Posted on 07/15/2008 4:47:28 PM PDT by Pyro7480
Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on the latest developments to surface regarding the pledge made by Paul Z. Myers, a professor at the University of Minnesota, to desecrate the Eucharist:
Myers was quoted yesterday saying, I have to do something. Im not going to just let this disappear. [Last Friday it was reported that he had acquired a Host.] He continued, Something will be done. It wont be gross. It wont be totally tasteless, but yeah, Ill do something that shows this cracker has no power.
The biology professor made it clear that he would never disrespect Islam the way he does Catholicism. When asked about those who abuse the Koran, for example, he said such an act was analogous to desecrating a graveyard. Thats completely different, he said. I dont favor [that idea]. But when it comes to the Body of Christ, he opines, The cracker is completely different.
This isnt the first time Myers has shown deference to Islam. For instance, two years ago he was critical of the Danish cartoons that simply depicted an image of Muhammad. They [the cartoons] lack artistic or social or even comedic merit, and are presented as an insult to inflame a poor minority. So now the Planet-of-the-Apes biologist has divined himself an expert on the artistic value of cartoons. So thoughtful of him. He even went so far as to say that Muslims have cause to be furious. (His italic.) Worthy of burning down churches, pledging to behead Christians and shooting a nun in the back, Professor Myers?
We hope Myers does the right thing and just moves on without further disgracing himself and his university. The letter I received from University of Minnesota President Robert H. Bruininks makes it clear that school officials want nothing to do with his hate-filled remarks. It would also be nice if Myers fans would cease and desist with their hate-filled screeds.
I believe the professor made clear he was trying to obtain a transubstantiated host. Wafers: not so tought to get.
Hate.
If the candles on the altar are lit, there is consecrated host in the tabernacle, and if I remember my rules correctly, that is the only time one needs to genuflect.
But he could easily get his hands on a consecrated host by having in impostor go up for the sacrament and just keep the host.
They love Arabs because so many of them are/were at least nominal socialists. Nassar of Egypt, the Ba-ath parties of Iraq and Syria, the Palestinians...
“The host becomes the Body of Christ when the priest says the words, This is My Body during the Mass. The wine becomes the Blood of Christ when the priest says the words This is My Blood. Until that point, it is simply bread (of a sort) and wine.”
You sure about that, TC? You might want to check that. :)
What's so different? The Koran is just paper.
I GOT NOTHING FOR MY WISDOM TEETH!! NOTHING!! NOTHING FOR MY PAIN AND SUFFERING!!
And if I ever see her, I'll shoot her outta the sky!
I’m tempted to buy a wafer, toss it in my cat’s litter box for a day or two, then bring it to him. See what happens.
Shouldn’t Christ be bigger than a cracker? Why not just pray for the guy and get over it?
Aren’t you the same as the muzzie who gets upset over a cartoon?
It seems to me God should be able to take care of Himself
Not suprising because this professor knows Christians will not get violent when things dear to them are attacked. They instead pray for the repentence of the offending person.
If Myers follows through with his threat to accomplish this hate crime, I myself will collect the evidence, put in an envelope, and send it to the FBI to open up an investigation on possible violations under 18 U.S. Code Part I Chapter 13 ss 247, Damage to religious property; obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs.
This is no idle warning. I will follow through. Myers better lawyer up.
- Read also Has Professor Myers engaged in a hate crime? and Minnesota College Professor Incites to Anti-Catholic Hatred and Profanation of the Eucharist here in Vivificat!
However, if the line of reasoning I propose is correct, God is always there guarding the consecrated host against any desecration. He alone knows its true state and is quite capable of guarding it against a person or persons of impure intent. Even if its human guardians are slow or inattentive, God is quite capable of seeing into each person's thoughts and hearts directly. He, in an instant, can cause the consecrated host to revert back to its ordinary state to safeguard its sanctity.
This does not excuse laxity in properly safeguarding the physical being of the consecrated host. But it does provide some assurance that it can never be spiritually desecrated. However, its mistreatment is still a serious matter. The body of a deceased person is the physical home where a soul once resided. Respect for the imperishable soul that once animated the body also requires reverential treatment of its physical remains. How much more the now vacated host that was once the Body and Blood of Christ?
