'Body Of Christ" Returned To Church After Student Receives Email Threats

WFTV ^ | July 7, 2008

[NYer]

Orange County, FL -- One week after a University of Central Florida student snatched something sacred from church, armed UCF police officers stood guard during Sunday Mass to protect what Catholics call "The Body of Christ."

Minutes before the Mass began, Student Senator Webster Cook returned the Holy Eucharist he was holding hostage in a Ziploc bag ever since smuggling the blessed wafer of bread out of the Catholic Mass service Sunday June 29.

Carol Brinati with the Diocese of Orlando said the Catholic community was "concerned about the possible desecration of the Eucharist," and pleaded for its safe return.

Cook, who was raised Catholic, said he decided to bring the Eucharist home after a church leader tried to physically pry it from his hand. Cook broke Church rules by failing to consume it immediately during communion and then removing it from his mouth once seated.

Cook said he just wanted to show the Eucharist to a friend he brought with questions about Catholicism before consuming it. But outraged Catholics across the globe didn’t believe him and suspected he intended all along to steal the Eucharist and bloggers sent out e-mail messages damning him to Hell.

"I am returning the Eucharist to you in response to the e-mails I have received from Catholics in the UCF community," Cook wrote in a letter to the church. "I still want the community to understand that the use physical force is wrong, especially when based on assumptions. However, I feel it is unnecessary to cause pain for those who are not at fault in this situation."

Cook said some threatened to break into his dorm room to rescue the Eucharist. Brinati said the Diocese of Orlando didn't condone those threats, but was happy Cook had a change of heart and returned it.

"We've been praying about that," she said.

It's still not clear if the controversy is over. There is no word yet if either the Catholic students or Cook will drop their separate complaints filed against each other with UCF's student court. The violations each side accused the other of could result in suspension or expulsion. Cook still disagrees with the more than $40,000 in student funds distributed annually to support Catholic and other religious groups on campus, but seemed conciliatory in his letter.

"I want to thank the individuals who explained the emotional and spiritual pain my possession of the Eucharist caused them to experience," he wrote. "They have demonstrated that the use [of] reason is more effective than the use of force."

Cook said he still hopes to meet with the local Bishop to discuss prohibiting the use of force to recover the Eucharist. He also wants an apology.

Previous Stories:

• July 5, 2008: 'Body Of Christ' Snatched From Church, Held Hostage By UCF Student

[marshmallow]

You nailed it.

[chesley]

OK, I'm not Catholic, but why is this important? He's holding a piece of bread hostage? Even if it is literally “the body of Christ” rahter than a symbol, so what? I mean, suppose someone was holding my little finger hostage? Am I gonna pay a ransom? What?

I don't mean to be facetious, but I'm really trying to understand the outage. At worst, it seems to me to be blasphemy; bad enough, but not the worst, not even the worst blasphemy, that Christians are subjected to nowadays.

So somebody help me out, please.

[marshmallow]

That's OK. We'll protect the things which we hold sacred ourselves. We have in the past. As everyone knows, Catholics don't pay taxes, don't contribute to civic order, through charities, law enforcement, education and health care in America and have no right to expect civil law enforcement to assist them in this regard.

Let the police protect abortion clinics in case some misguided Catholic nut wants to exercise freedom of speech and tries to persuade someone from killing their child.

[chesley]

It’s not that we Protestants don’t believe that they are possible; it’s that we believe that it is not necessary that all possibilities be realized, and that most probably are not.

[lastchance]

This is a copy of the response I received from the BOT at UCF

Thank you for taking the time to write about the recent incident involving a UCF student and his mishandling of the Host at a Catholic religious service. Fortunately, we have learned that this student returned it and wrote a letter of apology to church officials.

UCF takes this situation seriously. As soon as we learned of the matter, our student conduct office responded quickly and will continue to deal with it appropriately.

UCF’s students enjoy participating in a variety of student organizations, including religious groups. We encourage their members to express their views respectfully, and we expect them to comply with applicable laws and university codes of conduct.

