"Seriously? Even though I am lapsed (there is no hope there, thanks for your prayers) this makes me ill. Given my life and the research I have done for my dissertation, this runs contrary to EVERYTHING I thought I knew and learned about the Catholic Church.
Suffer the little children indeed."
"It is another blow to the Catholic faith. Ridiculous!"
"Where is the mercy and love in these situations? Too many times religions mistake their manmade rules and regulations for Christ's truth. The Pharisees come to mind."
"When I hear about stuff like this I think about how Jesus was always harder on the religious people than the sinners."
And so I had to respond.
1. It is the pastor's duty to be sure that those receiving the Blessed Sacrament for the first time understand what it is that they are doing. If you cannot understand what is happening, what you are receiving, then there runs the risk of disrespect for or minimizing the event. If somebody receives without preparation, then the responsibility for that lies on the pastor. I do realize that in the Eastern Catholic Churches, Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist are all received at once, in infancy. But that is in their rite. Latin Rite Catholics follow Latin Rite Rules. If my children did not attend the required formation classes at our parish, or missed too many, they, too, would be denied reception of the Eucharist until the next year. This would be despite having been intensely formed in their Faith at home. Frankly, she sounds more like someone looking to make a stir, or get attention, because she wants to brush aside her sporadic Mass attendance and blame it on having two children, one with special needs. I know families with special needs kids and very little ones getting to daily Mass, and other families who split Mass up,going to different Masses so the children can stay home.
They didn't say he couldn't receive ever. They said to put him in the next round of classes. This is perfectly reasonable.
2. We have a lovely young DS lady at our parish who receives the Blessed Sacrament. There is no Church-wide conspiracy to deny Holy Communion to those with DS. I do not know at what age she began to receive, but I do know that when she did, they made sure she understood that she was receiving the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
3. If the child isn't capable of understanding, right now, what he needs to know to receive his first Holy Communion, then nor is he capable of committing a mortal sin. Ergo, he doesn't NEED to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion--He is already in the state of sanctifying grace and cannot lose it by the mere fact of his incapability of committing a mortal sin.
4. Reception of Holy Communion isn't something you do to be like everybody else, or to "belong to the club". And for goodness' sakes it isn't something you have a "right" to. Since when does anyone have a right to a gift?? Frankly, most of those who are going up to receive probably don't belong doing it because they do not go to Confession, but they are so concerned about what others might think if they stay back in their pews at Communion, that they get up and go, and profane the Blessed Sacrament. Poor formation indeed! Last I checked, having small children does not exempt you from weekly Mass, and if this lady is going to receive Holy Communion, she'd better get her booty in the box, also.
5. Having a family with a "strong Catholic tradition" doesn't earn you the right to neglect to fulfill the Lord's commandment to assemble weekly and "Do this in memory of Me." Nor does it confer upon you understanding of the Catholic Faith. I was a cradle Catholic; we went to Mass weekly. I was heavily involved in the Charismatic movement in high school, and went to Catholic schools most of my young life. I didn't know much at all about the Catholic Faith until I was 23. At 35, even though we have studied and practiced the Faith intensely for 12 years, when we meet our Maker, we will have only dipped our toes into the ocean of spiritual depth that is the Catholic Church. Some knowledge you just don't get from books. You have to live and breathe it, fall and rise. Denum, because of his condition, already has a special communion with Christ, one that none of us will ever have. He lives the Way of the Cross, and not because the Church has "discriminated" against him, but because he has been blessed with suffering, which conforms us to Christ.
They didn't say he couldn't receive ever. They said to put him in the next round of classes. This is perfectly reasonable.
2. We have a lovely young DS lady at our parish who receives the Blessed Sacrament. There is no Church-wide conspiracy to deny Holy Communion to those with DS. I do not know at what age she began to receive, but I do know that when she did, they made sure she understood that she was receiving the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
3. If the child isn't capable of understanding, right now, what he needs to know to receive his first Holy Communion, then nor is he capable of committing a mortal sin. Ergo, he doesn't NEED to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion--He is already in the state of sanctifying grace and cannot lose it by the mere fact of his incapability of committing a mortal sin.
4. Reception of Holy Communion isn't something you do to be like everybody else, or to "belong to the club". And for goodness' sakes it isn't something you have a "right" to. Since when does anyone have a right to a gift?? Frankly, most of those who are going up to receive probably don't belong doing it because they do not go to Confession, but they are so concerned about what others might think if they stay back in their pews at Communion, that they get up and go, and profane the Blessed Sacrament. Poor formation indeed! Last I checked, having small children does not exempt you from weekly Mass, and if this lady is going to receive Holy Communion, she'd better get her booty in the box, also.
5. Having a family with a "strong Catholic tradition" doesn't earn you the right to neglect to fulfill the Lord's commandment to assemble weekly and "Do this in memory of Me." Nor does it confer upon you understanding of the Catholic Faith. I was a cradle Catholic; we went to Mass weekly. I was heavily involved in the Charismatic movement in high school, and went to Catholic schools most of my young life. I didn't know much at all about the Catholic Faith until I was 23. At 35, even though we have studied and practiced the Faith intensely for 12 years, when we meet our Maker, we will have only dipped our toes into the ocean of spiritual depth that is the Catholic Church. Some knowledge you just don't get from books. You have to live and breathe it, fall and rise. Denum, because of his condition, already has a special communion with Christ, one that none of us will ever have. He lives the Way of the Cross, and not because the Church has "discriminated" against him, but because he has been blessed with suffering, which conforms us to Christ.
Having always understood that in regards to the Church there is a duty that we must fulfill, I have to wonder about those who think the Church owes them things and that there should be no efforts on their part. They think they should make up the rules, not the Church that God Himself established and set as the vehicle with which we navigate the difficult path to salvation.
Hey! Give my kid Holy Communion! NOW! There are more things I could say that I did not say in my response above. Attitudes like this nauseate me. This is Our Lord we are talking about here. Not a cracker. Our Lord is not abandoning this little one, and nor is the Catholic Church. The Church has stated its full intention to work with the family to help him achieve his First Holy Communion. This woman is acting like a petulant child who didn't follow the rules and is stomping her feet because she can't have things her way. I don't recall the Blessed Virgin Mary acting like this at the foot of the cross, and she and her Son fulfilled everything perfectly.
God bless you, and pray for all those who have no sincerity in their hearts towards the Catholic Church, especially those who have more knowledge than others.
No comments:
Post a Comment