Do NOT Receive Communion Until You’ve Seen This (w/ Fr. Mike Schmitz) - The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast

Episode Overview

Title: Do NOT Receive Communion Until You’ve Seen This
Podcast: The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
Host: Ascension
Guest: Fr. Mike Schmitz
Release Date: October 30, 2025

In this episode, Fr. Mike Schmitz brings a candid and passionate discussion about the importance of worthiness when receiving Holy Communion. Drawing from personal experience and scriptural teaching, he explains why Catholics are called to abstain from the Eucharist if in a state of mortal sin, what constitutes mortal sin, and how to navigate uncertainty in moments of doubt. The episode challenges common misconceptions and offers practical spiritual counsel for Catholics approaching the altar.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Scenario: A College Mass Witness

Fr. Mike recounts his college experience with late-night student Mass (00:24).
He describes a peer who, each Sunday, remained in the pew as others received Communion, choosing not to receive due to his state of sin.
- “I think that he's sitting there thinking, like, here, I'm the failure. ...But I remember seeing that and thinking, that man gets it.” (00:52)
Fr. Mike reframes this peer’s abstaining as a profound witness to the real presence of Christ.

2. Scriptural Foundation (1 Corinthians 11)

St. Paul’s teaching warns against receiving the Eucharist unworthily: “...they are receiving the body and blood of Jesus unworthily. And in doing so, they're guilty of his murder, they're guilty of his death.” (01:29)
Emphasizes the serious spiritual weight and consequences of receiving in a state of mortal sin.

3. What is Mortal Sin?

Outlines the three requirements for mortal sin (02:13):
1. Grave matter
2. Full knowledge
3. Deliberate consent
Examples include intentionally skipping Mass, knowing it’s a grave sin, and freely choosing it.
- “If I knew it was a grave sin and chose to do it anyways, that's a mortal sin. I can't receive Holy Communion.” (02:32)
Reinforces the call to abstain from Communion if aware of mortal sin.

4. The Stakes: A Serious Spiritual Matter

Stresses the Church’s and Scripture’s clear prohibition: receiving Communion in a known state of mortal sin is itself another mortal sin.
- “Now, now we all know that receiving Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin is itself another sin. I don't care what anyone says...” (03:30)
Corrects a common misconception: The Eucharist as “medicine for the sick, not for the dead.”
- “Yes, it is medicine for sinners, but it's not medicine for the dead. What mortal sin is, it makes us in some ways spiritually dead.” (03:48)

5. Navigating Doubt

For those uncertain about their spiritual state, Fr. Mike offers guidance:
- “When in doubt, always receive and receive that peace.” (04:41)
Explains that if any of the three requirements for mortal sin are missing, it may not be a mortal sin.
Warns against spiritual scrupulosity:
- “If you were the evil one...what you'd do is probably in that moment of communion...distract you by putting this thought in your head...to distract you from that moment of intimacy…” (05:06)
Final aphorism: “When in doubt, receive. When in doubt, receive.” (05:28)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On abstaining from communion as a witness:
- “By not coming forward to receive Holy Communion, he's honoring the Lord more than many of us who are coming to receive holy communion unworthily.” (01:10)
On the seriousness of receiving unworthily:
- “St. Paul's language is so serious...we're guilty of the very body and blood of Christ in the sense that we're guilty of his murder. Which puts the stakes pretty high.” (02:47)
On misinterpreting the Eucharist as ‘medicine’:
- “It's not medicine for the dead. What mortal sin is, it makes us in some ways spiritually dead.” (03:48)
Condensed advice for the uncertain:
- “When in doubt, receive and receive that peace.” (04:41)
- “That man I knew in college was a greater witness...than maybe anyone else I've ever met in my life.” (05:34)
- “That declaration, I need to be here, but I can't receive right now...has inspired me to love Jesus more maybe than...any book I've ever read on the Eucharist.” (06:05)

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:24 – Story of the college Mass and classmate’s witness
01:29 – St. Paul’s teaching on worthy reception
02:13 – Explanation of mortal sin and its requirements
03:30 – On the gravity of the sin of receiving unworthily
04:41 – Counseling the uncertain: “When in doubt, receive”
05:34 – The impact of witnessing someone abstain

Tone and Final Message

Fr. Mike’s tone is heartfelt, direct, and pastoral, blending doctrinal clarity with personal empathy and encouragement.

He closes by reminding listeners:

Attending Mass, even when one cannot receive, is still a powerful witness and a profound act of faith.
Careful discernment honors both the Eucharist and one’s relationship with God, balancing reverence with trust in God’s mercy.

