take communion. Communion is receiving the host that Catholics believe has been changed by the priest into the body and blood of Jesus.

[Anonymous]

Stay in your seat. This whole "go up for a blessing at communion " nonsense was invented to give little kids something to not feel left out when they went up in the communion line with their parents but were too young to receive communion themselves. It has no traditional foundation and is not part of the rubrics (instructions) for the Mass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stay in your seat. This whole "go up for a blessing at communion " nonsense was invented to give little kids something to not feel left out when they went up in the communion line with their parents but were too young to receive communion themselves. It has no traditional foundation and is not part of the rubrics (instructions) for the Mass.

Sounds right to me. The last time I was in a Catholic church -- within the last couple of years, there was no "blessing" option. THere was a stern admonition that communion was only for Catholics "in good standing".

Nice that they've softened their approach, but the blessing is an option, not a demand.

[Anonymous]

No. They should just sit in the pew when everyone else gets communion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. They can just stay seated during communion.

Thank you. Apparently there is an expectation... even an insistence... that everyone goes up to receive a blessing. Worded as "have to."

I've been to weddings and a funeral, and this has never been said before. Some people simply stayed seated.

An expectation from whom? I am a non-Catholic who attends mass often because I work for a Catholic organization. I have never heard that as a stated expectation from the altar. They tell you that you are welcome to but it is not an expectation and the majority don’t.

Op here. I'm not clear on who expects this. I thought perhaps it was that particular church.

Thanks for the information. Those who don't want to go up will stay seated.