AboutSal Expertise I love the Catholic Church and her book, the Bible. I will try to answer your questions with an emphasis on God*s Word. I believe the Catholic Church is the Church established by Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world. I can answer questions pertaining to the biblical basis for Catholic beliefs. I can also explain the beliefs of Jehovah*s Witnesses, Mormons, and Seventh Day Adventists as related to Catholic doctrine.
Experience I have studied the Catholic faith for twenty years. I have conducted adult education classes in the teachings of the Catholic Church. I have taught teenagers the Catholic faith. I have taught Bible Study.
I have two questions. Could you explain the biblical basis for asking Mary to pray for us, as is done in the Hail Mary?
Also, could you explain the biblical basis for excluding other Christians from Holy Communion within the Catholic Church. My wife isn't Catholic and I am, and our differences are a source of frustration for us. She doesn't believe that many of the Catholic Church's practices are biblically based and I don't want to believe that is true.
Answer Hello Glen:
I am back as promised to explain the biblical basis for excluding other Christians from receiving Holy Communion in the Catholic Church. This practice is known as “closed communion”. Most Protestant churches practice some form of closed communion. Most Protestants at least exclude non-Christians from communion also known as the Lord's Supper. This is done because it is realized that Communion is a Christian rite.
In the Old Covenant the on-going sign of unity among the people of God was the keeping of the 7th day Sabbath. “So shall the Israelites observe the Sabbath, keeping it throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. Between Me and the Israelites it is to be an everlasting sign…” (Exodus 31:16-17). In the New Covenant the on-going sign of unity among the people of God is no longer Sabbath keeping which was “a shadow of things to come” (Colossians 2:17), but the celebration of the Lord's Supper. “Do this in remembrance of me,” our Lord commanded (see Luke 22:19; I Corinthians 11:24,25). St Paul declared, “Every time, then, you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes!” (I Corinthians 11:26).
St Paul identifies reception of Communion as the visible sign of Christian unity. “And is not the bread we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, many though we are, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (I Corinthians 10:16-17). One must possess this unity of belief in order to receive Communion.
Communion, as the name implies, is a profession of unity with the other believers that one is sharing the “one loaf” with. Therefore, when one receives Communion in the Catholic Church one is publicly declaring one's complete assent to all the teachings of the Church. It follows logically from this that if one does not assent to the teachings he must be excluded from Communion or his reception of Communion would be a lie.
Closed communion is nothing new. It was practiced by the earliest Christians. A document written between 70-120 AD clearly shows closed communion to be already in use. “And in the Lord's own day gather yourselves together and break bread…and let no man, having a dispute with his fellow, join your assembly until they have been reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be defiled” (The Didache). The early Christians practice closed communion based on the teaching of our Lord. “If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave you gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). Protestants have a dispute with the Catholic Church. They cannot receive Communion until they are reconciled to the Church even though they are fellow Christians.
Once one recognizes that the bread and the wine are not mere symbols, but are the actual body and blood of our Lord, than one should be very cautious about receiving the body and blood of God unworthily. St. Paul gives a stern warning to anyone that wants to receive Communion, but is in a state of sin.
“This means that whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the body and blood of the Lord. A man should examine himself first, only then should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. He who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks damnation on himself. That is why many among you are sick and infirm, and why so many are dying” (I Corinthians 11:27-30).
Therefore, when the Catholic Church excludes some from receiving Communion it is an act of protection. The Church is protecting the Lord's body and blood against profanation. The Church also protects the would-be communicate from unworthily receiving and thereby bringing damnation upon himself! This is no trivial matter. “That is why many among you are sick and infirm, and why so many are dying” (v. 30). It is a great act of love to enforce closed communion. In this way the Church is trying to protect one's soul from becoming spiritual sick or dying. “He who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks damnation on himself” (v. 29).
Another explicit example of closed communion occurs in I Corinthians 5. Here a Christian is practicing the sin of incest (v. 1). He is excluded from Communion by St. Paul (vv. 2-5). Further on St. Paul states, “It is clear that you must not eat with such a person” (v. 11). Here “eat” refers to receiving Communion. This would be in keeping with the context in which St. Paul says, “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Let us keep the feast” (vv. 7b-8a). Scholars agree that the Passover feast was a type of the Lord's Supper. The early Christians used the term “celebrate the feast” in reference to Holy Communion.
Another example of closed communion: “We command you brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to avoid any brother who wanders from the straight path and does not follow the tradition you received from us” (II Thessalonians 3:6). Obviously, again, St. Paul is endorsing closed communion. “Avoid any brother” would certainly prohibit allowing such a person to partake of Communion. “Wanders from the straight path” would mean that he is no longer in unity with the teachings of the Church. So exclusion from Holy Communion is taken as a given.
The Catholic Church longs for, and constantly works toward, unity among believers. The Church prays for the day when all God's children will be united and be able to receive Communion together as a family. Then will the prayer of our Lord for unity among all believers (see John 17:20-23) be fully realized. “There shallbe one flock then, one shepherd” (John 10:16).
In conclusion, the Catholic practice of closed communion is biblically based, it is the ancient Christian tradition, and it makes good sense.
I hope that this was helpful to you. If I can be of further assistance please feel free to let me know. I will be glad to try and answer any questions that you or your wife may have.Know that you and your wife will be in my prayers.
