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By Bishop John, August 11, 2012 4:11 am

http://www.sthedwigbucktown.org/

For several weeks, we are in St. John’s Gospel, especially the 6th chapter where he talks in great length about Jesus himself being bread from heaven and that this bread is the key to everlasting life. But if Jesus is giving himself to us as the nourishment for our souls, what should come from that? What should be the results?

They are clearly stated in the excerpts from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

“Get rid of all bitterness, all passion and anger, harsh words, slander, malice of every kind. In place of these things, be kind to one another, compassionate and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.”

Once again, these are not just words. They are something of a job description for those who strive to walk in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth. We are all aware of the fact that there is a lot of pain around us, a lot of hurt, a lot of disappointment. In a moment of honesty, we could admit that we ourselves cause a certain amount of that pain. But if we are receiving the Eucharist on a regular basis, if we prepare for Communion properly, and we meditate on its constancies, we should become far more gentle. We should strive for the opportunity to be kind to people and patient. Patience – ah – there is the word.

It is easy enough to be patient with the people around us who are extraordinarily polite, generous and sensitive, but what about that obnoxious jerk? He was malformed in his growing process and does little to endear himself to the people around him. Aren’t we challenged to be patient with him as well?

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By Bishop John, July 28, 2012 4:03 am

July 29th, 17th Sunday of the Year
Today is for me one of those delightful Sundays where the three scripture readings coalesce into a beautiful collage bringing forward an important message that the Church wants us to absorb. Spread over 2,000 years, the texts mesh together into a beautiful collage.

The Gospel is from the chapter of John and it creates a situation which enables Jesus to begin to tell his people that he is going to give HIMSELF as the nourishment for our souls in order that through him we can be united to God the Father. The first reading from the second Book of Kings frames today’s Gospel because it is a situation where the prophet Elijah is with a large group of followers, has no food and then miraculously produces enough food for all of them.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul beautifully gives the reason for all of this. He challenges his readers from the first century and from the 21st century to live a life worthy of our calling, that is such an important sentence and an amazing challenge to each and every one of us who claims to be a Christian. Life calls for humility, meekness, patience, helping those around us. Paul teaches us that if we do live a life worthy of our calling, we shall bring peace and have peace. We shall be united together in a way that was unimaginable apart from the Eucharist. Paul reminds us that if we live a life worthy of our calling, we become part of a new entity, a unity made possible by the actions and infinite power of Jesus, “This is my Body…this is my Blood.” That unity results in one body, one spirit, one hope…there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism and God our Father.

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By Bishop John, March 13, 2012 5:16 am

Last week, there was a very painful and embarrassing situation at an urban church in Washington, D.C. The incident was the denial of the Eucharist to a woman standing at the head of the communion procession who was there for purposes of burying her mother. Her mother’s casket was a few feet behind the lady. The celebrant of the Mass learned just before Mass began that the lady involved had a “partner” so when the bereaved lady extended her hand to receive the Eucharist the priest told her, “I can’t give you communion because you live with a woman and in the eyes of the Church that is a sin.”

The incident created a furor in the District of Columbia and beyond. The woman was crushed. Many of her family and friends themselves refused to take the Eucharist, but later both the family and the Archdiocese responded properly. The action of the priest was at odds with the strong stand against the denial of communion to Catholics actually in the communion procession, annunciated by the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl. Wuerl has said that he did not believe in denying communion because it is impossible to know what is in another’s heart. Annunciating that position, the Cardinal is merely passing on the long established pastoral policy on the Eucharist on the vast majority of cases. The ultimate judge of moral rectitude is each individual’s conscience. The Church has always annunciated and defended that position and has always given the benefit of the doubt to anyone coming forward to receive Communion.

It is a regrettable situation and occurs from time to time when a narrow interpretation of Church law is used to deny someone who is requesting the Body and Blood of the Lord. The Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, is the center of the life of the Church and while its dignity and sacredness need to be protected in every way possible, we must also remember that this gift from Jesus is to help us to be better, not a reward for being good!

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By Bishop John, January 31, 2012 5:41 am

Everyone is clearly aware that the Roman Catholic Church has a very clear doctrine on the question of the Sacrament of Matrimony. The Church holds that when two baptized persons commit themselves freely to each other, intending a permanent union and open to the possibility of children a sacred bond is established there that cannot be severed. “What God has joined together let no man put asunder.”

