Confession without Communion

Question: 

I know of a member of the church who goes to confession and refuses to  partake of communion after taking confession. I am aware of what is  written in John 6:54-56. Why would one NOT participate in communion after  having confessed their sins? Is this the customary belief pattern of  someone involved in a cult(ex. Masons)? Why would a priest listen to a  confession of someone who is known to not participate in communion  afterwards? 

Very Rev. Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org 

I presume that it must be because this person feels unworthy of receiving the Holy Mysteries but feels the need to be cleansed and forgiven nonetheless. 

These are two distinct Mysteries, even though the Mystery of Penance or Confession has traditionally become (esp. in the Ukrainian Church) an inextricable part of the preparation for the Eucharist.

It may also be, however, that this person is unduly frightened of the common cup and spoon used for the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church - thinking that this may be a way for spreading communicable diseases.

Both approaches are tragic in that they deprive the person of something wonderful and glorious that God in His love and mercy continually extends to us: participation in His essence by receiving (as worthily as we are capable of) the Blessed Mysteries of our Lord's Body and Blood.

I doubt that this has anything to do with adherence to Freemasonry.  I have known Masons who (in spite of the incongruity of Masonic theology with Christianity - of which they were most likely unaware) nonetheless received the Mysteries.

As for the motivation of the priest: many of us are quite happy to accept a person where they are rather than where we wish they would be.  To refuse to administer the grace of Confession simple because the person would not be receiving the Eucharist afterwards seems to me to be a more austere application of the canons than is usually warranted.  We are priests to save souls - our own included - by acting as much as possible in love and compassion with those whom the Lord sends us.

Ukrainian Orthodoxy