“Today, Catholics are so blinded by one issue that they don’t see their chance
to make history again.”
Somebody needs to tell David
McCarthy (Pitt News) that the Catholic Church isn’t merely a sports team one roots for.
To vote for someone just because they are a self-professed Catholic is irresponsible
even when the person demonstrates informed obedience to Catholic moral teachings.
Kerry doesn’t even have that going for him.
Here’s another about celiac disease and wheat hosts. The last time I blogged about this, it was just one
little girl. This is about a whole facility mass producing wheat-free hosts without permission. Again I ask,
at what level of truth does the insistence on wheat stand? Was the Eucharist improperly confected at thousands of masses? Was the sacrament valid?
8-year-old’s first Holy Communion invalidated by Church
By JOHN CURRAN, The Associated Press
BRIELLE, N.J. – An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a rare digestive disorder and cannot consume wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained none, violating Catholic doctrine.
(Thanks, Fark)
Redemptionis Sacramentum, paragraph 48:
“[48.] The bread used in the celebration of the Most Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition.123 It follows therefore that bread made from another substance, even if it is grain, or if it is mixed with another substance different from wheat to such an extent that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, does not constitute valid matter for confecting the Sacrifice and the Eucharistic Sacrament.124 It is a grave abuse to introduce other substances, such as fruit or sugar or honey, into the bread for confecting the Eucharist. Hosts should obviously be made by those who are not only distinguished by their integrity, but also skilled in making them and furnished with suitable tools.125”
123 Cf. Code of Canon Law, can. 924 S2; Missale Romanum, Institutio Generalis, n. 320.
124 Cf. S. Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, Instruction, Dominus Salvator noster, 26 March 1929, n. 1: AAS 21 (1929) pp. 631-642, here p. 632.
125 Cf. ibidem, n. II: AAS 21 (1929) p. 635.
What do you folks think about this? Is the exclusive use of wheat dogmatic, doctrinal, of ordinary tradition (habit, as opposed to Sacred Tradition), or merely intended to preclude the use of unworthy materials?
This individual is not
happy with lay response to Redemptionis
Sacramentum.
Just as I feared, some parishioners have downloaded the document from the internet
and are using it as the basis for a campaign of �priest policing�. No matter how
devout and well intentioned the priest, the slightest perceived violation of any
precept in Redemptionis Sacramentum results in a stern �please-rectify-immediately-or-else�
letter. These condemnations are totally devoid of the spirit of charity called for
by the document.Of course, these same people do not affirm priests for their diligent observance
of those practices that are encouraged in the document. I cannot begin to understand
what motivates those who go to Mass with the sole intent, not of praying, but of
finding fault. Surely, that is a much more grave abuse of the eucharist than the
relatively minor matters about which they complain. Is it any wonder that there
is a vocations crisis?
I can’t speak for others, but I don’t go to Mass for the sole purpose of finding
a bone or two to pick with the presiding priest or the parish. Usually I go to masses
offered by the Fathers
of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. However, when I’ve visited my parents in
Levittown, my future in-laws in Erie, and my fiance in Tulsa, I’ve run into some
rather obvious abuses.
I wanted to be charitable and assume the document hadn’t “sunk in” yet.
As time passed, it seemed far more likely it was just ignored. I’ve seen glass vessels,
an army of eucharistic ministers (9!), and clutter (i.e. decorations and offering
baskets) in front of the alter, among other abuses. These are simple matters to
attend to and not doing so shows blatant disregard and disrespect for Church authority.
It seems many of the world’s Anglican nations have their heads screwed on straighter
than America’s. Since it seems the bad guys are unlikely to shape up or ship ship
out, I’ll just pray the good guys join either the Catholic Church or the Eastern
Orthodox Church.
Anglican Leaders Applaud Primates for Bold Stand Against ECUSA
By Jim Brown
June 1, 2004
(AgapePress) – Overseas Anglican leaders are being praised for issuing a statement that calls on the leadership of the Episcopal Church USA to repent within three months or face expulsion from the worldwide Anglican Communion.