Article 1: Withholding Communion :
a Weapon of Mass Deception?
Some American bishops, with many good
God-fearing Catholic Christians, incensed that
some other Catholics
do not intend to follow their fatwah
to vote against any candidate who supports the right of a
woman to have an abortion,
want them and these candidates
banned from the Eucharist.
Holy Mother the Church teaches that abortion
is a sin. But is a sin (a subject
which concerns the Church) the same as a
crime (a subject that concerns the State)? Is it not
a sin to miss Mass on Sunday without valid reason?
Must the State prosecute its citizens for not going to
Mass on Sunday? Certainly not! Why then should the
State prosecute a woman who has an abortion because
the Church says it is a sin? Why should a Catholic
layperson be forced to vote so as to impose the
Magisterium's decisions on the whole citizenry?
Are we to give such an example to other religions so
they also try to impose on the whole citizenry their religious
observances, like the sabbath's restrictions
and the application of the
sharia? Let us not forget that the Crusades and
the Inquisition are shining examples of the Magisterium's
interventions in public affairs!
Could these same bishops tell us
where it is said in the Cathechism that it is a
grave sin to vote not to impose our religious obligations on others ?
These points are of very little importance compared to the following,
which goes to the very core of what the Church is about. It is indeed
essential to see if such a penalty for non-compliance is in line with
Jesus' message as He should be our Model in all things.
Three of the Gospels clearly state that, on the
evening before He died, Jesus took some bread, gave thanks,
gave it to all present telling them
all to eat what was now His body,
and likewise passed a cup filled with
wine and told them all to drink
from it as its wine was now His blood.
Jesus fed Himself to all
present, including Judas, knowing full
well that the latter had already
betrayed Him and was in the process of
sending Him to a terrible death!
The fact that all present are to eat
His flesh and drink His blood
is clearly stated in the words of
consecration at Holy Mass
where the priest as alter Christus
repeats Jesus' words to those
assembled: «Take this, all of you...».
So he tells
all present to eat Jesus' flesh and drink His blood, just
as Jesus did Himself. And Holy Mother the Church in her wisdom
clearly states that no one is worthy to eat Jesus as all
the congregation is to say: «Lord, I am not worthy...» after being
invited to the Feast of the Lamb.
Jesus, God-made-man, Love-made-man,
came to heal sinners. He never excluded
anyone from His presence, whatever their state of sinfulness, to
the great scandal of the righteous. He never judged or imposed
anything on anyone, unlike the scribes and the pharisees.
The
Church's duty is to follow the example of her Lord and
God, rather than that of the Enemy who «accused them before
our God day and night». Judging others' worthiness
is not the rôle of the
Christian but that of the Devil.
Forgiving others is what Jesus' message
is all about. This is what He did on the
Cross when He shed His blood
to show us the depth of His love.
Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 10th, 2004.
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