Posted on 08/06/2008 5:57:39 AM PDT by NYer
Priests at the London Oratory have called for prayers of reparation after a consecrated Host was allegedly stolen during High Mass and desecrated by an atheist professor in America.
Several priests have celebrated Masses of reparation this week responding to a video posted on the internet of a young man taking the Host and later placing it next to a condom, claiming he was holding it "hostage" inside the prophylactic until the Pope changed his policy on contraception in light of Africa's Aids epidemic.
An evening of reparation with Mass and Adoration with prayers, litanies and silent meditation is planned for next Wednesday. Oratorians have also called on the faithful to make personal acts of reparation this week and next "for all the outrages against the Blessed Sacrament around the world".
"Close observation of the film and of the facts seems to suggest that this is not an elaborate hoax, but depicts something that really occurred," said the e-mail asking people to make acts of reparation. It also asked people to pray for "the conversion of the culprits, that they will answer God's call to repentance and open their hearts to receive His forgiveness".
The incident took place during the Oratory's High Mass on July 13 and was posted on the internet soon after. It said: "The Catholic Church forfeits all rights to respect for its ludicrous beliefs, including 'transubstantiation', while its anti-condom campaign in Africa results in tens of thousands of deaths."
It further said: "Just because you believe that the cracker has some special significance doesn't mean that I have to respect that ridiculous belief. I think the moral cost of disrespecting a cracker is a lot less than the moral cost of disrespecting human life; a concept that should be more important to you people."
A follow-up link to the video claimed that the young man had sent the host to Paul Myers, an atheist professor at the University of Minnesota who is thought to have further desecrated the Host by piercing it with a rusty nail and throwing it in the bin. In a post on his blog, dated July 24, Prof Myers wrote: "I thought of a simple, quick thing to do: I pierced it with a rusty nail (I hope Jesus's tetanus shots are up to date). And then I simply threw it in the trash, followed by the classic, decorative items of trash cans everywhere, old coffee grounds and a banana peel. My apologies to those who hoped for more, but the worst I can do is show my unconcerned contempt."
Prof Myers caused controversy earlier in July when he called a "Eucharist challenge" in which he incited people to steal consecrated Hosts from Catholic churches and send them to him so that he can desecrate them.
He wrote: "Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers? There's no way I can personally get them - my local churches have stakes prepared for me, I'm sure - but if any of you would be willing to do what it takes to get me some, or even one, and mail it to me, I'll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare. I won't be tempted to hold it hostage (no, not even if I have a choice between returning the Eucharist and watching Bill Donohue kick the Pope in the ---s, which would apparently be a more humane act than desecrating a goddamned cracker), but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web. I shall do so joyfully and with laughter in my heart."
His words followed a theft of a Host in Florida earlier this year which had American Catholics up in arms.
As a result of July's alleged theft and desecration of the Eucharist, priests at the London Oratory are urging worshipers to be vigilant at Mass and to receive Communion on the tongue. Communion plates have started being used at certain Masses again.
Sigh... No, if people would follow Catholic teaching on sexuality, there would be no AIDS. People are not going to disregard Catholic teaching and have sex outside of marriage and then turn around and say, whoops, I better not use a condom because the Catholic Church tells me not to.
Actually, I think he only desecrated an English translation of the Koran. It may be that the Moslems only venerate the Arabic version, so he should have used that one to be even-handed.
Obviously, I’m disgusted with what Myers is doing. Why would he go so far out of his way to offend Catholics? I have friends who are atheists and there’s mutual respect between us. This Myers guy must have alot of hate in his heart.
Why? At the end of the day it's all carbon anyway.
this hurts my heart....
The Moslems might kill his body some day, but his desecration of the Eucharist will kill his immortal soul if he remains unrepentant. This, of course, is infinitely worse. In spite of our anger at what this unhappy individual has done, we should keep the heat on him primarily through our prayers for his conversion. Secondarily, keeping the heat of the spotlight on his actions should have as its end making it too uncomfortable for copycats to try the same thing.
It might also be the time for Catholics to petition Rome to end Communion-in-the-hand as even an option, nevermind a de facto norm. From its inception as a semi-defiant gesture toward some kind of badly conceived concept of "relevance," to its forced acceptance by Rome via widespread, unauthorized usage, C-I-T-H has never been a good idea, prompted by pure and lofty motives. And it has always left the Eucharist exposed to the possibility of desecration exactly aong the lines of what took place here with Myers. Hosts made from traditional recipes of wheat flour and water, easily dissolvable on the tongue, are the only way to go, especially in our demented times. Of course, in spite of Myers' intentions, Jesus is not really "harmed" in the way he imagines. But it is still unspeakable desecration, nonetheless. The Church needs to ensure that She does not facilitate this sort of desecration in any way, to the very end of Her power to avoid it. Let not the initial actions of a few renegade Dutch priests in the 1950's lead to further abominations, all in the name of some warm-fuzzy, misdirected "sign of inclusiveness."
Your Holiness, please get rid of C-I-T-H, ASAHP!
This type of thing would be a hate crime if committed against any non-Christian or Jewish religion.
On a recent trip to Eastern Europe I noticed that CITH isn't an option. Also, I saw NO lay distributors and NO girl altar boys.
