Fr. Z. drew my attention to the Pastor's Page of Fr. George Welzbacher, wherein Father expounds:
The technical term Catholic,
whose first known use occurs in the letters of the bishop and martyr
Ignatius of Antioch, writing very early in the second century of the
Christian era [. . .] is a term derived from the ancient Greek
adverbial phrase kath holon,
meaning "according to the WHOLE".
This new adjective [. . .] was used by St. Ignatius to
differentiate, on the one hand, the Church that preaches the whole revelation of Christ to the whole world to all generations to come until the
end of time, in contrast with those transitory sects that, like bargain
hunters at a rummage sale, pick and choose only such items as happen to
have a passing appeal. The authentic Catholic
is therefore one who accepts the whole
doctrine of Christ, intact and untrimmed, and (with special relevance
to our day) not revised with respect
to the proper use of the sexual power. The authentic Catholic
recognizes that Christ's teachings are eternal and absolute, not subject to revision, inasmuch as
not even Christ Himself was at
liberty to change them, since, as He explained: "The word that I have
spoken to you is not mine; it is the word of Him Who sent Me" (John 14:
24).
[. . .]
Read the whole thing. Well worth your time.
______________Follow HancAquam or Subscribe and DONATE! ----->
Wow, now thats a piece of writing. so eloquent.
ReplyDeleteIt would be so good if Canon 915 was enforced to the extent of the law, for I and so many of the faithful during RICA were told that we have to deny ourselves the Eucharist if we came to the Church with sin or have not been to confession just prior to receiving the Eucharist. So YES the pastors SHOULD deny those that willing commit sin the Eucharist.
Thank you Father and to Father Z for pointing us to this article.
Fr. George Welzbacher is spot on! In my few years as a Deacon I have tried through homilies (albeit once a month) and Bible Study to help people recapture the TRUE Catholic identity. So many times I have been told that it's not nice to hit them over the head with 'the law' or to suggest to them that they may not be 'Catholics in good standing' and even that Ecclesia Militans is too much for them right now.
ReplyDeleteBut even if we are able to reinforce the wholeness of Catholicity in our words and deeds, we see those public figures, visible in their opposition to the Truth, come forth for the Eucharist as if it were a right not to be denied. And sadly, they are not denied and were are told not to deny anyone the Eucharist since we do not know the state of their soul at that moment.
Would we deny them the Eucharist because it makes the Church look bad to give Christ to sinners? Would we deny them the Eucharist to remove their right as Catholic because of some rule of Canon Law? No, it has nothing to do with law or rules or outward appearances of the Church. It is actually a true pastoral care of that one, individual person and his/her salvation and relationship with Christ. St. Paul warns us about receiving unworthily.
From what I understand,the Church does what she does with one thing foremost in her mind - the salvation of souls. It seems sometimes we slip into the secular mindset too much and bend to the pressures of the world. It is time to straighten up - in my opinion - and be that resistance to the culture gone mad and rely on the Spirit to move us forward to Christ and ALL of His Word.
Yes, thanks for the heads up on a courageous priest Father!