Posted on 07/06/2008 9:43:53 AM PDT by Pyro7480
A University of Central Florida student, upset religious groups hold church services on public campuses, is holding hostage the Eucharist, an object so sacred to Catholics they call it the Body of Christ.
Church officials say UCF Student Senator Webster Cook was disruptive and disrespectful when he attended Mass held on campus Sunday June 29. It was during that Mass where Cook admits he obtained the Eucharist....
A church leader was watching, confronted Cook and tried to recover the sacred bread. Cook said she crossed the line and that's why he brought it home with him.
"She came up behind me, grabbed my wrist with her right hand, with her left hand grabbed my fingers and was trying to pry them open to get the Eucharist out of my hand," Cook said, adding she wouldn't immediately take her hands off him despite several requests....
"The church feels that I'm the problem here," Cook said. "The problem is actually that this is a publicly-funded religious institution. Through student government here, we fund them through an activity and service, so they're receiving student money."
Cook is upset more than $40,000 in student fees have been allocated to support religious organizations on campus for the 2008-2009 school year, according to student government records. He denied he is holding the Eucharist hostage to protest that support.
...Cook has been keeping the Eucharist stored in a plastic bag since last Sunday....
Cook said he'd consider returning the Eucharist if he gets an apology and a meeting with the Bishop's office to discuss the Diocese's policy on physical force....
(Excerpt) Read more at wftv.com ...
Bishop Wenski is excellent, and the new bishop of Venice seems pretty good, too. My bishop (Galeone of St Augustine) was orthodox and pro-life, but recently he seems to have adopted the Dem party platform and has put all this tacky pro-life stuff behind him and now devotes himself to opposing the Pope on changes to the liturgy.
It’s not easy. I’m sure you’re aware of places like St Anthony and Ste Anne du Lac, which were Catholic intentional communites founded in the late 19th-early 20th centuries. Vatican II put an end to all of these things.
But the Faith is always kept alive in tiny glimmerings here and there (you yourself may have been one), and always revives.
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
I'm not going to comment, but only say that prayer with all my heart a couple more times. I almost feel as if the words "Father forgive him, he knows not what he is doing," are being repeated insistently in my ears. Let us pray that this is the beginning of a Saul-of-Tarsus trajectory for this pitiful, blind, deluded kid.
I agree that distribution in the hand should end immediately. I saw the same thing happen at my Church about a month ago. I was in the front row and I saw, no question about it, a young guy about 20 receive the Host in his hand and then immediately put it in his pocket. I immediately go up and followed him and put my arm around his shoulders and told him I wanted to talk to him out in the commons. When we got out there I asked who he was and why he took the Host. He said he was curious so he came to Mass but said he didn’t take a Host. I grabbed him by the waist of his pants and told him that if he didn’t hand the Host over I’d rip his shorts off right there in the commons and take It out of his pocket by myself. By this time a couple of the ushers came out to see what was happening ( thank goodness because I’m no match for a 20 yo who might want to fight) . He took the Host out and gave it to me. Then he spit on me and ran out the door.
Oh, I forgot to mention, the stealing of a national election was engineered to happen there, and nearly succeeded.
Anyhow, it's not clear that this involves damaging or destroying property, or preventing access. He took an "object" by means of fraud, i.e. pretending to be a believing Catholic and a worshipper of Jesus; and thus it may be theft, which is a legally actionable category. Vile Sacrilege it certainly is, but whether that is legally actionable or not remains to be seen.
Luckily the first time one of our ushers (6'4" 220 lbs.) went up to him and told him, "You will either eat it, right here and now or return it to me."
The second time, the Extraordinary minister would not allow him to leave where he was standing without putting it in his mouth.
Is it relevant to point out the one can Google ‘”Wesley Cook” UCF’ and get an email address for him?
“Wouldn’t a couple of burly Priests be a more effective deterrent to a repeat offense?”
A couple of ushers or several old ladies could handle it. We have two present at every hour of Perpetual Adoration. We would protect The Presence with our lives if necessary.
Physically restraining someone to get it back is fine with me.
Our Masses have been disrupted by homosexuals, war protestors, people having sex in the pews just for fun, and now this misguided soul.
Have any of them ever been charged? The war protestors got some minor jail time mainly because they threw paint on the parishioners and that is assault, and the sexually idiotic got a fine, but the homosexuals were allowed to skate.
Remember Animal Farm? Some are more equal than others.
Welcome Brother or Sister.
Thank you, and let's thank God together for your mini-martyrdom. You protected that young man from a great sin.
Wasn't that something about the guy who was involved in the John Adams Beer, sacrilegious incident.
The day he was to be sentenced by the courts he died.
Looks like a higher court decided his fate.
Plainclothes Knights of Columbus security patrols at every Mass ...
DieHard is a brother, and since I’m sure he wouldn’t blow his own horn, I’ll just mention that he is the hero who brought Guardian Angels to New Zealand. There will be no desecration of the Blessed Sacrament when he’s in a church!
No, I’m right here in VA, although I grew up attending St. Rose of Lima in Massapequa LI NY.
By “Our Masses” I meant the Body of Christ, all of us, since we are one in Christ. What happens in one church affects us universally.
Sorry if I wasn’t clearer!
I think I’ll have a drink. I write better with beer!
“What happens in one church affects us universally.”
It affects us in a spiritual dimension on earth and in heaven.
I just went after him because nobody else seemed to see what he did and I was really afraid of what he might later do ith It.
“DieHard is a brother...”
Can we borrow him? My plexiglass cane has a pretty good heft, but I can’t swing it with any oomph!
I’ll sic James on ‘em! Head like a cinder block, teeth like a bulldog ...
Rugby is it? LOL
Your post made me think of my dad. He is a knight and his parish is in a very rough area of town. He has had to act as a bouncer and toss out drunks and miscreants on a few occasions.
I haven't spent any time in FL in 6+ years and attending Episcopal churches in several locations found them to be alive, spirit-filled and well-attended - standing room only.
I came away with the idea that maybe a revival was under way.
Have things changed that much, that fast??
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