Please know that we appreciate your concern.

Amy J. Barnickel, Sr. Executive Assistant, Office of the President
Assistant Editor, Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education
Doctoral student, Texts and Technology Program
University of Central Florida
P.O. Box 160002

[ichabod1]

If you bite down you’ll hurt Jesus.

[lastchance]

If this student had gone into a Protestant service and committed what a Protestant considered an act of desecration. I would be very offended on their behalf.

But it does seem that quite a few Protestants take any thing that happens to a Catholic or in a Catholic Church as a teaching opportunity to remind us of how much they hate us and wish we would all have the grace to drop dead.

[Guyin4Os]

Ah, so you don't believe Christ's own words in Matthew 26:26, Mark 14:22, Luke 22:19, and especially John 6:35-59.

I believe every word Jesus said. I believe him when he said "I am the door." you know ... wood... hinges. I believe him when he said "i am the path"... you know... pavement... or bricks. Come on people. Learn to recognize metaphors, similes, figures of speech.

[OpusatFR]

“If you bite down you’ll hurt Jesus.”

No we don’t. Only someone massively misinformed, with an agenda, and truly ignorant would believe that.

[Larry Lucido]

Cook still disagrees with the more than $40,000 in student funds distributed annually to support Catholic and other religious groups on campus

I notice he didn't crash a muslim service. Is he okay with that.

[Guyin4Os]

Apparently you’re not familiar with the concept of “miracle”

Well that college student ran off with your "miracle" then. :)

[Guyin4Os]

It is a symbolic representation of what Catholics belive to BE the Body of Christ.

You are distorting what your church teaches. Your church teaches that it is NOT symbolic. It is really the body of Christ. If it was merely symbolic, they wouldn't have gotten into such a tizzy about a college kid pocketing the wafer.

[Guyin4Os]

Decent human beings somehow find a way to respect other people's beliefs without endorsing their religion

Nonsense. When something is false, someone needs to point it out.

[Guyin4Os]

Neither is the crucifix but it represents Christ

There's another thing. Jesus is no longer on the cross. He is risen. Why depict him as though he were still dead? Why depict him at all? Why not just worship the Jesus Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father, waiting for the time to return to establish his Kingdom on earth?

[Guyin4Os]

If this student had gone into a Protestant service and committed what a Protestant considered an act of desecration. I would be very offended on their behalf

An act of desecration in a protestant church? Like what? I cannot imagine anything that a vandal could do to a protestant church building that we would consider "desecration" because we don't worship things. We worship God and His Son.

[trisham]

It's too bad that people raise their kids to be such self-centered punks that in America, the land of the free, armed gaurds are required to allow religious groups to worship in peace, free from violation and ridicule

*****************

True. Something is wrong in this kid's home for him to do something like this. I wonder if in some way he is actually reaching out, and if this experience may be a turning point in his life. We are sometimes drawn to God in ways that might seem quite unlikely.

[DuncanWaring]

God gives all humans the free will to obey His rules or disobey them as they see fit.

Disobeying them, however, is not without consequences.

[Petronski]

Why depict him as though he were still dead?

The Crucifix does not depict Christ dead. It depicts Him dying.

[OpusatFR]

“When something is false, someone needs to point it out.”

Wrong. Your opinion is yours, wrong though it may be.

[NYer]

I don't mean to be facetious, but I'm really trying to understand the outage.

This is my Body

God is holy! "Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth, His glory fills the whole earth", sing the seraphim angels before God's throne (Is 6:3). He is holiness itself. He is transcendent. He dwells in light inaccessible (cf. I Tim 6:16). This reverence is due to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Therefore to Jesus Christ is due our reverence in the Holy Eucharist.

As sacrament, the Holy Eucharist is the Body and the Blood, Divinity and Humanity of Christ, the whole Christ, present on our altars when the words of consecration are pronounced. Christ is due proper homage and respect - not a plastic bag.