Summary in a Sentence:
Fr. Mike Schmitz challenges the faithful to thoughtfully discern their state before receiving Communion, teaching that abstaining out of reverence is a powerful spiritual witness, and offering reassurance for those who are unsure.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Say you're going to Mass, and all of a sudden you're like, wait a second. I don't know if I've committed a mortal sin. Maybe I did. Maybe that was that a mortal sin. Now, here's what I heard as counseled to me, and I will counsel it to you. And maybe until the day I die, it's this. Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension Presents. When I was in college, we kept the priests up so late we had mass at 9 o'. Clock. That was kind of like the big student Mass we had on our campus. So we'd have Mass really late. And I remember one guy, one man I know very, very well, he'd come to Mass every single Sunday. And when everyone else would leave their pew for Communion, he would not get up and come forward. He would just sit in the pew. I think that he's sitting there thinking, like, here, I'm the failure. Like, here I am. I'm the one who can't receive Jesus today. I'm the one who can't receive Holy Communion today on Sunday night because of what I did Saturday night or Friday night or whatever. I'm not assuming anything. It's just like he knew himself. He knew that he was in such a state that he was not able to receive Holy Communion. I'm guessing he saw that as a failure, as a great lack of witness to Jesus. But I remember seeing that and thinking, that man gets it. By not coming forward to receive Holy Communion, he's honoring the Lord more than many of us who are coming to receive holy communion unworthily. St. Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11. He says that there are some who are going to Mass, and they are receiving the body and blood of Jesus unworthily. And in doing so, they're guilty of his. Of his murder, they're guilty of his death. That's actually the weight. If we receive Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin, if we receive Holy Communion unworthily, it's a mortal sin. And 1 Corinthians makes that absolutely, abundantly clear. And yet how often we kind of, in a cavalier way, approach the altar, not really weighing out, wait, let's ask the question, am I in a state of grace? Am I conscious of any. Am I conscious of mortal sin? Right. We know what the requirements for mortal sin are. That it has to be grave sin. Right? I have to know it's a sin, and I have to freely choose to do it anyway. So I recognize that, okay, If I'm aware that I've previously skipped Mass. That is a grave sin. If I knew it was a grave sin and chose to do it anyways, that's a mortal sin. I can't receive Holy Communion if there's another mortal sin, another grave sin that I knew was a grave sin and freely chose to do anyway, I can't receive Holy Communion then either, because that's another grave sin. We're called to Mass. We're called to be there, but also we must abstain if we're aware of. Of mortal sin. St. Paul's language is so serious. The idiomatic expression I've heard explained to me is that we're guilty of the very body and blood of Christ in the sense that we're guilty of his murder. Which puts the stakes pretty high. Now, a couple things. Requirements for mortal sin are that it's grave sin. Yes. And you had then you. And you knew it. So if you didn't know that until now it was a sin, but you weren't guilty of it, right. You weren't responsible, culpable for that sin. But here's the thing. Now you know. Now, now we all know that receiving Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin is itself another sin. I don't care what anyone says, like, well, you know, just receive it anyways. Because the Eucharist is not a reward for being righteous, but it's. It's medicine for sinner. Yes, it is medicine for sinners. It is medicine for the sick. It's not medicine for the dead. What mortal sin is, it makes us in some ways spiritually dead. And so if someone says, no, no, no, just come forward. Anyway, even if you're aware of mortal sin, that's incorrect. I would not ever recommend that because it seems to be very clearly prohibited by God's word and by God's Church. So keep that in mind. Now, at the same time, what if you don't know? Say you're going to Mass and all of a sudden you're like, wait a second, I don't know if I've committed a mortal sin. Maybe I did, Maybe that. Was that a mortal sin? Was that a mortal sin? And you get it all in your head about this. Now, here's what I heard as counseled to me, and I will counsel it to you. And maybe until the day I die, it's this. When in doubt, if you're coming to Mass and you're. You don't know if you've committed mortal sin. You don't know if you're in a state of grace or not. When in doubt, always receive and receive that peace. The three requirements for mortal sin are grave matter. You know it's a sin, you freely chose to do it anyways. If you don't know, then we're missing some of those requirements for a sin to be moral. Not only that, but if you were the evil one, right? If you were the devil, if you're the one who wanted to keep everyone away from the heart of the Lord, what would you do? What you do is probably in that moment of communion, in that moment where people are drawn near to the Lord in intimacy, he would distract you by putting this thought in your head of like, wait, wait, do I know? Did I state of grace? Not a state of grace to distract you from that moment of intimacy where you're wondering the whole time, should I even be here? When in doubt, receive. When in doubt, receive. Because that voice that says you shouldn't even be here is wrong again. That man I knew in college was a greater witness to the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and and a greater witness to the fact that God wants all of us to come close to him than maybe anyone else I've ever met in my life. Because he knew those two things. He knew, God wants me here, I need to be here. It's Sunday, I have to be at Mass. But he also knew, based on what I know about my soul, what I know about my relationship with Jesus, right now, I can't receive him yet. That declaration, I need to be here, but I can't receive right now, man, that single, single witness has inspired me to love Jesus more maybe than. Maybe more than any book I've ever read on the Eucharist. And it's the witness of someone who felt like a failure. But he wasn't totally failing. He was witnessing to God's power, God's truth to God's reality in the Eucharist, even by not receiving Holy Communion. Anyways, that's what I got from all this here at such a presents. My name is Father Mike. God bless.