It's not a question of insult or rejection. Catholics are convinced that the Sacrament of the Eucharist signifies,and effects, "full union," just as sexual union signifies, and effects, the Sacrament of Matrimony. This is no exaggeration, but a valid analogy, as we see it.
So I may love you with a sincere love, but that doesn't mean I'm authorized to share the act of marriage with you. That's not to anathematize you or to refuse you something you've a right to expect. That's just to say that, although we may love and respect each other abundantly(and I hope we may do so all the more), we ought not to act out a level of union which we do not, in fact, possess.
You wrote, “... we ought not to act out a level of union which we do not, in fact, possess.”
Hm.
I believe that those who follow Christ are the Bride of Christ. And so, if you’re a Christ-follower, then you and I are both members of the Bride of Christ. If we are both members of the Bride of Christ, then we in truth do share a particularly strong union.
Ah, that’s just one thing that bugs me about the Roman Catholic religious tradition: Too often members of the RC Church look down on other Christ-followers who aren’t members of their particular tradition.
I’m saddened, but not surprised, that you don’t think we have fellowship in Christ.