Recently I posted
a letter written to an Archbishop prior to the legalization of same sex marriage
in Canada in 2005. Other letters were exchanged at the same time on related
subjects. The following is one such letter, dealing primarily with Canon 915,
and has been edited only slightly, with some personal details removed, in order
to make it suitable for this posting.
-------------------------------------------------
May
2005
Dear
Archbishop,
I
appreciate your response to my two previous letters of concern. I can only say
that I am deeply disappointed to hear that your continued approach with Prime
Minister Paul Martin and other scandal generating Catholic politicians is simply
one of ‘patient dialogue.’
Much
could be said about Church teaching on this matter and I am quite confident
that you are fully informed on these matters. You referred to the means of
‘canonical sanctions’ yet you did not respond to the more basic issue of
defense of the Holy Eucharist. As a Catholic I am realizing more and more the
central importance and significance of the Holy Eucharist to the life of the
Catholic. As John Paul II reminded Catholics, the Eucharist is the source and summit
of Christian experience. Could it not be said then that the unworthy reception
of the same is the basest and most defiling action the Christian can take? Who
will defend Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist from such defilement (and the
sinner from further condemnation)?
Canon
915 is a sacramental law that refers to the Eucharist and how not to suffer
scandal; it is not a penal law. Bishops are called to govern and correct
and an unworthy act of Holy Communion, willfully chosen by an obstinate,
persistent sinner, is a most grave matter. A conscientious faithful bishop in
such a situation would not be putting 'sanction' on the person in question; the
offender has, in fact, fallen under the canon 915 sacramental prohibition
themselves.
Paul
Martin is an aggressively pro-abortion, pro-gay ‘marriage’ Catholic politician
who continues to scandalize the Catholic community in a most acute persistent
manner. The Vatican has spoken repeatedly on who may or may not be admitted to
Holy Communion:
“there
should be no such refusal to any Catholic who presents himself for Holy Communion
at Mass, except in cases presenting a danger of grave scandal to other
believers arising out of the person's unrepented public sin or obstinate heresy
or schism, publicly professed or declared."
Canon
915 places the responsibility on the minister should he unlawfully administer
the sacrament with the consequent danger of scandal for the rest of the
faithful.
Very
soon now, if nothing is placed in his way, Martin intends to force same sex
‘marriage’ on all Canadians, persisting in his grave sin and risking what the
Vatican states as “wide-reaching and profound influence” and resulting “in changes to the entire organization of
society, contrary to the common good.”
Is
the Church’s sacramental law simply words on a paper somewhere in the Vatican,
and without substance or force? Does it apply at all to any other Catholic
anywhere else outside the Vatican? If so, then it must surely apply to Paul
Martin and other Catholic politicians (no doubt to scores of other Catholics
living in mortal sin as well) who willfully sin by holding vital Church
teachings in contempt, and then present themselves as “good” Catholics wishing
to receive the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ who paid the supreme
price of His Life because of the sin of mankind. What an insufferable outrage!
If
bishops and priests don’t respect and honour Church teaching, (and the Most
Holy Eucharist) how can it be expected that Catholics in the pews or in
politics will show respect? What a heartbreak it is to see all these offenses
occurring with impunity in full view of Canadian bishops!
It
makes my heart break further when I see at Sunday Mass the little children who
are being greeted with smiles, prayers and words of good will and blessing just
prior to being sent off for Christian catechesis. They will learn far more from
the example and legacy of their leaders and teachers than they will from any
formal catechesis. In a few short years they will be amongst the thousands
(even millions) of victims of the corruption and evil that took root and
flourished in Canadian society because Church leaders were too weak, faithless
and disobedient to Church teaching to take every precaution possible to protect
them and the rest of society. Is this not the gravest kind of offense to the
little ones that Jesus spoke of?
While
reading an article just this week I was struck by a startling statement made
years ago by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, in an address to the Knights of
Columbus, who said:
"Who
is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It
is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears to save the
Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops
like bishops and your religious act like religious."
Startling,
but also immensely sobering. What sort of actions can the ordinary Catholic
undertake to accomplish such a task? God Himself must provide the answer individually
for each one asking, but then rise to the task one must.
The
grace of God be with you.
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