CITH has always appeared to me as a sign of blatant disrespect, but of course after Vatican II the irreverance before, during and after mass is simply sickening.
Has Mr Myers lost self control? This is a very sad display of behavior.
The Church should pray for the unborn as a direct consequence of Mr Myers’ actions.
Yes, in many countries, CITH is virtually non-existent. Under the norms established by Rome, each country’s conference of bishops is authorized to allow the practice, and, in turn, each individual bishop is likewise allowed to adopt it (or not) in his diocese. It seems that there are many countries in Eastern Europe that either do not allow the practice at all, or have catechized the faithful sufficiently that they feel no need to adopt “trendy options” just for the rush and thrill of employing them.
Attached below is a link to EWTN’s website, quoting the relevant sections from the documents that extend permission for the practice. Notice the concern about irreverence marked out in boldface by EWTN. Like, them, I wonder to what extent this concern is taken seriously by our bishops and priests.
http://www.ewtn.com/expert/expertfaqframe.asp?source=/vexperts/conference.htm
A guy stole Jesus, because the priest was slacking on his duties of guarding Jesus from the heathens, lest He fall on the floor and be diss’d or be stolen out of the building by a heathen for potential later diss’ing. This particular stolen Jesus, to all normal ocular observations happened to be disguised as a simple cracker of unleavened bread, because the Priest somehow magically transformed a piece of unleavened bread into the Lord...even though He still remained disguised as a wafer. The heathen thief who stole Jesus then tortured Him and held Him hostage inside of a condom, then crucified Him all over again before throwing Him in the garbage.
Does that about sum it up?
When we dispense with the liturgical rhetoric and use plain English instead, it all sounds a bit odd eh?!?
I'm thinking the Lord Himself is astonished at all of the implications!
Yes, the atheist is hell bound. But not because he abused a wafer! Rather, because He denies the Holy Spirit...that is the one and only unforgivable sin. And yes, the behavior of these guys was in bad taste. But why is anyone surprised by the actions of heathens? Hollywood does MUCH worse insults to the Lord...and we PAY to see it! He went out of his way to get a rise out of the Catholic church and it worked because the church LET it get to them.
I genuinely love the Lord, but this story is...well...let's say it's just wrong on more levels than one post at FR can ever hope to cover.
I mean...does anyone else see the myriad of problems with the theology behind this literal transubstantiation thing?
PZ Myers isn't just an atheist, he's what I call a "secular fundamentalist".
Hmmm. Unfortunately, the link goes to their front page of FAQ’s. Click on “Liturgy and Sacred Music,” then, in that page, click on “Communion in the Hand.” That willl bring up the documents I was referring to.
Not even close.
When we dispense with the liturgical rhetoric and use plain English instead, it all sounds a bit odd eh?!?
Better yet, let Scripture speak for itself.
The Real Presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist (with full Scriptural references)
Further, as God, He certainly knew on that night of Holy Thursday, when the Eucharist was instituted, that His Church would have an uninterrupted, literal viewpoint on the matter, and that it would be 1500 years before any Christian body would believe otherwise. If, then, as God, and armed with the foresight of God, and seeing that His Church would, in the future, "misconstrue" His intentions on the matter into literal interpretations, it should have been no hard thing to simply indicate His desires on the point. If He had desired to convey that the Eucharist is merely symbolic, His foreknowledge would have given Him all the more reason to insure that it would be understood that way. He took no such precaution.
Finally, the entire tenor of John 6 is pointing to literalness. If it were otherwise, all He had to do, when His disciples were leaving in droves, in disgust over what seemed to be full-fledged cannibalism to them, was to say "Hey! Wait! Come back! I was only speaking 'figuratively'!" Yet, He didn't, did He? On the contrary, He "let them all go away."
As for your observations about "unforgivable sin" and the Holy Spirit, you are correct in the strict sense you seem to indicate. But no one here is saying that Myers is going to Hell because what he did is an unforgiveable sin. Any mortal sin leads to damnation without repentance! If Myers continues in unrepentance for this sin, even unto his dying day, then, yes, he will be condemned to Hell for it. Yet, while he still has breath, he has the possibility to act on God's grace, and repent of his sin. We Catholics condemn no one to the fires of Hell, because we have no way of knowing whether any given person has repented of even the grossest and most publicly manifested sins in their last moment of life. Again, get this right, for it's important: we Catholics consign no one to Hell, no matter how heinous their actions appeared in life. We simply don't have a window into the souls of any sinners during their last moments.
The biggest obstacle is pride. Once you for the habit of receiving on the tongue, you will experience a more profound union with our Lord. Ask Him to strengthen your humility.
If He meant it literally, why didn’t He simply slice off a piece of his arm and drip the blood into the cup, instead of using....symbolism?
...just asking
Thank you for respecting that which is sacred to people whose beliefs you do not share. It is the mark of a decent and civilized man.
A wise friend once told me that you can surmise demonic involvement when people do evil things, not for personal enrichment, convenience, or comfort (which would be fully explicable in natural terms) but, so to speak, "for the sheer hell of it." This Myers fellow is not disproving the existence of God; he is proving the existence of transcendent evil.
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