Posted on 05/26/2004 7:10:48 AM PDT by AskStPhilomena
We are concerned about sacrilege against the Most Holy Sacrament of Christ in the Eucharist. Two examples of sacrilege against the Holy Eucharist are seen in reception of Holy Communion by politicians who claim to be Catholics but who vote in favor of laws that allow, promote, or finance abortion.
“Since the first century, the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. The teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable” (Catechism of the Catholic Church) The Catechism also declares that “formal cooperation in abortion [including voting to legalize or to fund it] constitutes a grave offense.”
The other sacrilegious reception of the Holy Eucharist is promoted by members of an activist group of homosexuals called the Rainbow Sash Movement. This group intends to receive the Holy Eucharist next Sunday (Pentecost Sunday) at the noon Mass at the Cathedral. Each member will be wearing a rainbow sash. In a recent letter to our nation’s bishops and cardinals, a spokesman for this group asserts:
“Over the years some of you have used the Holy Eucharist as a way to ‘stigmatize’ gay and lesbian Catholics by denying us the Holy Eucharist. Now, however, you have widened the Eucharistic battlefield to include Catholic Politicians, who do not share your limited view of life issues. Some of you have become so arrogant now that you no longer are concerned with the complex web of practical and pastoral considerations that must be looked at before taking such a drastic step. If you fault us for being sinners why do you excuse yourselves?…
“Your task as bishops should be to enlighten the faithful clearly and strongly; but making a drastic pastoral decision (like denying Communion); I believe it to be an abuse of power. It certainly does not speak to the core elements of our faith to love God, and our neighbor as ourselves.
“We call on you to give up the practice of ‘stigmatization’ of gay and lesbians and other Catholics, by denying the Holy Eucharist to us. Additionally, it is our hope you would welcome all Catholics to the Lord’s Eucharistic table.”
Can the Catholic Church welcome all Catholics to the Eucharistic table?
This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church (para. 2357) has to say about homosexual proclivities:
“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,1 tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’2 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
The Rainbow Sash Movement, like any other group which claims to be Catholic, must defer to the authority of the Catholic Church and of the Holy Father, Christ’s Vicar on earth. As Pope John Paul II wrote in his recent encyclical on the Holy Eucharist:
“Along these same lines, the Catechism of the Catholic Church rightly stipulates that ‘anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to Communion’ [para. 1385]. I therefore desire to reaffirm that in the Church there remains in force, now and in the future, the rule by which the Council of Trent gave concrete expression to the Apostle Paul’s stern warning when it affirmed that, in order to receive the Eucharist in a worthy manner, ‘one must first confess one’s sins, when one is aware of mortal sin’ [AAS 73 (1981) 203].”
Should anyone receive the Holy Eucharist to make a political point? Should anyone receive the Holy Eucharist who adheres to a sinful lifestyle?
Receiving the Eucharist isn’t a right for anyone who decides to be Catholic on Sundays only! It is the Body of Christ, our Lord and Savior, given to us through the guardianship of the Church He founded! Christ is there present to make us holy, not to become a victim of sacrilege through the unworthy reception of His Holy Body and Blood by those in and promoting grave sin.
As faithful Catholics we call upon our fellow Catholics to protest any abuse of and desecration of the Holy Eucharist and to promote among our fellow Catholics a true love and appreciation of Jesus Christ present in the Holy Eucharist. Let your concerns be known: Call Archbishop Flynn at the Chancery Office (651-291-4400, e-mail archcom@archspm.org) and Cathedral Rector, Fr. Michael Skluzacek (651-228-1766).
(Excerpt) Read more at thewandererpress.com ...
I spent some time with a very good, orthodox and humble order of monks. To hear them speak of things like this was such a blessing. They never would criticize groups like homosexuals or pro-abortion politician and they would never get worked up and angry. For the monks, it wasn't us versus them. It wasn't the "mean bishops." For the monks it was the will of God and the Holy Spirit working through the Church. All we need to do is to humbly submit ourselves to Christs bride. I agree with them 100%. The way to win people over is not to get angry or mad. It is to interact with them in complete love and respect, but at the same time, not to compromise our values or condone sin.
To wear the insignia of a group that openly and publicly denies the traditional moral teaching of the Church, that claims that the Church is in error, is regretable. To go to the altar of God with such an attitude is to receive the body of Christ unworthily. More than that, if possible, it is heresy, which is in its rawest sense is to substitute one's own opinion for that of the whole Church.
And yet, as I recently posted on another thread, many, many people, in my parish alone, proudly (the problem maybe?) and defiantly approach the altar every week as EEM's and educators and council members and parishioners, and I know this by their comments at the meetings and such. I know we are all sinners, yet they defiantly persist in heresy and approach, never realizing or wanting to hear of the sanctity of the sacrament. It's very sad, I don't know what the answer is, except for prayer.
Cardinal Mahony isn't going to resist sodomites either:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-26-2004/0002181807&EDATE=
"Cardinal Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has notified the Rainbow Sash Movement that his Cathedral will welcome Rainbow Sash Members as part of the Catholic Family to his Cathedral, and when RSM members present themselves for Communion they will receive It."
As for their attitude, leave them to heaven. If do not hesitate to speak out in meetings to correct them in a fraternal way. If they obstinately refuse to hear the truth, then shun them.
Persecution, therefore, will never be lacking. For, when our enemies from without leave off raging and there ensues a span of tranquility—even of genuine tranquility and great consolation at least to the weak—we are not without enemies within, the many whose scandalous lives wound the hearts of the devout... So it is that those who want to live piously in Christ must suffer the spiritual persecution of these and other aberrations in thought and morals, even when they are free from physical violence and vexation.
St. Augustine
I do attempt to point out discrepancies. The Da Vinci code discussion alone was an eye opener. It is a movement growing and gaining in popularity in our parish, to the point I think I might need to find another. Although I do more frequently attend a different one, but now they've consolidated schools and 'standardized' worship 'space' - ugh - spreading their ills. A lot of parishioners have left altogether in the last decade.
They are using the same tactics they used to take over the Episcopal Church. Stay with it. Continue to state correct doctrine so that the waverers/confused among them will have a chance to listen to the Truth. Don't expect argument to win over the true liberals, however.
It may be that one of these folks will receive Communion in a sincere manner, not just to make a political statement, but to receive the Lord. It may well be that as he receives Communion, he will suddenly experience guilt or regret as he realizes the nature and depth of his sin. Perhaps that will prompt him to leave his lifestyle. I am aware of an instance where this has happened, to someone I know.
"Your servant used to tend his father's sheep, and whenever a lion or bear came to carry off a sheep from the flock, I would go after it and attack it and rescue the prey from its mouth. If it attacked me, I would seize it by the jaw, strike it, and kill it.
Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, because he has insulted the armies of the living God."
Now, that's pastoral!
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