BTW, in my previous post, I was using the words transform and transubstantiate pretty loosely. I was, in all cases, referring to transubstantiation and the act of transubstantiation.
If you were to spend some time reading the actual words of worship in the Latin rite, you'd see that the service is littered with prayers ASKING God to, well, do whatever it is that he does in the Eucharistic celebration. It's not a matter of priestly mojo, but rather a matter of what we take to be a promise.
God knows the intentions of each person's heart. It seems reasonable that, if a person receives a consecrated host with dishonest intent, God would know this instantly and cause the holy substance of the host to depart from it.
A problem with this line of thought is that it makes the sacramental presence of God dependent on the inner state of the recipient. The motives of most of us are mixed and impure, part good, part not so good. If we were to adopt the notion of the presence or efficacy of the sacrament being effective or "there" dependent on the state of the believer, we run the risk of a works-based sacramental theology and of the development of a kind of internal sacramental casuistry.
There are similar problems with Catholic sacramental theology in that we say that to receive the sacrament if one is in a state of mortal sin is itself a sin, and in certain cases a mortal sin. But I think our glib account of that is that Jesus is savior AND judge, and if we will not receive Him as savior we will, willy-nilly, receive Him as judge. (As I said, it's glib.)
So the "locked in" argument is separated from the "priestly power" stand by our theology, and, as I Say, we think God's sacramental presence is an act of grace. A REAL act, existing by itself. God's presence is always grace, but for whatever reason, not all experience grace, ah, gracefully.
IN any event, The young man in Florida and this twit of a professor are playing with fire. We can hope that it is a healing fire. But there's no doubt in my mind that it's fire.
"Muslims represent a poor and oppressed underclass, and those cartoons represent a ruling establishment intentionally taunting them and basically flipping them off. They have cause to be furious!"
The question you asked is completely inoffensive.
CDS ( == "Christ Derangement Syndrome")
Cheers!
Not entirely correct. Candles on the altar which Mass is celebrated upon are only lit during Mass. If the sanctuary candle(s)(most parishes have two), which are normally located one on each side of the tabernacle and look like large votive candles in red hued glass holders, are lit, then the Blessed Sacrament is present in the tabernacle which should be locked outside of Mass. Some parishes use a lamp instead of candles IAW the GIRM. If the candles are not lit then one of two things is likely:
1) The Blessed Sacrament has been removed from the tabernacle
2) The sacristan is asleep at the wheel
316. In accordance with traditional custom, near the tabernacle a special lamp, fueled by oil or wax, should be kept alight to indicate and honor the presence of Christ.130
130. Cf. Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 940; Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction Eucharisticum mysterium, On the worship of the Eucharist, 25 May 1967, no. 57: AAS 59 (1967), p. 569; The Roman Ritual, Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outside Mass, editio typica, 1973, no. 11.
314. In accordance with the structure of each church and legitimate local customs, the Most Blessed Sacrament should be reserved in a tabernacle in a part of the church that is truly noble, prominent, readily visible, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer.125
The one tabernacle should be immovable, be made of solid and inviolable material that is not transparent, and be locked in such a way that the danger of profanation is prevented to the greatest extent possible.126 Moreover, it is appropriate that, before it is put into liturgical use, it be blessed according to the rite described in the Roman Ritual.127
315. It is more in keeping with the meaning of the sign that the tabernacle in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved not be on an altar on which Mass is celebrated.128
Consequently, it is preferable that the tabernacle be located, according to the judgment of the Diocesan Bishop,
a. Either in the sanctuary, apart from the altar of celebration, in a form and place more appropriate, not excluding on an old altar no longer used for celebration (cf. above, no. 303);
b. Or even in some chapel suitable for the faithful's private adoration and prayer129 and which is organically connected to the church and readily visible to the Christian faithful.
A piece of unleavened bread until it is consecrated.
1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."204
1377 The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ.205
1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651).
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