You have a wonderful way of reminding us of what our religion should be. And your manner of reminding us is always in the spirit of that religion.

My companion and I blinked a little, but most of the members just took it with a grain of salt and didn’t give it a second thought. And why should they? Animals obey God’s every word. I’m not sure we humans have as good a track record. Thanks for the powerful story. Reminds me of the story Elder Packer told in General Conference about the little, dirty child wandering into a nighttime meeting from the streets of Peru(?) or another South American country and coming trustingly up to the stand to settle into his lap for part of the meeting. Still remains one of my favorite stories from Conference. I believe Elder Packer’s comment was something to the effect that he held the future of that country in his arms that night. I think God blesses old men and women, children and animals, for these seem to truly be the meek of the earth.

Catholics view the Eucharist as the literal Body and Blood of Christ and to partake of it unworthily is considered to be a profanity.

Much like we can’t enter a temple without a valid reccommend, Catholics who have not previously confessed all mortal sin and have been absolved by a priest cannot rightly recieve Communion.

And on the actual subject of the post Ü,

Thank you so much! It’s beautiful.

The discussion on how to react to visitors in relation to the sacrament is certainly not a threadjack and I welcome the exchange. I understand the official policy is that the sacrament is indeed to remember our covenants, but that non-members are welcome to partake though the meaning would be different for them. We would say to an investigator something like: “The sacrament is for the members to remember their baptism covenants, but you are welcome to take from it if you want to”. My experience is that if they partake they feel more part of the group and that helps them towards joining the Church. Please share your experiences with non-members and the sacrament.

Kirsten, that was a beautiful addition. I know well what it means, as a Mormon, to participate in the Catholic communion or not. Normally, as far as I understand, Catholic communion is only for baptized and believing Catholics. The nature of the Sacrament as they view it would require it (I’d have to look up the official standpoint). Since Vatican II a lot more leniency had entered the practice in local parishes and groups, and your story shows it. But sometimes it still creates embarrassing and difficult situations, like when, in the mission field, Mormons attend the funeral mass of a close relative who is Catholic, e.g. their own father or mother. When the audience knows they are Mormon, some may find it totally inappropriate for such “heretics” to go to communion. But at the same time it would be a sign of disrespect not to participate, when you sit on the first row and the priest invites the family to step forward… I have vivid memories of the quandary at such funerals. Perhaps material for another story…