Well, yes, that is the accurate position of the Catholic Church but when tragedy hits a marriage and it completely collapses, the same Church is open to the possibility of looking at that marriage and seeing if one or another of those four conditions is missing. If it can be proven in a Church Tribunal, the Church makes it clear that the sacramental union may be declared null and void. The Church, of course, has no jurisdiction over the civil aspects of the union and this opens the situation to a great deal of confusion. If either the bride or the groom later comes to the Church and assert and then prove that they were forced into the marriage, that they did not intend a permanent marriage, that they never intended having children, that one or the other was not actually baptized, then the Church will at least consider a Declaration of Nullity.

In North America, I think that it can safely be assumed that somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of the adult Catholics at Mass on Sunday morning are struggling with this problem. For many, it is an agonizing problem. They have a strong faith in Jesus Christ, are living good lives and would do anything that they can to rectify this situation but can’t adequately make their case in a Church Tribunal.

Recently, two of the most prestigious Catholic magazines in the English language have raised the issue and are asking that the Church explore some possible pastoral remedies. The two magazines were The Tablet out of London with an article entitled, “Second Chances: Remarriage and the Eucharist” and the other is from the January 27th issue of Commonweal in an article, “Conscience and Communion: What is a remarried Catholic to do?” by Father Joseph Coriden. Father Coriden is one of the best canonist in this country and teaches that subject at the Washington Theological Union.

I will take this up again in a day or two.

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By Bishop John, October 27, 2011 4:57 am

Yesterday, I mentioned the enormous amount of pressure and pain existing in Catholic congregations across the world where a very sizable portion of the laity are involved in civil marriages and are not able to receive the sacraments. This pastoral practice was completely unchallenged until the last few years, but because of the high incidence of committed Roman Catholics living in irregular or civil marriages pressure has begun to build to bring about a change that would harmonize the sacramental relationship for millions of our people.

A number of efforts have been made to lessen the spiritual burden that such Catholics are carrying. Even Cardinal Ratzinger, in 1972, at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented a proposal to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to return to communion. They would be permitted, he argued, as long as the first marriage had broken up in an irreparable way sometime ago and that the second marriage had been filled with a spirit of faith and that penance had been performed. Giving such couples communion “appears to be no less than just and to be fully in line with the Church’s tradition.” Later on, Cardinal Ratzinger rejected that position, saying that his 1972 article was only a suggestion made by an individual theologian and he has since changed his position on that.

Quite a stir was created in 1993 when three of the leading cardinals in Germany wrote a pastoral letter urging that the parish priests should access each case individually when admitting remarried divorcees to communion. They encouraged people to take a decision according to their own conscience. The cardinals were summoned to Rome for “discussion” and a year later, the Vatican reiterated the traditional teaching.

The pain continues.

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By Bishop John, May 6, 2011 5:40 am

As a good Methodist, I’ll bet you’ve attended a Catholic wedding or funeral a number of times, and had the priest announce just before the Communion procession that those “not of the Catholic faith who wish to come forward should merely bow their heads and receive a blessing” implying, of course, that they are NOT to actually receive the Eucharist. This tradition is so old, that many people give it no thought whatsoever. But, other Christians, familiar with the open altar of their own church and that of other major Christian faiths, have a reaction that varies from confusion to anger, musing to themselves, “Who the hell do they think they are?”

I completely understand those reactions, and sympathize with them. The brief explanation that I offer here will probably not satisfy most readers. Let me try to say it succinctly. Receiving the Eucharist in the Catholic Church is a public act of faith. We are stating to those around us that we believe that in the simple but sacred moment, Jesus Christ Himself, both human and divine, comes in to physical contact with us and for a moment, we contain within ourself the real presence of the Blessed Trinity. It is an awesome act of faith! We feel strongly that someone who does not possess that belief should refrain from this act because it reflects a contradiction. We would be affirming something we don’t believe.

Let me say, however, that the Church is comfortable with persons receiving the Eucharist at mass if they are intellectually in union with what the Church teaches about the real presence of Jesus. This is especially true at weddings and funerals.

This is a situation that saddens everyone. On the night before He died, Jesus prayed that His followers would be united- that they would be of one faith. Tragically that is not the case today, but we are moving forward towards the much desired goal of Christian unity. Very specific advances in such unity are being achieved with Anglicans and Lutherans, and of course we have always had it with the Orthodox churches.

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