Roman Catholics: Confession and Communion - 12/11/07 02:59 PM
I'm a christian, but not Roman Catholic (RC). My FWW and children are. We are not regular churchgoers, but we do go at least 6-12 times a year, particularly Easter, Christmas, etc. I join her at the local RC church, but I do not take part in the Communion.
Recently, someone posted a comment here that indicated that RCs should not take part in Communion if they have knowingly committed a very grave sin and have not taken part in the Sacrament of Confession. I did some quick research online and confirmed this to be the case.
AFAIK, my FWW has never done the Sacrament of Confession. I mentioned what I'd found out to her, and asked her what she planned to do about it.
After trying and failing to involve me in the "Well-tell-me-what-YOU-would-do-if-I-decide-to-do-this-or-decide-to-do-that" dance (her way of passing on responsibility for choices like this), she made a comment along the lines of "well, I guess I can't attend church any longer". I left it at that, knowing that it was likely an off-the-cuff remark rather than an actual decision.
This morning, I asked her if she was planning to attend church on Christmas Day. She replied "probably". I asked her what she planned to do concerning the question I raised about Confession and Communion. She replied that she hasn't decided yet.
While I'm hoping that she chooses to do the "right" thing, I suspect that one of following situations will likely arise:
1. She doesn't go, and blames me for bringing up the issue and making her feel guilty about taking Communion
2. She does go, takes Communion, but blames me for making her feel guilty about doing it.
Also, if she just choose to go, I'm not sure what the "right" response would be. Should I go along as normal, pretending that everything is all right? Should I refuse to go, knowing that she's breaking one of the fundamental practices of her religion? Do I just drop this and pretend that it never came up?
I will say that I have a somewhat ulterior motive here. I do feel that she needs to talk to *someone* about what she chose to do, and perhaps this might be an opportunity for her to do so.
Advice please.
Recently, someone posted a comment here that indicated that RCs should not take part in Communion if they have knowingly committed a very grave sin and have not taken part in the Sacrament of Confession. I did some quick research online and confirmed this to be the case.
AFAIK, my FWW has never done the Sacrament of Confession. I mentioned what I'd found out to her, and asked her what she planned to do about it.
After trying and failing to involve me in the "Well-tell-me-what-YOU-would-do-if-I-decide-to-do-this-or-decide-to-do-that" dance (her way of passing on responsibility for choices like this), she made a comment along the lines of "well, I guess I can't attend church any longer". I left it at that, knowing that it was likely an off-the-cuff remark rather than an actual decision.
This morning, I asked her if she was planning to attend church on Christmas Day. She replied "probably". I asked her what she planned to do concerning the question I raised about Confession and Communion. She replied that she hasn't decided yet.
While I'm hoping that she chooses to do the "right" thing, I suspect that one of following situations will likely arise:
1. She doesn't go, and blames me for bringing up the issue and making her feel guilty about taking Communion
2. She does go, takes Communion, but blames me for making her feel guilty about doing it.
Also, if she just choose to go, I'm not sure what the "right" response would be. Should I go along as normal, pretending that everything is all right? Should I refuse to go, knowing that she's breaking one of the fundamental practices of her religion? Do I just drop this and pretend that it never came up?
I will say that I have a somewhat ulterior motive here. I do feel that she needs to talk to *someone* about what she chose to do, and perhaps this might be an opportunity for her to do so.
Advice please.