Abp. Myers reminds Catholics who "publicly reject" Church teaching to abstain from Holy Communion

In the Archdiocese of Newark, Catholic doctrine is unambiguous.

Gee, they make it sound like the pope isn't Catholic. Or maybe it's Abp. Myers who's suddenly out of touch?

Neither statement is true, of course. And if people were properly Catechised, we wouldn't be having this dicussion. Alas, there's no much horsepucky out there, and so many instances of lapsed doctrine, that Abp. Myers' letter is sadly necessary.

Welcome to Catholicism 101. I'll be your instructor this evening. Please take notes.

Newsflash. If you attend a same-sex "wedding," you've committed a sin. If you publicly advocate for same-sex "marriage," you have engaged in scandal. (Yes, "scandal," as defined by the Church, is a sin.)

If you have an abortion, or help procure an abortion, or use contraception, or dispense contraception, or encourage your child to use contraception, you've committed a sin. If you are a politician who supports abortion or contraception, or a person who votes for or donates to a politician who supports abortion or contraception, you are likewise engaged in scandal.

If you're a Catholic who put that rainbow doohickey on their Facebook profile, guess what, you've committed public scandal.

And if you were married in the Church, got a divorce, and then remarried, yup, you're living in sin. If you're having sexual relations outside of marriage, yup again, you're committing a sin.

Now you can keep doing all those things. God gave you free will. You can even call yourself Catholic, and I hope you will. And I also pray that you'll one day see the error of your ways and accept all the teachings of Holy Mother Church.

But, and this is important so pay attention, while you are committing sins, while you are engaging in public scandal, in fact any time you are not in a state of Grace, there is one thing that you absolutely may not do.

You may not receive Holy Communion.

Really.

The sacrament of the Eucharist is not, despite what you've erroneously been led to believe, "come one, come all."

Your heart must be pure. Your soul must be clean. Your conscience must be clear. That is known as the state of Grace. Then, and only then, may you present yourself for Holy Communion.

But Chris!, but Chris!, I hear you cry, nobody is perfect! And everybody gets up for Communion every Sunday!

I know, and don't get me started on that. This is between you and me. Not me and all those other guys. Leave them out of it, for now.

Because fortunately, there is a very easy way for you, and me, and all those other guys too, to get straight with the Lord and His Church.

Go to Confession.

That's it. That's the one thing you have to do. And then you can receive Holy Communion.

Unless…

C'mon, you knew there was gonna be a catch, right?

Unless, you persist in repeating the very sin(s) you confessed.

You can't just waltz in there and tell Father you've been a bad boy because you always steal your brother's ice cream, go to Communion feeling all good about yourself, and then on the car ride home steal your brother's ice cream again. Especially if you do it every Sunday. God's gonna know you aren't serious. And if you're not serious, the Holy Spirit isn't going to cleanse your soul, and you won't have Absolution, so your confession isn't valid, and no, you can't receive Holy Communion.

That in a nutshell, is what Archbishop Myers is saying.

You can't keep publicly endorsing same-sex "marriage," or abortion, or contraception, or any other sin, and privately pretend to "confess" your sins just so you can receive Holy Communion.

And if your parish priest knows you're publicly promoting sin (perhaps because you're Nancy Pelosi, to use one example) he is required to deny you the sacrament of Holy Communion. Which will be obvious to everyone at Mass. And embarrassing to you. So don't try, OK?

That's it. That's the one thing you can't do.

You can still come to Mass. You should come to Mass! No one will tell you to get out. No one will "reject" you. We're all sinners here. And what we want, and what we hope you'll want too, is to do our level best to avoid sin, and temptation, and scandal.

When you think about it, that's the part Pope Francis is emphasizing. Come back, see what you've been missing. Ease into it. Because you don't have to be perfect to come into the Church. And there's more to the Mass than just receiving Holy Communion. Being in the presence of the Lord is, well, electrifying, among other things. Clarifying. Calming. Soothing. Healing. Liberating. And more. So very much more.

But I think that's enough for today.

And yes, I know you still have questions.

Please do me a favor first. Reread this post. Think about it. Pray on it. Open your heart to the Holy Spirit.

I'll be praying for you.

Amen.

Posted at 15:04 by Chris Wysocki   [/religion]   Comments | Perm Link |
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